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The Hidden Assassinsby: Robert Wilson |
The Last Voice You Hearby Richard B. SchwartzIt's not often that an author's second book is as good as the first, and even less frequent are the instances when an author initially writes a so-so book only to top it with an extraordinary second, where he/she not only succeeds in overcoming all the faults of the first, but goes beyond that to deliver a walloping good tale as well. Richard B. Schwartz has done just that. In The Last Voice You Hear, Mr. Schwartz places himself on par with our finest contemporary murder-mystery writers. This is a book you won't want to miss.The Last Voice You Hear begins with – what else? – a murder. It happens in London, and what's more it happens in public, on a crowded escalator. It also happens in a rather bizarre way. Detective Inspector Claire Harding investigates. The victim was a United States citizen, Representative Michael Crimmins. Frank White, a big black man from the LAPD is assigned to the case and flies to London where he inspects the site and meets Detective Harding. She tells him that whoever offed Crimmins most likely crossed the pond only to do that, and is now probably back in the USA. Frank flies back. It develops that Michael Crimmins was a sleaze, appearing in London not from necessity but as simply another attempt to get his photograph in the papers - part of his campaign to climb another rung of the political ladder. Jack Grant, the P.I. friend of Frank's, is interested in the case. Together they realize that the 'one' inscribed on the weapon used to kill Crimmins was only the beginning of a series of murders. Sure enough, William Devens, who shows and sells high-priced California real estate, is next. After several telephone contacts, he also dies in public, on one of the Disneyland rides. Jack eventually discovers who the killer is – and why the individuals chosen are being murdered. Strangely enough, he then finds himself siding with the murderer. Ernie Jeffers, the third man threatened, owns a large security outfit, and when he's contacted he takes a full compliment of his people, plus members of the local police, to the site where he's been directed to go. Everything points to the possible apprehension of the killer, but the murderer once again eludes them all. This is also the only instance where the victim isn't actually killed in public, although just prior to the murder there were certainly plenty of people around. McGann, a trigger-happy, self-important man with all his retinue from the Department of Justice, was one of them. Jeffers was the last in a series of three. All were killed in a special way and on a special date. All were sleazebags who had shown one face to the public and quite another to their private contemporaries, although that didn't happen to be the reason for the murders. And when it's all over, and even the blowhard McGann is left with a red face, you'll find yourself for perhaps the first time siding with the killer. Richard B. Schwartz has provided us with a most memorable book: The Last Voice You Hear very successfully departs from the usual murder-mystery format in ways both as engaging and entertaining as they are justified and horrible. Alan Paul Curtis |
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