The Nightmare Man

Rating:
Summary: The Nightmare Man
Review: Sort of an uneasy mix of The Sopranos and The Dead Zone. Griffin Brown, an Aussie gangster operating casinos and houses of prostitution out of the seedy King's Cross district of Sydney, sees his family and businesses decimated by mysterious forces. The obvious suspect is a rival crime-boss from Chinatown, refered to as "The Chinaman" throughout the novel so often that I can't recall the character's actual name. But is the deadly white-haired fellow named Fitzwilliam who runs around destroying all aspects of Brown's life really working for "The Chinaman"? More and more scenes suggest an actual mystery here, since Fitzwilliam meets now and then with a man who is not identified...that is, until the surprising finale.

Before that finale, scenes shift back and forth between Brown and his ever-shrinking family (two sons dead, one wife perpetually drunk and clinging to attendant priests and statues of Saints who speak to her, one son missing), all of Brown's various minions and lieutenants (some of whom may not be as loyal as they seem), Fitzwilliam who is very busy throughout orchestrating Griffin Brown's tragically escalating misfortunes, and of course our hero, somewhat psychic ex-cop Ed Cody (whose sons, Damien and Patrick get mixed up in the thick of things while taking on some of the legwork). Cody gets drawn into things right off the top when an old buddy of his, who hopefully wasn't running drugs for Brown, turns up dead in New Zealand.

Cody's psychic ability is aggravatingly vague; he sees the past, the future, and even things that might be. This means that his "visions" can be used as: (a) clues, (b) red herrings, (c) tense foreshadowings of possible dangers to Cody or even his sons, (d) false alarms. That said, I was first going to report that the whole psychic angle ended up being under-used in this novel, but I did reflect a bit and recall a few more quick references to it than I originally recalled. And the final sequence of the book where we learn just whom Cody has been vaguely envisioning crying alone in some room is perhaps the most effective use of this gimmick. So let's say that the psychic-power thing may not be under-used, but rather is used sparingly.

This novel is quite violent, featuring numerous bloody rub-outs and retaliatory slaughters; but is Griffin Brown making a big mistake assuming, based on sparse and too-pat evidence, that "the Chinaman" is out to get him? Who is the real mastermind behind all the bloodshed? Ed Cody's investigation into the murder of his old friend does ultimately lead him to the bizarre truth.

Rating:
Summary: Surprised by Joy
Review: There is often little one can say about works as good and just plain enjoyable as this one. I will say that Fisher is a master of mystery and suspense. This book is not what it might at first appear to be, that is, just another detective whodunit kind of thing. Fisher is a well mustered writer and through his command of language and dialogue the story becomes a classic tale worthy of film noir buffs. If you like me cant understand whatever happened to the great stories in movies and books, like the third man, maltese falcon, and the like, then you will be pleasantly surprised by this marvel of a book. It is a rare jem to find a good story written as well as this and I think well worth the time and effort in getting yourself a copy and giving Fisher a tryout.