Stephen Blake plans to live the American dream. His friend
Tommy pulls him into a scheme, but Stephen doesn’t
like the looks of Tommy’s IRA associate who’s
running the show. Stephen concocts a plan that will allow
him and his girlfriend Siobhan to move to America with a
pile of money.
And things go horribly wrong.
I personally don’t like to touch on plot elements
that would be spoilers unless I feel there is a critical
flaw in the story. In AMERICAN SKIN I don’t want to
touch more on the specifics of the plot at all, because
this is the kind of story I find myself completely absorbed
by. I couldn’t see the end from the beginning, because
Bruen deftly weaves the threads together in a way that keep
you guessing. Although you have a sense of the emotion the
story will evoke and you know (as anyone who reads Bruen
would know) that the story can’t possibly have a fairy-tale
ending, you can’t put it down because you have to
know what happened, and how it will all intersect.
This book contains some of Bruen’s most violent characters
yet and it isn’t for the faint of heart. However it
is superbly written, a spellbinding tale that grips the
reader from beginning to end. One thing I love about Bruen’s
books is that he doesn’t try to make sense of the
violence of some people for the reader. Some criminals just
are what they are, and they make no apologies for it. There’s
no psychoanalysis at work. The humane characters are haunting
and tragic and balance those without conscience. Stephen
Blake is the man in the middle, as it were, torn between
angels and devils. His choices and the consequences will
hopefully be the things that torment his soul in a future
Bruen offering. I have my fingers crossed for more of Blake
in a follow-up, although I am not aware of any plans for
a continuation at this time.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Sandra Ruttan's debut novel, Suspicious Circumstances, was released
in January 2007. Her short fiction has appeared in Out of
the Gutter, Demolition, Mouth Full
of Bullets, Crimespree Magazine, The
Cynic and Spinetingler. For more information
visit her website.
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