Patti Abbot: FFB: CATASTROPHE PLANET, Keith Laumer

 Patti Abbot: FFB: CATASTROPHE PLANET, Keith Laumer

FFB Review: "THE WEB" (1996) by Jonathan Kellerman (Reviewed by Barry Ergang)

Barry is back today for FFB with an all new review for FFB hosted by Patti Abbott. Make sure you check out the list after you read Barry’s review of The Web by Jonathan Kellerman.

THE WEB (1996) by Jonathan Kellerman

Reviewed by Barry Ergang

Aruk in Micronesia, location of a U.S. Naval base blockaded from the rest of the island that’s also known to some as Knife Island because of its shape, has been for many years the home, site of medical practice and research to Woodrow Wilson Moreland, a.k.a. “Dr. Bill” to the locals. Having come upon an article in a

Paperback

professional journal written by psychologist Alex Delaware, and then seeking and reading additional such articles by him, Moreland writes to Delaware with a proposition: help him organize three decades worth of the research he’s done on natural history and nutrition, with the possibility of collaboration on a book, journal articles, or a monograph—depending on what the physician’s research lends itself to. “I’m prepared to offer compensation of six thousand dollars per month for four months,” Moreland writes, “in addition to business-class transportation from the mainland and full room and board. There are no hotels on Aruk, but my own home is quite commodious and I’m sure you would find it pleasant.” He further offers to accommodate Delaware’s wife, if he’s married, though he has no paid work to offer her.

Delaware isn’t married, but he is involved with Robin Castagna, and the two decide to take Moreland up on his offer. After all, who doesn’t fantasize about fleeing from the daily grind to a desert island paradise?

Paradise, as anyone reading a mystery/suspense novel can guess, winds up being paid for at an exorbitant price. Moreland, although an amiable host, turns out to be a man of many secrets and possessed of a somewhat enigmatic personality. Then, too, so do several of the other major characters, not all of them being who or what they seem to be whom Delaware and Robin meet in the course of their adventure, which

Hardback

involves, among other things, a death by plane crash and the particularly grisly deaths of two young island women, one six months earlier, the other during Delaware and Robin’s visit.  

It doesn’t seem to be necessary to read previous novels in the Alex Delaware series; I found this one easily accessible even though I haven’t. The writing quality was generally quite good in spite of the author’s fondness for “dramatic” sequences consisting of single-sentence paragraphs, and character delineation was adequate. At 416 pages in the mass-market paperback edition I read, I thought it tried a little too hard to pile on surprising revelations, was more than a little padded in places, and that the story would have been just as effective, if not more so, at a shorter length. Were I rating it at Amazon or another major book-rating site, I’d give it three out of five stars and wouldn’t go out of my way to read another title in the series.

I would also warn readers squeamish about raw street language that the novel contains some, including some f-bombs, but doesn’t teem with it.

© 2016 Barry Ergang

Some of Derringer Award-winner Barry Ergang’s work can be found at Amazon and Smashwords. At the latter site, he’s participating in the July Summer/Winter Sale, where you can find his e-books at 25% off, as well as three (always) for free.

FFB Review: "Bad Thoughts" by David Zeltserman

Recently I blew the dust off of my 2009 review of Small Crimes for Friday’s Forgotten Books because there was news on the movie. This week I thought I would blow the dust off another review of a work by David Zeltserman. The one below comes your way from May 2007 when hardly anybody was reading this blog. For the rest of your reading suggestions for this first Friday in June 2016 head on over to Patti Abbott’s blog. Come on back here for North Texas storm updates and more…

In the interests of fair disclosure it should be known that I consider David Zeltserman a good friend. Beyond providing a consoling e-mail from time to time concerning my Texas Rangers (the baseball team) David had me working for him a few years ago. For a number of issues of Hardluck, I did book reviews and interviews of authors as well as some fiction. Well, the fiction never was accepted but everything else was. A decent batting average all things considered.

It is early November, 1997 as this complex and intriguing novel opens Billy Shannon awakens from a nightmare. His fingers on his right hand, the two that were mangled so badly nearly 20 years ago, are pulsing with pain while the rest of him is covered in sweat. The clock is ticking on another nightmare season and for Billy the bad news is that it is starting earlier this time.

As the anniversary of his mother's murder approaches, Billy Shannon continues as best as he can to work his job as a police officer at the Cambridge Central Square police Station. While his wife works in a law office in South Boston as a legal secretary Billy works homicide. Cases that begin to appear more and more like the way his mother died all those years ago.

The weeks pass and as the bodies begin to stack up the nightmares increase. What begins as a police procedural read turns into a psychological thriller bordering on a horror novel. Billy Shannon's world begins to unravel and readers are taken on a roller coaster ride through the increasing wreckage of his life. Not only is his mental stability at question, his very survivability as a human being is at stake in a conclusion that packs a powerful punch.

While some have compared it to Darkly Dreaming Dexter such comparisons are not applicable. A key component of Darkly Dreaming Dexter is humor and that novel pushes humor throughout the work. Dave Zeltserman's book hardly has a trace of humor. The basic theme of Darkly Dreaming Dexter is that some folks do need to be removed because they are a threat to society. That threat is uncontrollable and as such, since he has to kill anyway, he should use his twisted needs in a way to do the world good and kill those folks. That also isn't the case here. I could go on, but the point is clear.

This book is an often graphic and intense read that delves deep into the psychology of evil and sanity. It isn't lighthearted in any way as it deals with evil at a base level. At the same time, the author never forgets there is a mystery driving events and makes sure to keep the reader pulled y into solving the crimes. The result is a very good read from disturbing start to disturbing finish.

Bad Thoughts
David Zeltserman
www.hardluckstories.com
Five Star
July 2007
ISBN# 1-59414-540-7
Hardback (eBook format available)

279 Pages

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple © 2007, 2016