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This is the first novel by Randall Peffer, a teacher of literature and writing at Phillips Academy/Andover whose non-fiction writing has appeared in many publications. A dark and graphic psychological thriller, KILLING NEPTUNE'S DAUGHTER takes us on one man's quest for the truth that will vanquish his inner demons. Returning to his hometown is something Billy Bagwell has always dreaded. But he feels he owes it to Tina, the object of his childhood sexual obsession, to see her off properly. Even in death she can seduce him to her. Upon his return to Wood's Hole on Cape Cod, Billy's past with his old friends -- especially his best friend, present day Catholic priest Zal -- floods his mind with classic machismo and rite-of-passage boyhood events. But some of their moments were a bit darker, and all seemed to revolve around or involve Tina . . . moments that Billy doesn't want to remember. This psycho-thriller carries Billy deeper and deeper into long-repressed memories of 35-year-old crimes. As the days grow darker, Billy finds himself caught in a turbulent tide of past erotic encounters, lost innocence, rage, religion and lust. I knew in the first few pages that KILLING NEPTUNE'S DAUGHTER was not a book I was going to particularly enjoy reading, but one that I would appreciate based on its merits as a richly written psychological thriller. It's a matter of taste, and my usual taste doesn't happen to line up with this kind of book. However, it did serve to broaden my literary horizons, and I'll readily admit I was glad I'd decided to see it through. At first, I found the book difficult to read, and not just because of the graphic language and detailed descriptions of unspeakable, horrific acts of violence. With its constant jumping from the present to the past and back, the timing is hard to follow; it sometimes took a few paragraphs for me to figure out where I was, chronologically speaking. Additionally, it's written in first person present tense, a point of view which can yank me right out of a story, and the first three-quarters of the book fly by in something akin to stream of consciousness where I got lost in a jumble of characters, disjointed events and memories that didn't seem destined to lead to a plausible resolution. However, there is a point where story begins to move along rapidly, and that point passes so subtly that it's hard not to become absorbed as the plot reaches an almost breakneck pace. As Billy finally extracts the deepest and darkest of his buried memories, the underlying cohesiveness of the story unfolds through the redemption of Billy's character and his friendship with Zal as the priest helps Billy conquer his inner demons and uncover the identity of a psychopathic killer. By the time I reached the end of the book I realized I'd taken a step back and read it as an objective observer rather than as someone who doesn't normally care for dark, graphic thrillers. In doing so, I discovered that the intensity of KILLING NEPTUNE'S DAUGHTER had evoked an emotional response from me that I hadn't expected to encounter, and that the structural flow that I thought had bothered me was an intentional design aimed at sucking me into a darkly colorful and well-written tale of sex, murder and deliverance.
Reviewed by J. B. Thompson, June 2006
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