Customer Reviews

Flinch: A Novel

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book beats the hell out of Heartbreaker. I was so unimpressed with Heartbreaker that it took me several months to go around to Flinch. I'm not sure what happened to Ferrigno, but this book was so much better. Our hero, JImmy Gage, is great. Tough, tender hearted, and has great friends (who make great characters). Was a perfect story? No. The ending was a bit too neat, but I laughed, I cared and I look forward to the next one.

There are hundreds if not thousand of thrillers out there about serial killers. Anyone familiar with the genre has probably seen it all, which makes the challenge greater for the really good authors. Fortunately, Robert Ferrigno lives up to the challenge with Flinch.

Jimmy Gage is a top-notch tabloid reporter back in town after a year abroad. Before he left, he received a letter from the Eggman, who purported to be a serial killer. After investigation, it appears the Eggman is only a hoax, and by the time of Jimmy's return, the crimes remain unsolved. By accident, however, Jimmy stumbles upon evidence that the Eggman might be his brother, a sibling he has had a rather strained relationship over the years (not made any better since the brother married Jimmy's ex-girlfriend).

This might make for a rather routine novel, but at times, the Eggman story is merely incidental as Jimmy copes with the other characters in his life including a loan shark, her dim-witted bodyguard, a crippled but still deadly fence/drug-dealer and his lethal assistant. Like an Elmore Leonard novel, the characters and how they interact is as important as the plot. And also like Leonard, there is a dark humor that amuses but does not diminish the suspense.

If Ferrigno has a fault as a writer, it is only that he sometimes takes a while to produce a new novel. Other than that, Ferrigno is consistenly great, and this book continues his string of quality work.

"Flinch" is a fast-paced mystery detailing a cat and mouse game between a low-rent journalist and his brother, a high priced plastic surgeon who the journalist suspects of being a serial killer. The title refers to the relatively innocent sado-masochistic games of their adolescence, magnified in the present to deadly proportions.

Ferrigno writes in an updated noir style, using crisp dialogue, oversized villains, and the sleazy/glitzy settings in Orange County, California. Although writer Jimmy Gage has the requisite cynicism and a balance of fair play and tough defiance, he's not strictly out of the Sam Spade mode either: His sense of moral outrage is a bit askew, and he doesn't always use the best of judgment. Additionally, the novel contains some very graphic violence, more gruesome than the traditional style.

The novel moves briskly, unimpeded by the several minor characters and related subplots. Other than a romance with Detective Jane Holt that develops a little too quickly, the plot twists are both plausible and genuinely surprising. Ferrigno captures the outrages and pretenses of Southern California without stereotyping. Much better than his more famous "The Horse Latitudes," Ferrigno has written a brisk and believable story that grabs your attention from the first page.

"Flinch" is a fast-paced mystery detailing a cat and mouse game between a low-rent journalist and his brother, a high priced plastic surgeon who the journalist suspects of being a serial killer. The title refers to the relatively innocent sado-masochistic games of their adolescence, magnified in the present to deadly proportions.

Ferrigno writes in an updated noir style, using crisp dialogue, oversized villains, and the sleazy/glitzy settings in Orange County, California. Although writer Jimmy Gage has the requisite cynicism and a balance of fair play and tough defiance, he's not strictly out of the Sam Spade mode either: His sense of moral outrage is a bit askew, and he doesn't always use the best of judgment. Additionally, the novel contains some very graphic violence, more gruesome than the traditional style.

The novel moves briskly, unimpeded by the several minor characters and related subplots. Other than a romance with Detective Jane Holt that develops a little too quickly, the plot twists are both plausible and genuinely surprising. Ferrigno captures the outrages and pretenses of Southern California without stereotyping. Much better than his more famous "The Horse Latitudes," Ferrigno has written a brisk and believable story that grabs your attention from the first page.

Sometimes, it's the little things than can turn your stomach regarding a book. It can be a minor thing that has little to do with the plot but it can gnaw at the reader. This is my problem with Flinch. I'm quite familiar with the area's described in this book because I live in Orange County, California. I'm willing to bet that a majority of the people who read this book would gladly trade where they live where I live. Orange County is wealthy, clean and a desirable place to live. There are nasty areas just like anywhere else. It's just a shame that Mr. Ferrigno doesn't know the difference.

