Killrod: the Cross of Lorraine Murders
Bill Ison
Reviewed by Betty Gelean
I enjoyed the book Killrod: the Cross of Lorraine Murders. The
style at first was reminiscent of Mary Higgins Clark, one of my
favorite authors, in that we were shown flashbacks first of how the
murderer came to be the way he was, and later getting into his mind
through his own thought processes about the how and why of the
murders. That said, Bill Ison has his own style of writing and
flow and it held my attention from start to finish. I found it
easier to follow along once I realized that each chapter heading told
me where I was in time and place, so it made for a cohesive story all
through.
His hero Hart St. James is a sculptor working in Hollywood doing sets.
When Kelly Moran, a famous actress, asks him to come to her home no one
is more surprised than he is. She wants to give her plain bedroom
fireplace a more exciting look and asks him to work up some designs for
her to go over. They spent a lot of time talking together over
the next few days and learning how comfortable they feel with each
other. With great shock after spending their only night together,
he suddenly finds himself up to his unprotected neck in trouble as he
tries to find a vicious killer and avenge the death of his newly
discovered soul mate. He is sure that her death is political, that she
must have inadvertently learned or heard something that put her in
danger. Hart is a Special Forces veteran of the Viet Nam war and
through his training and jungle time has developed a sixth sense of
awareness and silent fighting that saves him several times. (I think a
hard head did, too!) First a suspect in Kelly’s murder, somehow
his skills have allowed him to work alone but with the police and FBI
on the case.
His visit to Washington and his descriptions of the monuments and
memorials there as seen through the eyes of a sculptor were
wonderful. As beautiful as his descriptions of the seedy part of
Chicago were sad and dreary.
Bill Ison has fascinating insight into how trauma can affect people
differently, from the early beginnings of the killer to the early
beginnings of Hart himself. Hart is pretty laid back except when his
jungle tiger instinct kicks in. This book has excitement, action,
strong characters, interesting locations, several twists, some humour,
and some soul-searching as well. I enjoyed one chapter in particular
about the “Big Seventeen”, very secretive and one more twist in this
story. This is Bill Ison’s “first novel written specifically to
be published”, and I certainly am looking forward to more of his
writing. I recommend this book, it flows quickly and is easy to
read for a thriller.