Book Review: Still River

Reviewed By: Woodstock - RAM

Still River     Amazon US HC Amazon UK HC Amazon Canada HC
Harry Hunsicker
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Private Investigator
Series: Lee Henry Oswald
Thomas Dunne Books, 2005, 277 pages

Hank Oswald is a private eye in present day Dallas, Texas. His full name is Lee Henry Oswald, and although you might expect that this unfortunate naming would be a major theme of the book, it's not. This decision by Hunsicker intrigued me as I read.

Hank is approached by a friend from his high school days to find her missing brother, a young man who had always been on the outside looking in on the rest of the society and who has disappeared after 18 months of hard won sobriety. Of course, the mystery of where he is now leads to a long list of other questions, and a huge cast of assorted bad guys - from hard nosed drug dealers to nefarious real estate tycoons.

Hunsicker writes in a wry humorous style, and there are lots of chuckles along the way. Hank sorts it all out eventually, and STILL RIVER is a very enjoyable read. The only drawback is that Hank has a seemingly incurable case of what I call "superman syndrome." Suffering the after effects of more than one gunshot wound, going without a meal or a stop to rest for hours upon hours, fueling his activity with Tylenol3 and some handy meth tablets, and most improbably of all, relying on a cell phone which never needs charging, Hank moves through the decisive closing action with authority and efficiency.

Nevertheless, I'd say Hunsicker is an author to keep one's eye on.

Woodstock - RAM

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