Book Review: Word Made Flesh

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Word Made Flesh     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Jack O'Connell
Class/Genre:   Mystery
HarperFlamingo, Jun 1999, $24.00, 326 pp.

Gilrein quit the police force when his wife, a fellow cop, died during a raid on a bomb factory. Three years later, he drives a cab in the rundown town of Quinsigamond. His fare that night turns out to be a steady customer, Leonardo Tani, a fence who dies that night courtesy of August Kroger’s thugs. This gang also viciously beats up Gilrein as they seek a book allegedly possessed by Tani.

Gilrein decides to investigate, especially after he connects the Tani death to the murder of his spouse. Gilrein searches his deceased wife’s notebooks looking for clues that might connect Inspector Laczze and his “Methodology" to the Kroger gang. He also begins inquiries into the most dangerous areas of a dying town where death potentially awaits Gilrein at each corner.

WORD OF FLESH is a weird, dark, but absolutely superb tale. The story line is filled with a dark landscape as nightmares abound under the guise of justice and crime. Gilrein is a wondrously tortured soul and the eccentric support cast augment the novel that will leave readers wanting to go Krogering. Jack O’Connell has written one of the most exciting, fantastic, but sobering tales of the year.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner