Some know him as Sam. Others know him as J.J. Walk or other names.
Still others know him as Donald Harry Bliss. In a sense the man once known as
Donald Harry Bliss is dead though he still lives. His wife is dead and he is
drifting--literally and figuratively. The powerful Wall-Street mogul Francis Cherry
still wants to get him. Unfortunately, good help is so hard to find and former
MI6 operative Ian Goldworthy hasn’t proven to be good help, let alone any real help
at all, despite his alleged talents and his pay package. Francis Cherry decides
a radical new way of looking for him is needed and takes the hunt to a new and
very public level.
He isn’t the only one hunting the nameless drifter. A
woman is dead in Memphis and he is a suspect. Then there is the guy looking for
him to settle a perceived slight. When you have a moment with a woman another man
considers his personal property, things can get nasty. Others are looking as
well. The nameless drifter just wants to stay alive and somehow protect his
estranged daughter. Both ideas seem
equally impossible when you are alone and on the run.
If you prefer your plots tightly focused with few
players then this is not the book for you. Billboard Man is one of those
sprawling reads with lots of players in far flung places causing things to
happen and reacting to local events as well as events elsewhere. The ripples of
various things, big or small, touch a lot of people and their actions and reactions
create new ripples through the book. A book with many players and yet the
action moves forward at steady pace in the various location across the country.
The various storylines gradually come together in this read that is the second
book of a new series. It can be read without reading Road to Nowhere as enough
detail of past events comes through in this book.
Author Jim Fusilli has, according to the back cover
copy of the ARC, eight novels out as well as numerous short stories. I first
came across him with Closing Time and continued on
through that series. A series I very much enjoyed and occasionally made
reference to in recent years by way of my Friday’s Forgotten Books columns. Readers
expecting that kind of books will not find such a read with Billboard
Man. A very different style and tone is present in this noir styled thriller
that showcases a very different aspect of the very talented author Jim Fusilli.
Billboard Man
Jim
Fusilli
Thomas
& Mercer (Division of Amazon)
September
2013
ISBN#
978-1612181936
Paperback
(also available in audio and e-book formats)
206
Pages
$14.95
ARC provided by the author in exchange for my
objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2013
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