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THE SKIN GODS
by Richard Montanari
Ballantine, March 2006
416 pages
$24.95
ISBN: 0345470974


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

To say that Philadelphia detective Kevin Byrne is shocked when he hears that Julian Matisse is out of prison is an understatement. Kevin was instrumental in putting the vicious killer behind bars for what everyone hoped was a long time. A cop who is dying of cancer has given a statement that the evidence was planted. Kevin, still in physical therapy after a gunshot wound, wants Matisse back in jail.

Kevin's partner Jessie Balzano isn't really sure she knows the man who has returned to the force on a part-time basis. While he still must walk with a cane he is determined to do everything he can to find Matisse and resurrect solid evidence. He believes that is the least he can do for the victim's mother.

Now in this hot Philly summer, there is a new monster on the scene. Someone is murdering women and filming the killing. They are setting things up as scenes from famous movies, such as Psycho, where the victim is stabbed in the shower, as Norman Bates stabbed his victim. The new scene is spliced over the movie video tape and put on shelves in video stores for some poor, unsuspecting person to find.

THE SKIN GODS is a study in the mind of a madman. As always, the author's characters are outstanding. As police procedurals go, this is one of the best. The cops have flaws, and are only human, but their portrayals are so honest; it's obvious that the author wants to get it right.

All the other characters, especially the various men who I suspected as the book progressed, were skilfully portrayed. First, I was sure one was the killer, and then I decided that it had to be another. The writer keeps the reader guessing until the end. I like that in a book, I don't want to be able solve it too easily.

This is the second book in the new series set in Philadelphia. We met Jessie and Kevin previously in THE ROSARY GIRLS, another excellent and mesmerizing novel. Both of these characters are well developed, their family lives and professional lives are very well detailed. Montanari's books are so well written; even if the subject is a serial killer the books are excellent and well worth the time spent with them.

Reviewed by Lorraine Gelly, January 2006

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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