Took a long time to get here, but it was well worth the
wait.
IN HIS SHADOW introduces Denver PI Johnny Lane, a man with a
winning smile, who's popular with the ladies and successful
enough to have a regular column in the local newspaper
column. From his opening case, the search for missing
teenager Debra Singer, it appears that Johnny has a keen,
albeit individualistic, sense of morality.
With the undertaking of a new case, the search for adoptee
Mary Williams's biological parents, Zeltserman's casual prose
style becomes edgier, more visceral (and the jokes become
darker), as, propelled by seemingly good intentions, Johnny
starts to pluck at the loose bandages hiding his own deep
emotional scars. When finally unwrapped (gradually over the
course of the rest of the novel), the naked truth is a
painful sight.
Much has been made of the debt IN HIS SHADOW owes Jim
Thompson (in fact, the novel is dedicated to him) and, yes,
there are undoubted parallels. Still, good as it might have
been merely as a Thompson pastiche, Zeltserman's book is far
more than that. Hell, it's got a PI as a protagonist. It's
also heartfelt and moving in a way that Jim Thompson rarely
achieves and has the same kind of haunting quality that
pervades William Hjortsberg's FALLING ANGEL.
In brief, IN HIS SHADOW is one of the top half-a-dozen books
I've read this year. I look forward to reading more Dave
Zeltserman in the future. And folks, if you haven't bought
yourself a Christmas present, it isn't too late, you
know.
Al
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