An American Killing

Rating:
Summary: A Cerebral Beach Read
Review: "An American Killing" is for those who look for well-written beach books. Even though I don't read much fiction, I kept reading this crime novel to the end. Mary-Ann Tirone Smith has written a well-designed, well-researched story that broaches a few issues beyond the who-dunnit genre, namely crime theory, motherhood, politics, postmodernist philosophy, an insider's look at publishing, and--most intriguing--a study of the marriage of a woman who behaves with a man's independence. The heroine, a bestselling author who specializes in novelizing true murders, has as much bluster and vigor as any male detective. She's trained her teenaged children to do without her, and her husband, too. She leaves without permission, contacts them only when convenient, and offers them no guilt, no explanations, no lengthy telephone communications. Smith's best writing--of writing that is excellent throughout--details her forays alone to the family's Rhode Island beach cottage, and the dog, Buddy, that keeps her company. She also describes a dying industrial town and its unfortunate residents, a prison interview, an author's personal day in New York City, and the writer's life in Washington, DC, as though she's been there. She has a strange habit of not providing physical descriptions of the men in this story. And the sex is, well, perhaps an editor's suggestion; she skates over it like an embarrassment. But I like the relationships she describes. You see yourself in these scenes; she hits you in places you'll recognize. It's unusual for a private investigator to fall in love with the chief murder suspect, but this works. The effectiveness of Tirone Smith's story rests on unexpectedness. I quibble with the ending, which has the strong smell of change by an editor. This would have been a more powerful story if Tirone Smith had kept the ending I think she was leading us to: a better understanding of crimes of domestic violence, and the knowledge that we know least those we love best--Linda Donelson, author of "Out of Isak Dinesen: Karen Blixen's untold story"

Rating:
Summary: GOSSIPY AND GRIPPING, GLAMOUROUS AND GRITTY
Review: Gossipy and gripping, glamourous and gritty aren't contradictions in An American Killing but add zest to the mix in this intriguing multi-tiered thriller by Mary-Ann Tirone Smith.

After four critically praised literary endeavors, including Masters Of Illusion (1994) and The Port Of Missing Men (1989), Ms. Smith has gracefully repaired to the thriller field. Her first effort in this genre is delivered with all the aplomb and style of an established master. Sure to garner new fans and plaudits for the author, An American Killing also gifts readers with one top-notch, skillfully conceived mystery.

By choosing today's power-driven Washington, D.C. as her setting, the author establishes an immediacy that makes this chilling tale even more disturbing. Conversations with contemporary literati and weekends shared with Bill and Hillary satisfy a yen for insider scoops, while intelligent, probative comments regarding racism, politics, and marriage enrich the novel's narrative. Ms. Smith shows a special knack for revealing the intimate longings and protective responses of a bruised human heart.

Smart and sardonic, Denise Burke is a true crime writer who has regularly snared bestseller list slots with her O. J. Simpson tell-all and revelations about murderous moms (think Susan Smith). Married to remote, rather oblivious Nick, a Clinton policy adviser, and mother of two almost unrealistically reliable and independent adolescents, she is privy to Washington's in-circle as well as Literary Guild soirees.

Upon meeting attractive, charismatic Congressman Owen Hall, Denise is, in this order: impressed, involved, in bed with him. Suggesting that a black man, Eddie Baines, may have been wrongly convicted of wantonly stabbing the Montevallo family to death, Owen asks her to look into the murders. The crime site was his hometown of New Caxton, Rhode Island, a dried up industrial juncture that he describes as an idyllic New England community where a premeditated murder has never taken place and the street signs are red in honor of the football team.

Unable to resist either her blue blooded lover or his request, it is not too long before Denise discovers a hint of "the violence that lays just beneath the surface of the guileless picture of New Caxton that Owen Hall had drawn."

Commuting between Alexandria, Virginia, and her beach house, a safe half-hour from New Caxton, Denise's skills as a researcher begin to uncover the subterfuge, the cunning deception practiced by the entire community.

When Owen does an abrupt turn-around and asks her to forget about the case, Denise isn't surprised. By that time she has discovered that his concern for a fellow man was prompted not by charity but by his own cowardice and abysmal past. A past that has somehow caused the death of a likable young reporter who was also looking into the case, and placed Denise's life in jeopardy.

With Denise Burke Ms. Smith has created a witty, plucky and thoroughly likeable heroine whom we'd like to meet again. And, when she returns, it is hoped she'll bring Buddy, one of the most lovable canines to hit fiction since Asta, as well as her best friend FBI Agent Poppy Rice, she of the wide blue eyes, cynical repartee, and legs that stretch from here to Tuesday.

