Bound to Die

Rating:
Summary: Recommended as a gripping, twisted, lethal saga
Review: A dark thriller about the unseemly, mind-control tactics of a deadly segment of human society, Brian Lutterman's Bound To Die is the story of Tori McMillan, a middle-aged widow who witnesses her best friend commit inexplicable and unspeakable murders. She follows the trail of a child who has been missing for seven years to a camp of ruthless white separatists, a cult who marks all that cross them for death. Bound To Die is recommended as a gripping, twisted, lethal saga, an one that quickly captures the reader's total attention and won't let go until the shocking climax.

Rating:
Summary: Where's the next book?
Review: A well paced story that keeps the level of suspense high throughout. One of very few books that I wanted to read cover to cover in a single sitting. I look forward to Mr. Lutterman's next literary contribution.

Rating:
Summary: Page turner
Review: A well paced story that keeps the level of suspense high throughout. One of very few books that I wanted to read cover to cover in a single sitting. I look forward to Mr. Lutterman's next literary contribution.

Rating:
Summary: Where's the next book?
Review: After reading this book the first thought that I had was .... "Where's Brian Lutterman's next book?" Fortunately I hear that soon there will be new material available from this Author. I am looking forward to that.

Rating:
Summary: Bound to Succeed
Review: Brian Lutterman's mystery novel "Bound To Die" is a great debut from an author we'll hear from again. There is no mystery in why it was chosen as the 3rd annual "Mystery Novel Award" winner by Salvo Press, which touts itself as the "microbrew of the industry." Books like Bound To Die will quickly elevate Salvo to Samuel Adams status.

Tori McMillan is a likable and capable protagonist. Recently widowed and currently unemployed, Tori witnesses her best friend Cindy (presumably still despondent over the disappearance of her son seven years earlier), wade into a crowded outdoor gathering and shoot four people dead. Cindy then disappears in an apparent bridge-jump suicide. Ironically, the local detective and FBI agent assigned to investigate also worked the case of Cindy's missing son. No answers are forthcoming, though. It appears to be an open-and-shut, woman-snaps-and-commits-random-multiple-murder-suicide case. But Tori feels differently. She suspects that the four victims were somehow linked and chosen specifically, that it might have to do with the missing boy, and that Cindy might not really be dead. Her curiosity uncovers some important clues--and drags her unwittingly into the crosshairs of a bizarre group of cultish conspirators called The Bound, which has insinuated itself into the very fabric of America, including the White House. But who are these people? What are their goals? And what do they have to do with Cindy and her missing son? Tori is bound and determined to unravel this mystery ... and she'd better do it before they kill her.

Lutterman's prose flows with an ease that's uncommon in first novels. There's none of the pretentious, trying-too-hard, look-at-me-I'm-a-writer narrative that plagues so many otherwise good stories. The unpredictable plot is thick with just enough twists and surprises to satisfy without numbing the mind. Pay attention, Hollywood, this might make a good movie. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.