Book Review: The Breathtaker

Reviewed By: Woodstock - RAM

The Breathtaker     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Alice Blanchard
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Serial Killer

A healthy measure of the suspension of disbelief is required by the reader of this novel. In the space of one summer, on a more or less monthly basis, tornadoes of killer magnitude threaten the same stretch of Oklahoma prairie. The first storm to sweep through leaves the classic total destruction in its wake. Local sheriff Charlie Grover is startled and sickened to discover that three of the bodies discovered in the debris did not die from storm related injuries, but instead were murdered by makeshift knives carved of wood and designed to resemble storm debris. To amplify the horror, all the bodies have been mutilated in a uniquely original style.

As successive storms plague the area, more murdered and mutilated bodies are discovered, and as he inquires of nearby law enforcement agencies, Grover uncovers earlier deaths and mutilations, along with stories of petty burglaries ocurring while the storm winds raged.

Concluding that his most likely suspect will be found in the group of "storm chasers" who follow tornadoes for thrills, Grover appeals to a local wind research facility for help.

Grover deals with the loneliness of his motherless teenaged daughter, the rascally personality of his elderly father, his own attraction to one of the wind research staff, the ineptitude and lax responsibility of some of his deputies, as well as the many practical details of assisting the small communities ravaged by the storms.

I liked the basic premise of the story, and Blanchard did a good job of setting the scene in the small prairie towns. And once I was willing to accept her premise that killer storms could plague the same small area three or four times in a few short months, I enjoyed the ride. As the reviewer for Booklist noted, this one has "sale to the movies" written all over it!

Woodstock - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Woodstock - RAM