One of the benefits of the e-book revolution for authors is the opportunity it gives them to bring out-of-print books to the public again, and wring a little new income (and attention) out of works the publishers have abandoned, sometimes for fairly shortsighted reasons.
That seems to be the case with Richard LaPlante’s 1993 novel, Mantis, which launched a series starring Philadelphia police detective Bill Fogarty and forensic scientist (and martial arts expert) Josef Tanaka.
The set-up is interesting. Fogarty and Tanaka, though different in ages and cultural heritages, have many similarities. Fogarty is burdened with guilt over the deaths of his wife and daughter in an auto accident when he was driving—an accident which left him with burn scars on his face. Tanaka is haunted by the memory of permanently paralyzing his older brother, whom he idolized, in a tournament competition. They are drawn together in the hunt for a serial killer—a deeply twisted martial arts expert who believes himself to be guided by the spirit of the praying mantis.
The writing is good, the characters strong. Author LaPlante seems to be attempting to do the Hannibal Lector thing here, creating a villain at once evil and sympathetic. Frankly, that part didn’t really work for me. I felt sorry for what I read of the killer’s childhood sufferings, but his cruelty was so perverse, his inhumanity so profound, that I lost interest in him.
There was also an element rare in conventional thrillers—a supernatural, psychic side to the story. I’m old-fashioned enough about my mystery stories to generally resent the introduction of the supernatural. If I want magic, I’ll go to the fantasy aisle.
On the other hand, the story has a fairly strong moral center. It is made clear that both Fogarty and Tanaka go wrong when they allow their passions to push them over the line of legality in their investigation. Though that line gets crossed again, come to think of it, in the story’s climax.
To wrap it up, I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I hoped to, and wished it over well before the end. I wouldn’t call it a waste of your money at the price, but I can’t recommend it wholeheartedly. Cautions for language, sex, and deep perversion.