Imagine a combination of "The Premature Burial," "Double Indemnity," "The Postman Always Rings Twice" and "Body Heat"..that's what you get in this incredibly good thriller. Michael Kimball weaves a complex plot of betrayal, seduction, incest, murder and blackmail, and does so with such finesse one can hardly believe what they're reading.
Bobby Swift and his deliciously gorgeous wife, Noel, have a perfect plan: fake his death, bury him, dig him up and off they go to the Cayman Islands to spend the two million dollars he extorted from one of his associates. Add a wizened and weasly mortician named Wicker and you have a seemingly perfect plan. Enter Sal Erickson, Bobby's best friend, who becomes embroiled in the plot in the most despicable of ways. He's an alcoholic, who has tried to reform, but alas, can't stay away from the bottle. Sal is so bad that on many occasions, he has gotten so drunk that he can't remember what he did...hint, hint. Add his wife's sex-crazed brother, Jerry Royal; a couple of cops and detectives; Sal's wife who harbors a dark secret; and all hell breaks loose. Just when you think you've got it all figured out, Kimball adds another twist that keeps you guessing.
A tense, compelling and quite enjoyable thriller.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
