Paul Slater, a former Green Beret sniper, now works at the steel mill
outside of Pittsburgh as his father and grandfather before him. He
has a skilled job as a pattern maker, but it offers little
stimulation. He’s married to his high school sweetheart and has two
children. In the evenings he attends the men’s clubs around the
mill, but on a whim he decides to try the night life in Pittsburgh.
One day after his
work partner tells Paul about the murder of a young woman in a
Pittsburgh park, he unaccountably leaves work and heads to
Pittsburgh. There he stumbles on a film crew making a movie. He
becomes entranced with a young intern, Suzy, and begins to see her.
Then the director of the movie and his wife are killed. Suzy is
questioned and Paul is pulled into the investigation.
This book gives
beautifully written descriptions of the Philadelphia area. The
characters are realistic for the area and the seventies time frame.
However, the plot is convoluted. I found it difficult to relate to
the diverse characters and follow the several plot lines.
The book does have
some important themes. Paul’s overriding problem is the boredom
of living a predictable life. He also appears to suffer from PTSD.
Racism and drug abuse as well as the sexual abuse of women are
secondary themes. The surprising violence at the end comes as rather
a surprise.
I received this book
from Net Galley for this review.
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