- Hardcover: 275 pages
- Publisher: Five Star (ME) (July 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1594145407
- ISBN-13: 978-1594145407
- Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 16 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 249 g
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
In Zeltserman's unconvincing third thriller (after Fast Lane), Cambridge, Mass., detective Bill Shannon dreads every February 10th, the anniversary of the day his mother was brutally murdered in their California home when Bill was 13. Around the anniversary, Bill suffers from debilitating blackouts that often cause long stretches of amnesia. As the 20th anniversary approaches, the blackouts become more severe, disrupting Bill's work and home life. Soon he's spiraling out of control, unsure how to tell reality from nightmare. A series of gruesome slayings have Bill questioning whether he himself could be responsible and terrified that Herbert Winters, his mother's killer, has come back to claim him. Crime novelists from Robert B. Parker to Dennis Lehane have found fertile ground in a similar premise and setting, but Zeltserman falls short of their standard. Bill Shannon lacks the depth required for a character who walks the line between victim and potential killer, and instead collapses into stereotype.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
A compellingly clever wheels-within-wheels thriller, Zeltserman's new novel blends genres in a subtle mix that will appeal to both mystery and horror fans. Police detective Bill Shannon's dreams are being invaded by images of horrific violence, but the source of the intrusion remains shadowed until the harrowing conclusion of the novel, a homage to the Australian Aboriginal concept of "Dreamtime." The reader will be kept guessing as to whether the psychologically hammered cop is being revisited by his own guilt or whether there's an outside factor involved in his recurring visions of murdering his own mother. The resolution of the novel clearly indicates the possibility of sequels to come, so if you want to get in on the ground floor, now's the time. An ingenious plot, skillfully executed. Elliott Swanson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.4 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Unorthodox Means Good, May 5 2010
By Frank S. Scalise "aka Frank Zafiro, author of... - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Bad Thoughts (Hardcover)
BAD THOUGHTS is not your typical mystery or crime fiction novel. It reminds me more of something along the lines of the Denzel Washington movie, "Fallen." Something that starts out seeming like crime fiction and becomes something spookier. Zeltserman gives the term "psychological thriller" new meaning, writing in a carefully controlled but seemingly scattered fashion that makes the reader as edgy as the protagonist. Give this one a whirl, especially if you're looking for something off the beaten path. Expect to read it in just a few sittings, though. Once it starts rocking, it really rolls.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a must read for thriller fans, July 26 2007
By Harriet Klausner - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Bad Thoughts (Hardcover)
Considering the trauma he experienced when he was thirteen years old and the emotional abuse he suffered at the hands of his father, Billy Shannon grew up to be a fine man and a fantastic police officer. However, a few weeks before the anniversary of his mother's death, he begins to dream but they are no ordinary nocturnal reveries. This year he dreams of a woman who was murdered and from his mind he pulls out the real time location of where her body is located.
He experiences his usual blackout after he goes on his yearly "binge" but this time the dreams don't stop. Two other murders occur to women and in the same manner in which his mom was murdered, a knife in her throat by drifter Herbert Winters. All the evidence points to Shannon as the killer and he keeps dreaming and hearing the whispers of Herbert Winters claiming one of his alter egos are killing the women. Shannon knows he has killed nobody but he also believes Herbert isn't the murderer because he killed him when he was thirteen after hours of torture. Someone is out to frame him for the killings and when he figures out why, he will know who and the reason this person has such a malevolent lethal grudge against him.
David Zeltserman is a talented noir thriller writer who throws one surprise after another at the audience so that they find themselves totally bewildered about what is really happening to the protagonist. Shannon has not had an easy life but his suffering never turned him to the dark side. Instead it made him a strong person determined to see justice is done which is why he became a police officer. The villain is so over the top that he makes the audience feel creepy as if spiders are crawling all over their bodies. This is a must read for thriller fans.
Harriet Klausner
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
ahhh, zeltserman sort of misses it with this one. He's still hands down great., July 6 2009
By clifford "akitonmyers" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Bad Thoughts (Hardcover)
Hmmmm, this is a great piece of hard boiled writing situated around a sort of silly premise. Its too bad.
Given Zeltserman's history of creating likeable dreggs of humanity characters, you are unsure exactly what is happening here. Is Bill Shannon behind a spat of horrific recent murders or is some Dean Koontz style mystic force behind them and setting Shannon up for the fall?
Im not giving away anything by saying that Zeltserman injects a comic book style bad guy into this story who has the ability to wander through other peoples thoughts. You will find this out pretty early on in the book. What makes this story worth reading regardless, is that you want to know what will happen. The writing is good enough to 'almost' make the evil doer worthy of Zeltsermans narrative gift.
I would say, DONT START with this Zeltserman book. It is his least well put together story. Its a good attempt at breaking the mould he was setting up for himself. And your unsure how the story will resolve itself til the end. (which is saying something). I hope that Zeltserman continues to try to break his restraints and would not mind seeing him come back into the mystic realm for another try at this. Just not his finest work thus far.
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