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Bone Thief

by Thomas O'Callaghan

Bone Thief is that rare commodity in murder-mystery fiction which can actually give the reader nightmares. Thomas O'Callaghan, the author, manages to surpass writers such as Stephen King, Clive Barker or Dean Koontz with horror of content while keeping you absorbed in the story. In Bone Thief, the cause of the murderer's actions and his past experiences with parents are even more dreadful than the present killings depicted. Mr. O'Callaghan is assuredly a writer with knowledge of how to twist imagination into unspeakable shapes!

John Driscoll, a lieutenant detective for the New York Police Department, is an Irish Catholic with personal problems as well as those presently facing him: a serial killer who removes the entire skeleton from his victims and leaves the mess of skin and muscle for others to find. Oh yes – and includes something to give the police the victim's identity as well, such as a license…

Driscoll has a comatose wife at home, constantly monitored, with every doctor saying she will never come out of her coma. His love (and his Catholic guilt) refuses to allow him to pull the plug, so she's always attended by a nurse. Being married to a vegetable naturally obstructs any desire aroused by someone else – in this case, his female partner.

When Driscoll is called to the first murder scene, he knows instinctively it won't be the last. Of course he's right, and the murders keep coming, as does the political pressure to solve them and apprehend the killer. It takes Driscoll and Margaret, his partner, some time and several trips before suspicion and evidence eventually pinpoint the person responsible. The final realization of who it is and the riveting denouement may keep you up later than originally intended. It certainly did me.

New York City is almost as well-known for crime as for its other attractions, such as Lincoln Center and the Empire State Building, etc. etc. etc. However, this writer infuses his work with a touch of Irishness as well as the murders. With a moniker like Thomas O'Callaghan it's hardly any wonder that the author is familiar with the Auld Sod as well as the original Celtic or Irish language. Both are demonstrated in Bone Thief. But this author delivers a good deal more than Irish flavor and authenticity – in addition to excellent writing skills, Mr. O'Callaghan is an insightful master of the macabre. Bone Thief should be on every mystery fan's 'must read' list.

Alan Paul Curtis

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