Review of Pariah by Dave Zeltserman (Serpent’s Tail, 2009)

Kyle Nevin has just been released after serving eight years for armed robbery, sold out to the FBI by Red Mahoney, the boss of South Boston Irish Mob. Nevin used to be Mahoney’s right hand man, the enforcer who did his bosses bidding, whether than be breaking arms and legs, intimidating local businesses or robbing banks. Nevin only has one thing on his mind – to raise enough funds that he can go after Mahoney – and nothing is going to distract him from the task. His first job is to rescue his younger brother from going straight, then carry out a job that will net millions. If that means leaving a trail of destruction in his wake, so be it.

If you like dark, gritty noir realism, then you need to read Dave Zeltserman’s books. The first person narratives of his prison release trilogy drop you into the world of troubled men and paint extraordinary rich characters. Pariah is no different. Kyle Nevin is driven by a grim determination to rule by fear and to seek whatever he desires by any means except those legitimate. He professes to have a moral code of sorts – sticking by family and brothers in arms – but everyone else is fair game. Ultimately though he’s fighting a battle of himself against the world and he’s prepared to do anything to make sure the world loses. At times, the feeling of realism in Zeltserman’s writing is disturbing, especially in the first half of the book. The second half felt a little rushed at times, with a few key events a little underdeveloped, taking up very little of the narrative and quickly moving on. The twist at the end was clever, but felt a tad contrived. I also felt that the whole Whitey Bulger riff was a bit tired, explored in other books such as Adrian McKinty’s Bloomsbury set and Richard Marinick’s Boyos, and no doubt others. As a result, in my view, Pariah was a good read, but not quite on the same par as the other two books in the prison release trilogy: Small Crimes and Killer. Given how stellar those two books are that’s no great criticism. To repeat: if you like noir read Zeltserman, you won’t be disappointed.

Review of Small Crimes by Dave Zeltserman (Serpent’s Tail, 2008)

Joe Denton used to be a small town cop in New England; one that committed as many crimes as he solved, wasting his ill-gotten gains on gambling and drugs, destroying his marriage in the process. Now he’s leaving prison early after seriously maiming the local district attorney and leaving him for dead. Only nobody wants him back in their life – not his shamed parents, nor his ex-wife and kids, nor his former crooked colleagues, and especially not Phil Coakley with his disfigured face and resentful daughter. All Joe wants is to get to know the daughters he barely remembers. The trouble is, local wiseguy Manny Vassey is on his deathbed. He thinks that by confessing his sins he can save his own soul and redirect the criminal life of his psychotic son. He will also send Joe back to prison for life, along with half his former colleagues. Sheriff Dan Pleasant gives Joe two options, either he kills Vassey or he takes a bullet. Joe is not keen on either option and desperately tries to find a third way that will allow him to put his life back together before it disintegrates.

Small Crimes is a cracker of a story. Zeltserman writes with a honed intensity that fully immerses the reader in the claustrophobic world of small town America. He vividly portrays the complex social relations of a former cop being released back into his local community – the resentments, the shame, the cold shouldering and petty confrontations, the web of lies and deceits. The characterisation is excellent, with each character rich and multi-layered, and the plotting is first rate (with the possible exception of the Charlotte’s back story which felt contrived - although in the grand scheme of things it really doesn’t matter). The story slow builds to a pressure cooker of an ending that eventually explodes the lid clean off the pot. The ending really is first class. Small Crimes is not a joyous read – it’s difficult to sympathise with most of the characters and it’s intense and emotional – but it’s well worth the ride. A humdinger of a read and definitely one of my books of the year. Order it now!

Review of Killer by Dave Zeltserman (Serpent’s Tail, 2010)

Leonard March knows he doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life in prison, so he does a deal with the DA to turn state witness against mafia boss Salvatore Lombard in return for immunity for undisclosed crimes. The DA agrees to a fourteen year sentence and immunity for the chance to bring down a godfather. Once the paperwork is signed, March admits to the murder of twenty eight people; murders he’ll never serve time for. Fourteen year’s later and he’s released from prison to public and media fury. Unable to leave the state due to a pending civil action for damages, all March wants to do is keep a low profile, do his time working as a night janitor in an office block, try and catch up with his adult kids, and avoid a revenge attack by Lombard’s men. It’s hard to live anonymously though when your face is plastered across every newspaper, you’re the topic of conversation on late night radio shows, and ghost writers are lining up to capture your life story and sell on the book and movie rights. But when the mysterious and beautiful Sophie enters his life and he acts the good Samaritan, stopping a liquor store robbery, things start to look up.

Killer is a relatively short book at 214 pages, but there isn’t a single wasted word. Told in a straightforward, matter of fact way, the story is utterly captivating, hooking the reader in from the first line and not letting go. I was totally mesmerised, but it’s difficult to explain why. There’s nothing particular special about the prose and the plot is pretty uncomplicated, though there’s a sting in the tail. But there’s something about the story and the way that it’s told that’s compelling. I think it’s because it genuinely does feel like it is Leonard March’s story; that you are listening to his voice. And it’s a voice that tugs at the reader’s emotions in subtle, contradictory ways, which makes it seem convincing and credible. In addition, the structure of the book, with chapters alternating between the present and past events, enables the reader to get a rounded grasp of March’s persona and his history of violence. Overall, a great read and I’m now on the hunt for his earlier books, Pariah and Small Crimes.