Kiss Her Goodbye by Allan Guthrie
Written: Apr 01 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Dark, emotional hardboiled thriller
Cons: Lots of violence and coarse language
The Bottom Line: This is a terrific hardboiled thriller set in Scotland.
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| damieng's Full Review: Allan Guthrie - Kiss Her Goodbye |
Kiss Her Goodbye is a deliciously dark tale of revenge and betrayal set in Edinburgh and the Orkney Islands, Scotland. Allan Guthrie has followed up his outstanding debut novel, Two-Way Split with another taut thriller that races through a criminal world where the rules are largely ignored, the violence is frequent and no-one can be trusted.
When Joe Hope goes to work he usually takes a baseball bat with him. He works as a leg-breaker for his loan-shark friend, Cooper, encouraging punters to be more prompt with their payments next time. He's a man used to violence, dealing it out on a regular basis. When it comes to dealing with pain, though, he's not so assured, particularly when the pain is the raw emotion of finding out that his daughter has just committed suicide.
As is his nature he immediately blames the man with whom she had left home to be with, Adam a writer who promised to take care of her. He is determined to hurt Adam and sets off for the Orkney Islands. Before he has a chance to deal with his grief properly he is hit with another body blow, namely the murder of his wife. But this time, he hears of it from the Orkney police as they place him under arrest for it.
He is perplexed, trying to work out just how drunk he was the last time he saw her. Sure, he didn't love the woman but he certainly didn't kill her, did he? He smells a set-up but has no idea who it could be, or why. To save himself he has control his rage and put a fiendish plan into place to catch the real killer all the while evading the police.
Thanks to his sudden arrest, Joe is forced to rely on a rather unorthodox group of people. He is firstly teamed with a young lawyer he perceives to be hopelessly inexperienced and spineless for the job. Secondly there’s Tina, a prostitute with whom he has been friends for years, a woman who proves herself to be not too shabby with the baseball bat herself. Finally there’s the gentle writer, Adam, his wife’s cousin who Joe was initially prepared to kill as revenge for his daughter’s suicide.
With the help of this unlikely group, Joe has to somehow stay out of prison and find the person who is framing him. He also has to work out what could drive his daughter to commit suicide. The answer to these questions are as unexpected as they are well-concealed.
This is a well-constructed story capturing the disdainful attitude and tough-guy dialogue of men and women who are accustomed to using fear as a weapon. Guthrie achieves this without losing any of the impact or believability, which occasionally is sometimes in danger of feeling forced.
The characters jump out of the pages well described and remaining true to type. Although there are no real heroes amongst them, it’s hard to think of Joe Hope as an anti-hero given the extreme position he finds himself in. Others ooze with menace and even the underrated lawyer proves himself to be a valuable member of Joe’s makeshift team. At times the violence is extreme but wholly within the context of the story serving to establish the main character's personalities.
From the Orkneys back to Edinburgh, inside prison cells and interrogation rooms, a loan-shark's house and a prostitute's apartment, the story whizzes along at great pace setting up a dramatic ending. As with Two-Way Split , Allan Guthrie has once again written a thoroughly entertaining hardboiled mystery that is a worthy addition to the already strong Hard Case Crime library.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
damieng
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Location: Sydney, Australia
Reviews written: 427
Trusted by: 94 members
About Me:
Stop thanking me for my patience...I don't have any.
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