Book Review: Known Dead

Reviewed By: Luke Croll - RAM

Known Dead     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Donald Harstad
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural
Series: Carl Houseman # 2
Fourth Estate; 1999; £5.99; pp 374
Classification: Adult fiction (thriller)

Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman of 'Eleven Days' returns here to battle against a splinter group of right-wing extremists. Can he stop them before the number of deaths gets any higher?

When I read 'Eleven Days', the first novel by Harstad, I absolutely loved it. For a first novel, it was an excellent work and I found it quite hard to see how he could improve on it. However, with 'The Known Dead', he has certainly succeeded.

The plot is excellent and Harstad litters it with twists and turns, culminating in an excellent, almost jaw-dropping finale. Writing with a dry, humorous style in the first person, he gives the book a real air of authenticity. He continues to develop his characters, especially his main one, Carl Houseman, and introduces some new ones, who I imagine that we may see again.

US police procedurals do not get a lot better than this. I wholeheartedly recommend it and if you liked 'Eleven Days', you are going to love this. Donald Harstad is well on his way to stardom in this literary genre.

Luke Croll - RAM

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