Now which movie was that from again? (The Skin Gods - Richard Montanari)

Member Name: pmcds

Product:	The Skin Gods - Richard Montanari
Date:	13/10/08 (71 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gripping thriller

Disadvantages: Seen it all before

When I read, I tend to not be very adventurous. I normally stick with an author I know or have heard of before. Recently, I have ventured further afield, and while I have kept within the lines of a crime thriller, my favourite genre, I have explored different authors, and the latest of these is Richard Montanari. His novel, The Skin Gods, is set in Philadelphia, and from the blurb, it seemed to feature a pairing of detectives hot on the heels of a serial killer - not vey original, but I thought I would give it a go.

Montanari probably knows that the genre and substance of his characters is a much explored one, and you can see signs of a James Patterson creeping through in his writing. He flicks between the 1st and 3rd person in his novel, which is a nice concept, again seen before, but well executed. The plot, while being familiar territory for a crime thriller, is full of twists and turns and impressive confusion from the author to the reader.

Detectives Jessica Balzano and Kevin Byrne are both in Philadelphia's homicide unit. They have worked together before, and although I have never read a Montanari novel before, you get the impression there was a book before this that chronologically precedes this one but isn't integral to the plot. The pair of them are launched into a disturbing case with a serial killer who is replicating famous Hollywood bathroom murder scenes and then editing them into rental videos in various stores.

We flit through the characterisation of the various characters pretty quickly, and although the book is well over 500 page long, this seems a rather clever move as there are plenty of characters supposedly on the good guys' side yet decidedly suspicious at the same time. The detectives are teamed with FBI Agent Cahill from the off, and although he doesn't feature in the book as much as you would expect, he is an important part of proceedings, as are all of the characters. Montanari also keeps us flitting between this main plot and another, which refers to a past event in Byrne's career, with a convicted villain being released on appeal. We see a welcome slip off the normal route of a cop as Byrne flirts with keeping within the boundaries of the law and going rogue. The characterisation here is phenomenal and you get a true feeling of the pain and hurt going through the detective's mind.

As the story continues, we are kept guessing at every turn. Sneaking suspicions kept forming in my mind as to who had done what and who the killer was, what so and so's involvement was, etc, but each time, just when I thought I had it all worked out, Montanari would throw a curve ball and I'd have to start all over again. In the end, I kept an open mind and just waited for the end, and I am glad I did, because the conclusion is both shocking and surprising. 'Out of left field!' as they would say!

Chapters are kept to decent lengths, which aids reading it in short bursts. It also helps to section off the story when reading and form a clearer picture in your mind. Despite all of this positivity I felt about the book, though, I couldn't help feeling that I was reading yet another James Patterson novel, so similar was the way in which Montanari kept the pace going and not dwelling too much on one incident or character. There are elements with Byrne and a possibly telepathic side of his character which are hardly explored and I would have expected to have played a bit of a bigger part to the story, but other than that, it was run of the mill stuff - good and hooking, but nothing new to me and not amazing.

I recommend this novel. Yes, it was similar to a lot of books I have read, but it was still very good, and the last 100 pages I found it impossible to put the book down. It's not one I would read again, once is enough for me, but give it a go, because it has quality stamped on it! It retails at £6.99, but I picked it up in a charity shop for a pound. Have a look round or on the internet and I am sure you'll be able to find it. You may even be able to borrow my copy!

Summary: Great story, but nothing massively original from other crime thrillers