Review: The Blade Itself

I read this late last year as one of the ‘Killer Year 2006’ debut novels and was knocked for six, because it just doesn’t read like a debut. As a fan of Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos and Elmore Leonard this little number patrols the same darkened alleyways of those master wordsmiths, but Sakey is no rip-off merchant because he has his own finely tuned voice to tell this story, and a sharp ear for dialogue. The title is a line from Homer, so straight away we’re tipped off that this book has an existential angle. I am so pleased Penguin have brought this debut tale to British shores, because I know it will captivate a hungry readership.

The plot is about paying off for a troubled past, it’s about atoning for our sins, but most of all it’s about life and death – as Danny Carter the protagonist has to do just that. And what a sweaty ride this proves to be. You see Carter has made good by crawling out of the poor Irish quarter of Chicago, with a good job, a wife he loves and a life that is sweet, but there is a shadow from his past that returns to haunt him. The shadow is that of his old ‘friend’ Evan McGann.

Carter was involved with McGann when they raided a pawnshop late one night when Carter was young and naïve. Carter escaped but McGann, who liked the feel of his gun too much, and ended up in prison for his deadly actions. But McGann followed the rules of the game by keeping Carter’s name away from the boys in blue.

Many years elapse but after release, McGann tracks down his old friend Carter and lays down his rules, rules of atonement, rules of the underworld; and McGann has become a psychopath. Carter wants nothing to do with McGann and his plan, but the ties that shackle him are the deeds of his past – the pawnshop raid and the sound of a gun blast. So Carter finds himself roped back into a past he had hoped he had freed himself from. The novel then evolves between a tense cat-and-mouse game between Carter and McGann as the job takes shape. The novel becomes a claustrophobic experience as we can see no easy way out for Danny Carter, especially as Evan McGann has such a hold over him. The finale had me whipping through the pages faster than I would normally do, but Sakey has stripped the description into terse action that made me roar ‘BRAVO’ at the climax. I just wonder what Sakey has in store for a follow-up because ‘The Blade Itself’ is such a mesmorizing debut – Ali Karim

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

Book Review: The Blade Itself