Recently read two books whose main characters' lives are
haunted by the deaths of their mothers when they were young.
Other than that, though, they had little in common other than
their high quality.
Bad Thoughts by Dave Zeltserman
Homicide Detective Billy Shannon is having increasingly bad
nightmares approaching the anniversary of his mother's
murder, which he witnessed as a teen. Both he and his wife
fear the dreams are leading up to an annual blackout
disappearance. But this year's nightmares are a bit
different, more specific. Too specific. They lead him to dead
women's bodies. And some, including Shannon himself, start to
wonder who but the killer could know the things he does. I
don't normally read supernatural horror thrillers (Sprockets,
a Kathe Koja, a Jonathan Carroll that might qualify, have a
few of KW Jeter's, but have only read some of his cyberpunk),
so I was a bit wary of this book at first (the graveyard on
the cover, but never in the book, didn't exactly reassure
me). But Dave keeps the book anchored in the characters, so
the supernatural overtones (are they actually supernatural or
just particularly disturbing dreams and alcoholic blackouts?)
never pulled me out of the story. Dark, nasty stuff, which is
meant and should be taken as a high recommendation around
here.
The Cold Spot by Tom Piccirilli
First paragraph:
"Chase was laughing with the others during the poker game
when his grandfather threw down his cards, took a deep pull
on his beer, and with no expression at all shot Walcroft in
the head."
I was hooked. Thought I'd found a new Parkeresque series. I
hadn't, it's not a caper book, but what I found was just as
good. And I can think of very few compliments as high in my
mind as "just as good as a Parker book." This book follows
Chase, who was taken in (actually, kidnapped from foster
care) by his career criminal grandfather, Jonah, after his
mother's unsolved murder (which Chase did not witness). Chase
was a getaway driver before he was even a teen (it's never
said whether or not he had to sit on a phone book).
This book starts with Chase's split with Jonah, over the
above shooting, and follows his life for almost a decade,
first as a car booster and getaway driver, then as a square
john for several of years before the inevitable tragedy
happens (you know it has to, and the cover tells you more
than I have, so I'm not really giving anything away).
A really great read. And a fair amount of comic relief
(especially during his straight life) along the way. And a
lot of drive (pun intended) that makes it very to put
down.
Mark
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