Slaughter Music - Hardcover

James' stories offer readers the literary equivalent of lifting a rock and finding a writhing mass of disgusting life-forms underneath. That may seem like a backhanded compliment, but it's meant to convey the emotional wallop of James' cold, dark, powerful writing. His fourth book is the chilling tale of Alexander Kazan, a fiftysomething millionaire businessman with ties to dozens of illegal British building schemes. Kazan has just married Irena, a beautiful young Ukrainian, and is ready to settle down and enjoy the fruits of his profitable if unlawful labors. Then Kazan's brilliant, ambitious, and bizarre prote{‚}ge{‚}, Tim Hawk, brings a grisly gift to his boss' wedding party: a coffin containing the body of Kazan's rival, Clive Darren. Pleased, but knowing Darren's murder will be avenged, Kazan appoints Hawk as bodyguard to Irena, an obvious--and eventually lethal--mistake. While Hawk tries to safeguard Irena and Kazan and control the escalating violence that results from Darren's murder, he also fights--unsuccessfully, of course--a deadly attraction to Kazan's bride. Finally, amidst the fireworks of Guy Fawkes Night, passions erupt in erotic and savage barbarism that is at once haunting and terrifying. James measures out strong doses of relentless suspense, dark menace, and heart-stopping violence, concocting a story that will leave readers restless, uneasy, and absolutely mesmerized. Emily Melton

As Handel's "Water Music" plays, gaunt killer Tim Hawk produces the corpse of a rival London mobster for the crimelord Al Kazan, his mentor, and Kazan's lovely young Ukrainian wife, Irena, at a party celebrating their recent nuptials. It's a very fine scene, almost worth enduring the author's tedious dissection of the murder preceding it. Hawk owes his career to Kazan, who has gone goofy over Irena, an unlikely mixture of stupidity and pluck. While the baroque music-loving Hawk is falling for Irena, Knox, Kazan's other muscle man, is being wooed by a rival gang, which includes the widow of the poor stiff Hawk used for his conjuring trick. While James's narrative often moves ahead briskly, sometimes its wheels spin in place. Hawk's orphaned beginnings are a yawn, Irena makes no sense at all and the gangland power plays seem to have little to do with the studied actions of the protagonists. The earlier Payback delivered more fully on its promise.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.