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This is the most frustrating sort of mystery. It starts brilliantly, with fascinating characters and potential plotline that immediately grabs a reader's attention and with laser-like focus brings it to the central dilemma. Terrier Rand has returned home to his crime family upon the summons of his brother, Collie, whose execution date has been set. Terry broke with the family crime business when Collie went on a rampage, killing an entire family of strangers, as well as several other random individuals on a single night. Now, years later and ready to meet his maker, Collie claims that one of the deaths ascribed to him was not one he committed. He wants Terry to uncover the real killer to that single murder before he dies. All of this set-up (including the family of dog-named Rands) is intriguing, the kind of writing that you just can't put down. Edgar-worthy, International Thriller Writers Award-worthy, the kind of writing that gets you placed on short lists or wins you acclaim in your genre (as Tom Piccirilli has done in the past). Then, however, the story moves on. Collie offers up no explanation for his night of carnage. There's a side plot about the youngest in the family (a sister who's mixed up with a bad boyfriend) that goes nowhere. There are uncles whose evil exploits are showcased, but minds and behaviors never really explained. In short, just when a reader begins to think he or she has struck gold, it all begins to seem like just sparkly rocks and not much more. To give author Tom Piccirilli his due, he has created fascinating characters, a family well known in the community for its odd, often sinister, behavior and its criminal lifestyle. He has perfectly sketched out the love-hate relationship between siblings Collie and Terry, which ultimately compels Terry to satisfy Collie's curiosity and get to the bottom of the unaccounted-for murder. There are plenty of reasons to read this book, and yet, in the end, it becomes nearly impossible to recommend due to its failed ending. There's nothing to redeem the crime, no last confession from Collie, no mercy for family members entwined in the murder and shame of that night, no satisfaction for Collie's wife, his victims, or Terry. Even learning the perpetrator of the last brutal act leaves a reader feeling dissatisfied. What begins with so much energy and promise ultimately fades away. § Christine Zibas is a freelance writer and former director of publications for a Chicago nonprofit.
Reviewed by Christine Zibas, August 2012
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