[image-1]Casey Jordan is an idealistic young lawyer, despite her circumstances. Set up in a reconfigured gas station and beset with a toilet that backs up, she and her small team of fellow idealists working in a former garage, try to help the poor of Dallas. When she learns of an immigrant who might have been murdered by a powerful U.S. Senator, she goes into overdrive.
With the help of Jose, her pro bono investigator (and sometimes love interest), she uncovers a scandal that threatens to cost her her life. And, of course, things are not always as they seem. The corrupt senator’s bimboesque wife is also on a social-justice crusade and, once Jose and Casey get to her, she joins them in their battle.
The major obstacle in their way isn’t the senator. It’s the bad-ass sheriff who does the senator’s dirty work and he is a vile, looming hulk – and a terrific villain.
Maybe Green slips into cliché mode a few times. But the story is so fast-paced (most chapters are three pages) that nothing can stop the book’s velocity.
Casey is a recurring character in Green’s fiction (she last appeared in his book The Letter of the Law), and let’s hope he gets back to us with another one of her stories very soon.
SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING . . . DO NOT READ AT NIGHT: I’m a pretty fearless guy. My immediate reaction on hearing something go bump in the night is to move toward that sound, unarmed, but ready to kick some ass.[image-2]
I may have to change my method after reading Afraid (Grand Central, $6.99) by Jack Kilborn. This may be the scariest book I have ever read. It makes the most twisted Stephen King novel read like He’s Just Not That Into You.
No fooling. The opening of Afraid sets a tremendously high standard of terror – and Kilborn (pseudonym of J.A. Konrath) generally maintains that fright level.
Set in an isolated Wisconsin lake village, the novel begins with the vicious torture of a woman alone in bed while her husband is night fishing in his boat a few hundred yards a way. The killer’s calm, and his methodical approach to inflicting pain, is what’s most frightening.
I don’t want to give anything away, but let me say this: you will never have microwave popcorn again in your life, without thinking of this book and this killer.
And, as sadistic a bastard as this killer is, he’s not alone. There are other killers and their terrifying calm is what makes this book so damn scary. Once the mystery of who these sick cretins are begins to unravel, the tension lets up a little, but the relentless storytelling continues. When the narrative switches from the psycho killers to the aging policeman trying to stop the insanity, you breathe a tremendous sigh of relief.
But you can never let down your guard.
This is a great book for beach reading – because it should be read in bright sunlight, with lots of people around. But don’t be surprised if the story steps into your dreams and ends up standing over your bed, slowly chewing popcorn and deciding how to fillet your soul.
Konrath is known for a series of thrillers about Chicago detective Jacqueline (“Jack”) Daniels, all with booze-themed titles (Fuzzy Navel, Whiskey Sour, etc.). As successful as those books have been, we think this new Jack Killborn horror series will take off. The next one, Trapped, has already been scheduled for publication next winter.
Be Afraid. Be very afraid.
COMING TO INKWOOD: Spring also brings a number of author appearances to the area. Here are four events in the next two weeks at Inkwood Books, 216 S. Armenia Ave.
Thursday, March 26, 7 p.m.: Janet Connor discusses her new book, Writing Down Your Soul (Conari, $16.95), a guide to self expression.
Friday, March 27, 6 p.m.: Casting director Lori Wyman talks about her nearly 30 decades in film and her book The Organic Actor (Author House, $27).
Thursday, April 2, 7 p.m.: Tom Corcoran talks about his latest Alex Rutledge mystery, Hawk Channel Chase, (Ketch and Yawl, $24.95) and spins tales from his years as a songwriter, screenwriter, bartender, editor and taco salesman. Don't miss it.
Thursday, April 9, 7 p.m.: Former St Petersburg Times reporter John Jeter will read from his first novel, The Plunder Room (Thomas Dunne Books, $24.95).
SOMETHING IN SARASOTA: Marcus and Sheila Gillette, authors of The Soul Truth (Tarcher/Penguin) will soon host an event in Sarasota on Saturday April 11, from 2–6 p.m. It's at Affairs of the Art, 5900 S. Tamiami Trail, Shoppe J in Sarasota. For more information call 941-925-0474. There is a $50 pre-registration charge and the admission i $65 on the day of the event. For more information or to register online, visit www.asktheo.com
William McKeen is chairman of the University of Florida’s Department of Journalism and author of several books, including the Hunter S. Thompson biography Outlaw Journalist.
