The Blade Itself

I heard a lot of good press about Marcus Sakey's THE BLADE ITSELF - enough that I was intrigued. Besides it was set in Chicago and outside of Max Allan Collins' Nate Heller series, there aren't near enough mystery books set in Chi-town.

Still, I was not as happy with the book as I thought I would be. It read well, had a gripping plot, and strong writing. But the story just seemed too familiar. And the plot was telegraphed from the get-go. You knew who was going down and why and that our hero would emerge in the end bloodied but unbowed. Outside of a couple of plot twists and the actual crime itself, I was not all that surprised by what lay between the covers. Maybe it was the Northsider in me who was unable to connect with the South Side protagonists.

Still, I liked this well enough to give it to another reader and would recommend it to others. I'll start Sakey's new novel, AT THE CITY'S EDGE, soon, so he didn't discourage me from reading his novels. Perhaps I'll like that one better.

Currently Reading:
U.S. FOREIGN POLICY by Steven Hook
THE PRIVILEGE OF THE SWORD by Ellen Kushner
INSIDE STRAIGHT edited by George R.R. Martin
FOOTPRINTS OF THUNDER by James F. David