You Really Don't Want to Be a Movie Star (The Skin Gods - Richard Montanari)

Member Name: shroud

Product:	The Skin Gods - Richard Montanari
Date:	20/09/08 (79 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: well plotted, realistic characterisations, unexpected outcomes

Disadvantages: usually distributed only via motorway services and airports, and Amazon Marketplace

As hubby is out on the road most of the week, living in his lorry as he tramps goods from one place to another, he gets a lot of time on his hands. Sitting in queues waiting to be loaded, waiting in queues to be unloaded, sitting at truck stops waiting for changeovers, and all that jazz means sitting in one spot, with nothing to do but just SIT. It's hardly surprising then that that every opportunity, he is on the look out for something to read to help occupy his time. He is actually quite a fussy reader, having quite high standards that he wants met with his reads as well, so when he came home with this paperback and said he thought I should read it, I took notice.

I'm actually rather glad I did, for this is one of the best crime thrillers I have read for quite some time. The premise is unusal, the plot tight, and the story relentlessly gripping. Told from two quite distinct perspectives, that of the unknown Actor, and a third person narration following detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano of Philadelphia PD's homicide unit it could quite easily become confusing, but is done with quite some skill, making the story easy to follow, and utterly chilling.

For the Actor remains an unknown, even to those of us reading his thoughts and observing his actions so vicariously. He is a serial killer who has utterly diabolical plans, but are they random targets selected for thrill kills to satisfy his cinematic needs, as he re-enacts famous movie murder scenes with unwitting victims thinking they are interviewing for possible film roles, or is something even darker unfolding? Thanks to his going about the city lifting VHS rental copies and splicing in his reshot snuff scenes into the original movie, it is pretty hard to keep the murders under wraps. With the gore hounds out to find every last VHS horror and thriller movie still available for rental and hoping to catch a glimpse of his handiwork, and others who may be tempted to copycat his crimes, the police must move fast to stop this enigmatic killer before more deaths occur thanks to ever more muddied trails to follow. With red herrings aplenty and twists that came as genuine surpises, this one was book that gave me the all too rare case of the gripping onslaught pageturning-itis (where you just know the world will end if you put the book down before finding out what happens next).

The author managed to accomplish this without any technical wizardry and fancy pages of dialogue detailing pain staking forensics, making this a very accessble novel. Not since Silence of the Lambs and Kiss the Girls have I read a crime thriller that provided such a rollercoaster of emotion and taut atmosphere. If you like your crime thrillers to be all about the cops on the beat and the beasts they hunt down, and less about science, this book will definitely appeal. Those liking the occasional well written scientific murder mystery will also no doubt enjoy this, as while it is free of the latest advances in forensic science thanks to the size of the city's police department budget, it remains an intelligently written piece full of psychological drama and fascinating insight into the world of cinema.

Summary: Someone is reshooting famous murder scenes and splicing them into videos, but they are far too real