Book Review: The Deal Master

Reviewed By: A. Rolfingsmeier

The Deal Master     Amazon US TPB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada TPB Amazon Canada HC
Gerard F. Bianco
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Hard Boiled   Horror   Psychological Suspense   Thriller
iUniverse, Inc., 2006, 247 pages

“Please come put Mommy to bed.” But, it’s not a child who’s calling the police department with an emergency.

The phrase yanks New York City Detective William Gillette into chasing a ritual murderer with a twisted past and an affinity for redheads. Young Detective Gillette is proud of his heritage as the son of his famous detective father: Phil Gillette, who broke the Johnny Assanti mob’s stranglehold on the city. Phil left another, darker legacy to his only child, linked to William’s mother and a long-ago bedroom visitor.

William Gillette’s wife, Nancy, is an unhappily transplanted Southerner, who seeks to put her social work skills to use in a metro homeless shelter. There, she meets mysterious and well-dressed Jonathan Hamlin, a man rich though trading favors at prices not measured in money. Gillette drives his task force feverishly to solve the cruel murders, with the aid of a profiler whose sparkling intelligence and beauty distract Gillette from his wife’s life and unhappiness. Not until Gillette connects his long-ago family trauma to the redhead murders, is he able to solve the crimes. His triumph comes at the cost of his wife and a member of the task force.

First-time author Gerard F. Bianco, a native of Brooklyn, is also a successful artist and jewelry designer. He draws disturbing graphic descriptions of the murderer’s handiwork, and plausibly recreates a troubled mind. Until the last page, the horror is well-drawn, swiftly drawing a reader toward - unfortunately - a resolution as baffling as it is disappointing.

A. Rolfingsmeier

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, A. Rolfingsmeier