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An early warning. Start this when you have plenty of time to read. You'll find it nearly impossible to lay it aside. The story grabs you from page one and hardly lets go until the very end. Anyone who has read Barre's other novels knows he has developed into a major talent. And he just keeps getting better. I believe that this novel, will one day be regarded as a classic. The writing is economic, spare, and careful. There simply are no wasted words. Every character is sharply etched, distinct and consistent throughout. The terse prose is evocative of the situations and at times beautifully descriptive. Barre's protagonist, Viet Nam vet Wil Hardesty, is a California P.I. with plenty of personal baggage. He goes to Bakersfield with his current inamorata, a woman toward whom he's developing some serious intentions. The presence of Kari Thayer in this book gives the author several opportunities to vary the pace and substitute one kind of tension for another. Barre uses this device judiciously and very effectively. The trip to Bakersfield is intended to be merely a short vacation, but due to an altercation in a bookstore, Bakersfield becomes aware of Hardesty and his capabilities. Inevitably, that leads to Hardesty being drawn into a set of circumstances with roots in the not too distant past. It's a case that involves big music, big oil, greed, big money, multiple murders, and other criminal behavior. The genius of the author is displayed in the careful way in which circumstance logically leads to other circumstances, entwines with rising tension and increasing pace, all calculated to carry the reader to the final, logical, conclusions. The communities, the surrounding desert and man's intrusive presence are brought forth in ways that allow us to viscerally experience the truck stop and taste the dust. Multiple layers and threads weave through the book with care. This is a complex novel with something to say about relationships, but we are never confused, never lost. BLACKHEART HIGHWAY is a stunning accomplishment. -- Carl Brookins is the author of: INNER PASSAGES A SUPERIOR MYSTERY http://www.Minnesotacrimewave.org/
Reviewed by Carl Brookins
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