From Publishers Weekly
Don't be put off by the dark, forbidding cover of this latest thriller in Bland's popular Marti MacAlister series, because the story is gripping from the opening sentence through its chilling final scene. African-American detective Marti and partner Matthew Jessenovik investigate a 20-year killing spree where victims' severed hands are found protruding from the ground, "fingers curled in a beckoning gesture." Their quest for the perp runs through Chicago's ethnic neighborhoods, encountering the plagues of urban America today: prostitution, drug addiction, AIDS and, inevitably, murder. A look at the origins of some of these intractable problems takes us back to a '70s hippie commune where one of Chicago society's daughters sought refuge after her mother's suicide. Beyond a simple murder case, the novel becomes an engrossing story of the ever more violent conflicts between society's "insiders and the excluded," and Bland's obvious familiarity with urban issues lends credibility to her riveting style. She deftly interweaves a subplot involving Marti's best friend, who's entangled in a terrifying relationship with a serial killer who lures her, and later her unsuspecting teenage daughter, to the Bahamas just before a hurricane nearly destroys the islands. While much blood is spilled in this despairing tale, it is never graphic or sensational, but rather gives an authentic feeling of life in the urban abyss. The last page shows disturbingly how the cycle of violence will continue unabated. Agent, Ted Chichak. (Nov. 12)Forecast: With no special promotion and bleak subject matter, this quality item could benefit from some aggressive handselling.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Through nine episodes in Bland's superior series, police detective Marti MacAlister has lost none of the verve, intelligence, street smarts, and humanity that make her one of the most interesting characters in contemporary mystery fiction. This time she and her partner, Matthew Jessenovik, draw an unusual case: following the trail left by a severed arm, which turns up in a vacant lot in Lincoln Prairie, Illinois. When Marti discovers that three other unclaimed dismembered arms have been found in the town over a 20year period, she looks for a connection. The trail leads eventually to an elitist guild that once controlled the local art world. When a potter is murdered and a painter has her house ransacked, Marti knows she's on to something. Meanwhile, Marti worries about her friend Sharon, who is ignoring her own daughter and the need to come to terms with her dying mother. Bland has always drawn connections between childhood abuse and adult crime or failure. Here, exclusion is her theme--and how exclusion from a community of which one should be a part or exclusion from the love one deserves can be just as damaging as any physical abuse. Powerful stuff, indeed. Don't miss it.
Stuart MillerCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
