Book Review: The Blade Itself

Reviewed By: Woodstock - RAM

The Blade Itself     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon UK HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Marcus Sakey
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller
St Martin's Paperbacks December 2007

"Honor among thieves." "As the twig is bent, so grows the tree."

Several well worn platitudes kept circling through my mind as I read Sakey's excellent debut novel. Danny Carter got his life off to a rough start, but now in his early thirties, he has a solid career in construction management, a stable relationship with a woman he loves, and he is confident he has left the past behind him.

But when EVan, his previous partner in petty burglary and theft is released from prison, he comes to Danny requesting - make that demanding - that they pull "just one more job" and pointing out that Danny owes him his cooperation. When arrested, Evan had said nothing about Danny's complicity and in return for nearly a dozen years of silence, he now is maneuvering to pull Danny back into crime.

Does Danny owe Evan enough to risk losing his stable place in society? Is he still the young punk of his late teen years, or has he really changed? A brief attempt to confide in a cop he knows doesn't go well, and Evan ups the ante by threatening the woman in Danny's life.

What follows is a white knuckle ride through a brazen kidnapping and its aftermath, and a moral crisis for Danny.

The paperback edition comes with three pages of praise - excerpts from reviewers, booksellers, and other authors. All the praise is deserved.

Woodstock - RAM

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