JD Fiorella used to be salesman, a cop and a PI until a shoot-out had him crawl too far into the bottle. Now he lives in Malibu, attending AA meetings, trying to write and making a living selling cars. When a friends gets brutally murdered he set outs for revenge.The first 80 pages or so you might think you're reading a literary novel. Then the hunter within the protagonist really awakens and you get a hardboiled tale of revenge that would make Mike Hammer blush. Rarely have I seen a protagonist so relentless and merciless. At times I must admit I was a bit taken aback by his ruthless behaviour and willingness to torture. Here's a guy who doesn't need a psycho sidekick. He IS the psycho. Aside from those qualities he picks up hookers, can be a nasty, hot-tempered kind of guy, is a bit sexist... Well, you get the picture. Spenser he's not.
Still, I was fascinated by seeing him in action and to be fair, the main villain is way worse. The prose is dark, angry and to the point. I understand there will be a second JD Fiorella novel, I'm looking forward to that one. The ending to this one had me a bit worried about his return, but thinking about Dan Fortune put my mind at ease.
My favorite read of the year so far.