Fresh as the latest Web report with show-no-mercy pace and crackling dialogue, An American Killing is what every thriller should be - absorbing, intelligent, suspenseful and a terrific makes you sorry-when-it's-over tale.

Rating:
Summary: An up-all-night thriller with a killer edge of wit
Review: I can easily see why this book has been proclaimed one of 1998's best. "An American Killing" is a terrific read with a master's touch. The author's character development is exceptional and the story line one of the best I have read in a good while.

If you're looking for a book to keep you company for a night, this is the one. I couldn't put it down until I had finished. The end may surprise but will not disappoint.

Rating:
Summary: Surprising!
Review: I found this to be a fabulous read. The characters, especially the protagonist, were well-developed and believable. There were so many surprises and twists during the second-half of the book that I was reading with my mouth open. The women are the stronger characters for a nice change. I will definitely be looking for more from this author.

Rating:
Summary: Surprising!
Review: I found this to be a fabulous read. The characters, especially the protagonist, were well-developed and believable. There were so many surprises and twists during the second-half of the book that I was reading with my mouth open. The women are the stronger characters for a nice change. I will definitely be looking for more from this author.

Rating:
Summary: An American Love Affair
Review: It's been a while since I read this book, but I have no trouble remembering how hard it was to put down. It was a unique read, well conceived characters, swift moving plot, a refreshing brevity of language, ( dare I say for a female author?), and lots of surprises. What more can you ask for, you say? Well, I only ask for more, more, more! Unfortunately, this is the only book that this author has written of this genre. I'll keep looking and hoping though. More, please!

Rating:
Summary: Literary writer tries her hand at mystery
Review: The most unique aspect of "An American Killing" lies in the writing. Taking a solid but somewhat common plot, Smith adds a layer of observation and interpretation to make for a rich and thoughtfully paced suspense read. For example, Smith spends what seems, at first, to be an inordinate amount of time describing the declining mill town of New Caxton, Rhode Island. However, as the book progresses, many of the clues to the triple murder lie precisely in what is normal and what was abnormal in the minute details of everyday life in New Caxton.

Denise Burke, the narrator/true crime novelist, is very different from Nancy Prichard's new protagonist, Marie Lightfoot. Denise is an interesting and rich personality - not just because she shoots the bull with Hilary Clinton. The book is full of her inner thoughts which are processed in a most female style. Male readers need to be prepared for some very "Venus" type thinking.

The book missing a fifth star for a couple of reasons. First, the book starts with the murder of the Congressman, then spends 90% of the book in a relatively linear narrative of events preceeding the murder, and then has a brief post murder wrap-up. Since the real mystery isn't the murder of the Congressman but rather the triple murder, why confuse the issue. Also, while I enjoyed the asides about the Clintons, I think the marketers do the potential readers a disservice. Bill and Hilary have nothing to do with the core of the story.

Bottom-line: A nicely written mystery that takes time to think and observe. The pacing may be too slow for some readers.

Rating:
Summary: Literary writer tries her hand at mystery
Review: The most unique aspect of "An American Killing" lies in the writing. Taking a solid but somewhat common plot, Smith adds a layer of observation and interpretation to make for a rich and thoughtfully paced suspense read. For example, Smith spends what seems, at first, to be an inordinate amount of time describing the declining mill town of New Caxton, Rhode Island. However, as the book progresses, many of the clues to the triple murder lie precisely in what is normal and what was abnormal in the minute details of everyday life in New Caxton.

Denise Burke, the narrator/true crime novelist, is very different from Nancy Prichard's new protagonist, Marie Lightfoot. Denise is an interesting and rich personality - not just because she shoots the bull with Hilary Clinton. The book is full of her inner thoughts which are processed in a most female style. Male readers need to be prepared for some very "Venus" type thinking.

The book missing a fifth star for a couple of reasons. First, the book starts with the murder of the Congressman, then spends 90% of the book in a relatively linear narrative of events preceeding the murder, and then has a brief post murder wrap-up. Since the real mystery isn't the murder of the Congressman but rather the triple murder, why confuse the issue. Also, while I enjoyed the asides about the Clintons, I think the marketers do the potential readers a disservice. Bill and Hilary have nothing to do with the core of the story.

Bottom-line: A nicely written mystery that takes time to think and observe. The pacing may be too slow for some readers.

Rating:
Summary: What happened to the plot?
Review: This story was quite humerous. I thought the name dropping ( Clinton, Hillary etc. ) was a nice touch. It made the story seem more believable. I get tired of reading books that skirt around the President's or other well known people's names. My one objection to this book is that the author tended to ramble off the subject a bit too much. A little of that is okay, but too much tends to break the flow of the narrative.