Just One Bite

April 15, 2019
A cannibal is recruited to help catch a serial killer. Much as it hurts him to admit it, and for reasons he does not divulge, Timothy Blake will tell you he's a cannibal. In fact, his dietary preference, such as it is, informs his livelihood: He disposes of bodies for Charlie Warner, one of Houston's toughest gangsters. In the course of celebrating this marriage of food and function, Blake happens upon an unauthorized corpse right where he was to receive his next assignment from Charlie; he puts it in his freezer, and things rapidly spin out of control. First, Charlie sends two of her heaviest heavies to fetch Blake for questioning. Why had he left the drop-off location, leaving a large corpse in the trunk of the wrong car? Well, it's because of that other corpse, but Blake doesn't want Charlie to know about that. And then Reese Thistle from the FBI shows up to ask him to help investigate a disappearance, and Blake soon realizes the missing man is the body in his freezer. Thistle, it turns out, was Blake's "handler" when he worked for the FBI, and in fact their history goes back to their days in foster care. Blake at one time had feelings for Thistle but had pushed her away lest his appetites get the better of him. Her reappearance is unsettling, and the two dance uneasily through an investigation that gets sidetracked in several ways. Charlie is not happy her corpse-disposal officer is swanning with the FBI and threatens to terminate Blake's employment permanently; Blake realizes that the corpse in his freezer could convict him of murder; and the investigation uncovers evidence of other murders. A messy kidnapping-for-porn subplot occupies Blake and somewhat distracts him from the FBI's agenda. And, oh yes! He and Thistle reconnect in conventionally fleshly ways. Told with energy and humor, this dark narrative is a bit overstuffed with dire twists, but the characters of Blake and Thistle are sweetly tough and naïve. A pleasing romp through a fetid swamp, but not for weak stomachs.

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

April 15, 2019
Australian author Heath’s tightly plotted sequel to 2018’s Hangman finds former FBI informant Timothy Blake working for Charlie Warner, the all-powerful crime boss of Houston, by disposing of the bodies of her victims. Blake is pulled back into helping the FBI by agent Reese Thistle, a friend who shared part of his traumatized childhood. Thistle is looking into the case of Kenneth Biggs, a math professor who’s gone missing. The Houston police tracked his cell phone signal to a Louisiana garbage dump, but a visit to the dump turned up nothing. When Blake sees a picture of Biggs, he knows exactly where the man is—in his freezer—but of course he can’t tell Thistle that. Heath cleverly peels the onion of Blake’s unspeakable secret, revealing bite-size hints as it becomes clear just how he gets rid of the bodies
. Some readers are bound to be repulsed, and yet others with a taste for black humor will cheer, however queasily, for this antihero. Agent: Daniel Kirschen, ICM.

May 1, 2019
Timothy Blake can't help it. When he stumbles upon a man's naked, freshly dead body in the deserted woods, he takes just one bite from its nicely muscled arm before taking the corpse home. Blake provides body disposal for female Houston crime boss Charlie Warner, a job that conveniently provides him with snacks. He also is a consultant for the FBI, working with Agent Reese Thistle, whom he had earlier rejected because of his attraction to her and fear of hurting her. But he's called back to pair with Thistle to locate a missing university professor, who, of course, turns out to be the man in his freezer. Blake must tamp down his cannibalistic desires as he and Thistle work a case that turns out to involve a serial killer of well-padded men and a bizarre made-to-order sex doll, along with multiple betrayals of trust. Blake acknowledges that he's a bad guy who does bad things for bad reasons, but he's also keenly intuitive in following a case. He's not a gourmand in the manner of Hannibal Lecter?he doesn't eat brains?but his exploits will entertain readers with strong stomachs and unusual tastes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)