The Hidden

February 7, 2011
Pronzini, best known for his praise-worthy 40-year-old Nameless Private Eye series, this time opts for an oddly bland stand-alone thriller that benefits considerably from Nick Sullivan's dramatic interpretation. The plot involves a sad sack with a weak heart named Jay Macklin who tries to rekindle his stone-cold marriage with a romantic getaway—where he and his unenthusiastic wife encounter a torrential storm, a power failure in their not so cozy cottage, a neighboring couple at each other's throats, and the Coastline Killer, a nutjob ex-Army sniper bumping off those he believes are disrespecting the environment. With intensity, sensitivity, and a demonstration of vocal dexterity, Sullivan adds needed depth to the author's shallow characterizations. There are even moments in which he moves so effortlessly from voice to voice that the reading takes on the aspect of a classic radio drama with a full cast. A Walker hardcover.

September 15, 2010

Jay Macklin is hoping that spending the time between Christmas and New Year's with his wife, Shelby, at a friend's cottage on the Northern California coast will bring them closer together after a hard year. After they lose power during a storm on their first night, they visit their neighbors for some matches. Brian Lomax answers the door with a gun in hand, and even after the Macklins are invited in for a drink, the tension in the house is enough to send them away quickly. Interspersed with the main action are several vignettes featuring a man who is willing to murder those who threaten the coastal wilderness. The bad weather, the marital strife, and the suspicion that almost every character displays lend Pronzini's (Savages; The Crimes of Jordan Wise) latest book a gloomy air. Jay doesn't evoke much sympathy, and the real action, on a dark and stormy night, no less, doesn't occur until the final quarter. VERDICT Not Pronzini's strongest work, this is still worth a look for his fans and most mystery collections. [Pronzini is married to Marcia Muller, whose latest Sharon McCone mystery, Coming Back, is reviewed above.--Ed.]--Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Lib., Wisconsin Rapids, WI

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2010

Marital difficulties turn murderous in Pronzini's suspenseful departure from the estimable Nameless Detective series (Schemers, 2009, etc.).

Jay Macklin loves his wife, knows she's fallen out of love with him and doesn't blame her. It's in the hope that his marriage can be saved that he decides on a getaway that will allow them to rediscover and rekindle their love. Just the two of them—alone and undistracted, between Christmas and New Year's, in a remote vacation house somewhere on the Northern California coastline—reassessing how good they once had it. That turns out to be a frail hope indeed. Not only does therapeutic isolation morph into self-imprisonment, but the Macklins' only neighbors are anything but neighborly. Brian Lomax routinely beats and terrorizes his wife. The Lomax houseguests, Paula and Gene Decker, drink too much and snipe at each other as if Edward Albee had invented them. Further darkening the atmosphere is the lurking menace of a sociopath run amok, a preservationist transmogrified by his sense of mission into a five-time (at least) serial murderer the media have dubbed the Coastline Killer. It's just as cold and bleak inside the vacation house as outside—a dire prologue to a sudden, furious storm that ratchets up the violence while bringing emotions to a boil.

Taut, spare and seamlessly plotted. The real accomplishment, however, is the villain of the piece, portrayed sympathetically but without sentimentality.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

September 1, 2010
Jay Macklins decade-long marriage to Shelby Hunter is slowly dissolving, in large part because in, Shelbys words, Two people cant live together without communicating. Jay, at 35, seems resigned to disappointment: a promising baseball career ended by injuries, the failure of his restaurant, long-term unemployment, and the heart problems he hasnt disclosed even to Shelby. An EMT, Shelby is attracted to an ER doctor but has resisted beginning an affair. Reluctantly, she agrees to spend the week after Christmas at a cottage on the wild and beautiful northern California coast. Jays hope is that he can save their marriage, but a violent storm and a serial killer make marital woes secondary to survival. Pronzini has written 70-plus novels, and The Hidden demonstrates that hes aging like fine wine. Jay, Shelby, and even the Coastline Killer are complex and engaging characters. The Mendocino coast and its storms are portrayed in all their palpable beauty and danger. Pronzini eschews gore, but the skillfully layered suspense and menace will hold the attention of crime fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)