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I was terribly disappointed by Phillips' debut novel, THE ICE HARVEST, but did get a sense from it that Phillips is a strong writer. I started reading THE WALKAWAY, his second novel, with the hope that this time, he would get it right. And right he does. This time out, Phillips shows that his rave reviews and award success the first time out was justified. THE WALKAWAY picks up the many threads left hanging in his first novel, and brings them altogether in a resounding, thoroughly enjoyable, fast paced story with the rich, fully developed characters that were sadly missing in his debut. The book opens with a retired police officer (GUnther Fahnstiel) leaving his retirement home without permission, which sets into motion a chain of events that are deeply rooted in the past; acts of violence and crime that are still having a ripple effect in the present day. An old buddy of Gunther's, suspicious of some unexplained parts of Gunther's history, begins looking for him, as does his stepson. And it soon becomes apparent that Gunther is holding on to an even bigger secret than what happened on Christmas Eve 1979 (THE ICE HARVEST); one that dates back to the arrival in Wichita of a supposed "war hero" in the 1950s--a war hero with murder and crime on his mind, and revenge. The shifts back and forth between the past and the present are handled with professional aplomb; Phillips grabs hold of the reader by the neck, compelling further reading. In the hands of a less accomplished scribe, this book could easily have turned into a convoluted mess, but Phillips shows mastery of the form that was missing in his freshman effort. Phillips is a brilliant writer; with this sophomore effort he has won me over after the disappointment of the first.
Reviewed by Greg Herren, February 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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