Deadman

This is one of the Fang Mulhausen novels, written by Jon A. Jackson. Jackson's an unusual writer (how many authors pose in the back flyleaf with an automatic weapon?) and his style takes some getting used to. There's also another issue, in that this book is definitely part of a series, and if you haven't read any of the previous books, you'll be somewhat confused by what's going on and miss part of the backstory. That being said, this installment involves Mulhausen ("Mul" to his friends) in the search for a former mob enforcer named Joe Service, and his girlfriend, a Mafia princess type. Joe has turned up shot in the head in Montana, but since Mul hasn't got enough evidence that he has actually committed a crime (a typical situation with Service) he instead is interested in who shot him, and why. The plot goes from there. Jackson's writing style, as I said, is somewhat strange. Each chapter is written from the point of view of a particular character. At the start of the book, that character changes from chapter to chapter, and often circumstances and events are related at least partially from several different perspectives. The effect is rather like the TV series of a year or so ago called Boomtown. Towards the end of the book, things calm down a bit and the narrative focuses on a particular person, but it's still a bit jarring. In my experience, this sort of narrative style works better when the writer's doing a 500 page suspense novel than a mystery novel that's just over half that. The writing is smooth, though, and the plot hums along. I enjoyed this book, and would recommend it with the understanding that you'd do better if you read all of the books in the series prior to this before you got to it.

This entry in the Fang Mulheisen series came as a surprise. It was closer to something by Elmore Leonard or even Carl Hiaassen. Great, engaging characters, funny dialogue and an excellent plot.