First off, I'm amazed the Mr. Ferrigno's biography includes a stint as a reporter for the Orange County Register. During this book, Ferrigno demonstrates a complete ignorance of Orange County, California. While he sometimes gets the descriptions right on the beach communities, he maligns cities such as La Palma and Fountain Valley. These two cities are wonderful suburban towns to live and raise a family. Yes, they can be boring and sterile, but they are much nicer than the treatment that Ferrigno gives them. I won't even get into his description of Anaheim because it isn't even close to reality.

Now on to the book itself. Ferrigno, knows how to spin quite a yarn. This book which deals with various skullduggery by a bunch of doctors, pro wrestlers, and journalist Jimmy Gage can [pull] you in. He has a knack for crafting great dialogue and the comparisons to Elmore Leonard make sense in terms of the way the book is written. The comparison breaks down, however, in that you find it impossible to like any of these characters. With Elmore Leonard there is always a couple of sterling characters mixed in with the miasma of hopeless losers that give the book some glimmer of optimism.

In Flinch, everyone is a corrupt scumbag including the lead protagonist. The ending is a surprise and has a few plot twists and I'm afraid we might see another book to continue the story. In the end though, what you have is a book full of very scummy people who are often far too violent for most people's taste.

Ferrigno writes great dialogue and shoot 'em up action scenes with the sleazy side of Southern California as backdrop. Despite a sibling rivalry that is uncomfortable in its extreme, this is a great story.

Flinch is the game Jimmy Gage and his older brother Jonathan played as kids, each pushing the other to a point that would make him flinch. Jimmy creates a national sensation when he gets a box of broken eggs claiming to connect six unrelated murders and writes about it for "Slap" magazine. Soon the story is dismissed as a hoax with only Detective Jane Holt still believing there is an "Eggman killer" on the loose. Jimmy follows a rock band to Europe, gets tossed in jail for three months and finds that his girlfriend Olivia married brother Jonathan the day before he got out to return home.

Jimmy believes Jonathan is the Eggman killer, and one ongoing game of high stakes Flinch runs between them throughout the book. The interlocking stories work well. Jimmy avenges the death of cop Desmond Terrill's son killed by Lee Macklin, a real bad guy who runs drugs, a nightspot and a wrestling business of sorts with Great White, the classic monster muscle guy as his bodyguard. A rival group consisting of weightlifting Spanish chick Pilar and her lackey Blaine, wrestling's Robo-Surfer, fill out the cast of weird people.

There are some terrific action scenes with Great White - wait 'til you get to the one where he takes on the Chechens or his final showdown with Jimmy.

The ending is, well, interesting ... enough said. A very different but very enjoyable story.

Unlike other Robert Ferrigno books. This one has no suspense, no mystery, and is extremely boring. I tried to like it but just couldn't although I struggled through to the end.

Ferrigno is an excellent author. He reminds me of Lehane, who burst upon on the scene with rare economy and language, only to seemingly run out of ideas and characters. We keep rooting for a comeback and hoping that fate doesn't happen to other favorites.

But with Flinch, the brilliant, millionaire doctor and his twin brother, the underworld haunted, World Wrestling Federation attendee, the friend of criminals, righter of the wake of evil psychos, just didn't work for me. I tried, Bob, really I did. The dialogue is crisp and funny and witty, as long as you could suspend knowledge of who was the speaking. But after Heartbreaker, an extraordinary effort, this was going-through-the-motions-like. And in Heartbreaker, I never saw the ending coming. Last three pages . . . knocked me out. In Flinch I saw it coming in the first three pages. And clairvoyant, I ain't.

One last point. I'm really getting tired of the serial killer "because I am a confused genius having fun" motif. Have we used that one enough? I think there's a legion of really excellent auhors who never wrote a serial killer plot: Chandler, Parker, Crumley, Burke all come to mind. It's tedious. It borders on offensive. I'll read Ferrigno again, and probably again. This one, in the words of Luca Brazi, 'sleeps with the fishes.'

Another terrific tale from Robert Ferrigno. Not as good as Heartbreaker...but what is? This exceptional tale of two brothers takes sibling rivalry to another level altogether. As always, Ferrigno creates the most interesting and remarkable characters. His knack for flawed heroes is uncanny.

The style is engaging and enjoyable, but the plot takes a long time to travel a very short distance. The author makes it easy to read, but when we're done, it's not very satisfying. Looking foward to the next effort.