About
Reviews
Search
Submit
Home

Mystery Books for Sale

[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]


  

PARTNERS
by David Cray
Carroll & Graf, January 2004
320 pages
$25.00
ISBN: 0786712929


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Finito Rakowski is an exceptionally handsome young man to whom women are very attracted. Finito plays on that characteristic to manipulate those women into meeting his needs, whether they be financial or physical. Having just been released from prison after serving a term for theft, his psychotic tendencies begin to escalate and he embarks on a series of killings.

Although the means of murder varies, his trademark signature is that he leaves the woman with her eyes covered. He's called the 'Break-in Killer', as he likes to follow the victim to her home and carry out his attack on her home territory.

Among the NYPD detectives assigned to the case are Belinda Moore, an African-American woman who sees her job as just that, not a means to conquer the wrongs of the world, and Pudge Pedersson, who's always hoping that his accomplishments will be noticed and that he'll be promoted. They work very well together. Although Finito is maddeningly elusive, Belinda and Pudge go outside the system and are able to home in on him, in spite of the lack of support of their superiors.

It's unfortunate that Cray chose to follow the current trend in crime fiction of writing about a serial killer. He uses the technique of alternating chapters between the police point of view and Finito's. That approach has gotten to be almost a cliché recently, and thus the book didn't feel fresh or unique.

In addition, Cray chose to narrate Finito's chapters in the present tense, which made for an awkward transition from the past tense chapters of the police. I also found it implausible that Finito could intellectually decide to escalate the nature of his crimes, as a true psychotic would have been more at the mercy of his subconscious needs rather than consciously planning for a bigger thrill with the next murder.

Cray is an accomplished craftsman as far as his writing ability. It's unfortunate that his talent has been squandered on a book that has such a derivative plot. That being said, if there is another book in this series, I will be reading it, as I found the two lead characters to be very appealing and the police procedural aspects well done. For the time being, I prefer Cray's Julia Brennan series, which has a darker overall feel to it.

Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, November 2004

[ Top ]


QUICK SEARCH:

 

Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]