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In 1971, a man is recovered from the water off the Bahamas with a gunshot wound to the chest. Against the odds, he survives. The police have him under guard, but are unaware of his real identity: Ernst Hess, a Nazi responsible for murder of several hundred Jews in wartime Europe. Hess escapes from the hospital and makes his way to Florida, where he has unfinished business. However, the carnage in the wake of his escape make his identity and survival public knowledge, and he is being actively sought by the German authorities, the local police, and two other private groups. These groups, and Hess himself, are ruthless in pursuit of their objectives, and a series of violent episodes inevitably follows before the story reaches its conclusion. BACK FROM THE DEAD is a sequel to VOICES OF THE DEAD. Those who have not read VOICES will find the follow-up perfectly understandable; it may take longer to work out exactly what is going on, but the reader is carried forward by a gripping narrative. The action is non-stop, with a driving pace maintained throughout, moving smoothly between Florida and Munich and then to France. Short interludes of back story relate the wartime experiences of key participants, underlying their current motivations. The leading characters are depicted with economy, given substance through action and brief snatches of dialogue or thought, with a minimum of description. If Leonard's name rings a bell, the prose also has a ring of something familiar, and it is no great surprise to find that Peter is the son of the celebrated writer Elmore Leonard. The same characteristically spare writing is evident. BACK FROM THE DEAD is certainly much darker than most of the elder Leonard's work, and the body count higher. You can tell that Elmore likes his protagonists, who are often given licence to talk about themselves. Peter, in contrast, is less inclined to indulge sympathetic characters: Hess is morally reprehensible by any standard but we hear as much, or little, from him as anyone else. The comparison is moot, however: Peter Leonard is a terrific talent in his own right and he will surely find himself on the best-seller lists if he continues to write thrillers of this quality. The assurance with which he writes, and the authenticity conveyed by the telling minor details makes BACK FROM THE DEAD a real pleasure to read, and a difficult book to put down before the last action-packed page. § Chris Roberts is a retired manager of shopping centres in Hong Kong, and now lives in Bristol, primarily reading.
Reviewed by Chris Roberts, December 2012
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