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See, I\u2019d seen that look before. That wrinkled nose, that laughing sparkle in the eyes. In the movies, evil guys laugh out loud. Bwa-ha-ha. Or they chuckle suavely, swirling their drinks in their glasses. But this is the real deal, the real look most monsters have. A sort of cute, dainty, delicate recoil from speaking the thing out loud. The forbidden joke of it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Are we being naughty now?<\/i>
\nI know you\u2019re used to seeing me review Andrew Klavan\u2019s books,<\/strong> and I know you\u2019ve come to expect me to praise each one to the skies. Nevertheless, I want you to believe me when I say that it\u2019s been a long time since I actually stayed up late in bed with a book, unable to put it down except by a strong effort of the will.
\nKiller in the Wind<\/a><\/i> is one of the most compelling thrillers I\u2019ve ever read.
\nThe hero, Dan Champion, is a former commando, a former New York City police detective, and a certified hero. Now he\u2019s part of the police force in a small town in downstate New York. He\u2019s dating a local waitress, a nice woman whose love he\u2019d like to return. But he can\u2019t commit. He can\u2019t commit for a reason he himself knows is crazy. Three years ago, in the course of an undercover investigation, he had a hallucination under the influence of drugs. In the hallucination he encountered a woman named Samantha, whom he can\u2019t get over. Even though he knows for a fact that she doesn\u2019t exist.
\nExcept that one day Samantha shows up in the flesh. She says one thing to him \u2013 \u201cThey\u2019re coming after us\u201d<\/i> \u2013 before disappearing again.
\nIs this a real-world mystery, or a supernatural thriller? The borderline seems vague sometimes, and that\u2019s no accident. Klavan likes to explore those boundaries. Some of the reviews on Amazon suggest that certain readers don\u2019t get this. They take the uncertainty as over-the-top storytelling. But it\u2019s not. It\u2019s the author\u2019s way of exploring the wonder of life itself \u2013 that all of us are living in an improbable world, a world impossible to explain by purely rational methods. For good and evil.
\nMy own reaction to Killer in the Wind<\/i> may not be yours. I\u2019m pretty sure I was emotionally affected by the way it dealt with areas of human evil of which I have some personal experience.
\nBut even if that\u2019s the case, I can still recommend Killer in the Wind<\/i> without reservation. It\u2019s a tight, tense, deeply moving thriller with characters as real as your own family.
\nCautions for rough language, sex, and violence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"See, I\u2019d seen that look before. That wrinkled nose, that laughing sparkle in the eyes. In the movies, evil guys laugh out loud. Bwa-ha-ha. Or they chuckle suavely, swirling their drinks in their glasses. But this is the real deal, the real look most monsters have. A sort of cute, dainty, delicate recoil from speaking … Continue reading Killer in the Wind, by Andrew Klavan<\/span>