Bullets of Rain

This is a book full of plot twists and turns. I love the style of the narration. The narration is mostly third person, but every so often, the narrator offers an explitive that seems to come right from the gut of the main character, Art. Schow includes a good deal of wit and attention to detail in the plot. Art's dog, Blitz is a german shepherd, who flunked out of police K-9 school, and now serves as Art's main companion. Schow's description of everyday dog behavior, intimating at the dog's underlying motives, is something any dog owner will instantly recognize and laugh along with. But the real thrill in this book is in trying to unravel Art's story. Art is a recluse, living in a custom designed home on the northern California coast. The loss of Art's spouse figures prominently into Art's near total detatchment from the outside world. Art has vitually no human contact. Schow considers the possiblity that human contact for many is limited to a trip to the mall. The book is a fairly quick read. Schow seems to have threaded the needle of keeping a fast-paced plot moving, while at times describing places and events in exquisite detail. He captures the vertigo feeling of drunken, drugged, and schizophrenic confusion in few words, yet the reader completely "gets it." Like a drive along the northern coastal California roads near where the story occurs, you should buckle up, pay attention, and hang on--this book is a heck of a ride.

I seem to fall into this trap a lot: I pick up a book expecting one thing, and get another. Usually, I knock off at least one star when this happens, because the "preview" on the back of a book, coupled with the first chapter or two is (in my opinion) a promise to deliver something. Often, it does NOT deliver. The only reason I expected gore and such in Bullets of Rain is simply because I've read Black Leather Required, also by Schow. However, Bullets of Rain does not promise to include such, and so: my bad. Let me just say that Bullets of Rain is one of the most exciting novels I've read in a long time. It has great character development, and you THINK that you know the characters. But as you soon will find, nothing is always what it seems. I will not spoil the book, and thus, will take it no further than that. Something that the previews do advertise is suspense. And let me tell you this; this book has some serious suspense. It's very complex, yet very easy to read. Confused? It isn't easy trying to articulate what this book is all about without giving away too much. You like gore? You won't find it here. You like extremely talented writing with suspense that will keep you up way past your bedtime? Do yourself a favor and pick this book up at the first chance you get. You won't regret it.

Every now and then I'll let myself be led to a writer by way of another writer's reviews. I had seen David Schow's name several times before, mostly in horror anthologies, but I had never read any of his works. Schow is billed as the father of splatterpunk, but don't let that deceive you. He may be the father of that sub-genre, but let me tell ya, he's a lot better--and a lot smarter--than any of that. I last encountered Schow's name in S.T. Joshi's "The Evolution of the Weird Tale," where Joshi (another of my favorite authors) wrote admiringly of Schow's work. So, based on Joshi's recommendation, I went looking for Schow's works. The only book of Schow's that I could find in the local used/new bookstore was Bullets of Rain, so this became my introduction to him. Bullets of Rain is billed as suspense, and that it is. Schow kept me locked in with his highly charged, action-packed story line. There's more here than meets the eye, though; much of the book is slam bang, but there's more going on beneath the surface. For one thing, the characters have some very interesting and poignant things to say about human relationships--so much so, in fact, that I took out my notebook and wrote down a few key phrases. What more can I say? Schow is a very bright light in what is often a dim field of literature. Check him out.

First off, David is a major talent with a vicious intelligence. With that in mind, do yourself a favor and pick up Bullets of Rain. The expanse of this novel is mindblowing, whether it be the complexities and intimacies of his characters, the atomic action, or the jaw dropping denouement. Imagine a literary Palahniuk, a violent and depraved Delillo...California's answer to Harry Crews. Drugs, guns, sex, and storms! And that's only the beginning of this face-punching novel. David's the real deal, the original Bad Guy Hat. So lock the doors, crack the seal on that fifth of whiskey, put on some Slayer, and jump into Bullets of Rain.