"Engaging private investigative tale"
New York history writer Terry Orr turned private sleuth
is after Raymond Weisz who killed his son by pushing the
young child into an oncoming train. Terry's beloved wife
also died when she tried to rescue her child. Terry still
grieves his loss and writes in a journal addressed to his
wife. Still he believes that bringing Weisz to justice
will give him closure. Because of this, Terry's twelve-
year-old daughter Bella seems more like the adult at times
in their relationship. While jogging in Manhattan, Terry finds the battered
corpse of cabby Aubrey Brown. When he learns the man was a
loner with a tragic past, Terry feels an affinity to the
victim even though he loves Bella. Terry begins to
investigate who killed the African-American taxi driver.
However, Terry is sidetracked when he rescues his daughter
and his wife's former agent from a bomb that exploded at
the latter's art gallery. He has another case to
investigate because the obsessed Terry feels he must get
involved. CLOSING TIME is an engaging private investigative tale
that feels more like an amateur sleuth story because Terry
has no experience whatsoever in his new line of work.
Terry is a maudlin character while Bella is a cheerful
individual who seems much older than the preadolescent she
is. The story line centers on Terry rather than on any of
his three investigations, but that allows the audience a
deep look inside the emotional chopped meat of the hero's
soul. Jim Fusilli has written a powerful character study
inside an engaging mystery novel. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted August 21, 2001
|
