Blind Pursuit

A very tense, extremely well written mystery. Since we know from near to the start who the kidnapper of Jennifer Follet likely is, much of the story's tension comes in wondering if the police will manage to put together enough evidence against him to obtain the warrant necessary to search for Jennifer before it is too late. Meanwhile we find out more and more horrifying facts about the actual identity of her apparent abductor and become just as frustrated as the investigating officers,two of the most interesting cops I've come across in modern crime fiction,in their race with the clock. Jones's writing style reveals much more than it says; he simply won't let you stop reading. After finishing this book my main question was why it received as little attention as it apparently did (I came across it only by chance). Jones uses nature as well as anyone I've read to create moods and enhance the action portions of a story and the words spoken by his characters, all of whom - even the most minor ones - are wonderful, rivals that of Elmore Leonard's. Jones's work though is more chilling than Leonard's. I read when they came out a few years ago both 'Church of Dead Girls' by Stephen Dobyns and 'Girls', by Frederic Busch, two other well-received books involving missing girls in upstate New York and in truth found 'Blind Pursuit' to be superior to either of them.

I absolutely loved everything about this book, from the storyline to the characters. I agree wholeheartedly with the reader from Miami - those who had trouble with the prose no doubt are used to reading formulaic fiction, which, thankfully, this is a far cry above. Not only is it much better written than the normal thriller fare, it is far more thrilling. A truly scary story, the more so for it's realistic feel! As an aside, I think it would make a great movie.

Matthew F. Jones, in BLIND PURSUIT, has created a masterpiece for our times. The characters in this book, from the distraught, quilt ridden parents of the kidnapped Jennifer Follett to the two detectives trying to find her to the suspects in her disappearance to Jennifer's schizophrenic Nanny, are so believable, yet distinctive, with their flaws, contradictions, and unpredicatabilities, I swore I knew them and in some cases, wished I didn't. Unlike genre writers and most writers period, Jones's characters reveal their motives and inner selves through, rather than just flat words on a page, their patterns of speech, their gestures, their mannerisms, in the very ways they dress and eat. As a mother of a small child this book terrified me, yet I couldn't stop reading it. And mixed in with the horror is beauty(the passages between the Follets are wrenching and those in the woods at once frightening and magical), a parent's love, even humor. Jones's almost obsessive attention to voice and detail creates more than a story, it creates a world that is all the more terrifying for its knowability. If Jones's unique, powerful style of writing takes a little getting used to it is only a matter of pages before you find you are hooked by it and in the thrall of a master, one of a kind storyteller whose every sentence says more than an average writer does in two pages. If you like thrillers that are a lot more than run of the mill you won't be able to put this one down. A great read.

Matthew F. Jones has created a masterpiece for our times. The characters in this book, from the distraught, guilt ridden parents of the kidnapped Jennifer Follet to the two detectives trying to find her to the suspects in her disappearance to Jennifer's schizophrenic nanny, are so believable, yet distinctive, with their flaws, contradictions, and unpredictabilities, that you will swear you know them and, in some cases, will wish you didn't. Unlike typical genre writers, and most writers period, Jones's characters reveal their motives and inner selves through, rather than just flat words on a page, their patterns of speech, their gestures, their mannerisms, in the very ways they dress and eat. As a mother of a small child this book terrified me, yet I couldn't stop reading it. (It moves with the pace of a runaway train) And mixed in with the horror is beauty (the passages between the Folletts are wrenching and those in the woods at once frightening and magical), a parent's love, even humor. Jones's almost obsessive attention to voice and detail creates more than a story, it creates an entire world that is all the more terrifying for its knowability. If Jones's unique, powerful style of writing takes a little getting used to it is only a matter of pages before you find you are hooked by it and in the thrall of a master, one of a kind storyteller whose every sentence says more than an average writer says in two pages. If you like thrillers that are a lot more than run of the mill, and that will also scare your socks off, you won't be able to put this one down. I intend to read everything this author has written.