Fresh Kills

This novel isn't really a mystery and shouldn't be marketed as such, but in the end this is no disappointment. The story still sucks you in as you see a man struggle with the death of his father. It's more of a character study, but it's really well done and really touching. In the end you walk away with the odd feeling that the main character was a lucky man to have such wonderful people ultimately stand by him, even while you feel such sadness for his circumstances. Even though there's no real mystery there is a real story and that's all that matters.

Fresh Kills is a twist ont he thriller/mystery genre taht I absolutely loved. Exploring a crime through its effect on the victims and how they deal with it and each other following the news, rather than simply following an investigation. The characters are rich and interesting and the dialogue is sharp and gritty. Staten Island is a character in its own right in this tale, painting a rich picture of the forgotten NYC borough. I highly recommend it!

This book starts out as an almost run-of-the-mill "tough guy out to find the truth about his father's violent murder" thriller, in which the protagonist (who we learn to admire) will wreak revenge in a satisfying ending that leaves us with no doubt that justice was somehow served. Nothing wrong with that; but that is not what this book is. The story quickly takes a surprising turn to become an amazing psychological drama centered upon two siblings who are desperately trying to survive their father's murder: one with love and compassion and the other with hatred and self-destructiveness. John Sanders, Jr. thinks he doesn't care that his father was executed, "gangland style"; he even says that it saved him the trouble of doing it himself. Feeling that the police are botching the investigation, he engages in his own half-hearted, alcohol-fueled inquiries, telling himself he needs to find justice for his sister, Julia, who has returned from art school in Boston to try to re-connect with her brother and to show respect for her deceased mother. We learn that the Sanders family was a deeply dysfunctional family on many levels, with no one left unscarred. John's childhood was marred by the terrible physical abuse he suffered at the hands of his violent father, as well as having to witness the beatings his father ministered to his mother. Julia escaped the beatings for the most part, but she is also deeply affected by growing up amidst the violence. While John and his mother (deceased some years before), were grateful that Julia was not the subject of her father's wrath, this fact only convinced the young John that he was truly a "bad" child. You feel John's pain when, as he recalls the one tiime his father hit his sister, his mother screamed "not my baby!" As John reflected, he had never heard his mother scream "not my son!" The troubled relationship between father and son continued on into John's young adulthood, leaving him with obvious and at times soul-shattering wounds. It is central to all that happens in this tale of survival. The author goes on to explore the psychological and emotional process John stumbles through as he struggles to make sense of his world without his father. It makes for wonderful reading, but it is not for the faint of heart. The characters are compelling; for the most part, whether you love or hate them, they are very real and understandable. The struggles of each one help to illustrate what seems to become a theme for John: we don't get to decide everything about our lives, but we need to own and be careful with the decisions we are able to make. The descriptions of growing up and living on Staten Island seem uncannily accurate. The tribute to the World Trade Center disaster and its victims was incorporated beautifully into the main story line. You just want to thank the author for marking that event and doing it in a way that illustrates how so many lives have been changed forever. It is hard to

When Staten Island bartender John Sanders, Jr. learned that his father senior was executed mob style by an unknown culprit, he reacts with mixed feelings; on the one hand he is indifferent to the death of his cruel father while on the other he figures he got what he deserved. Senior physically and mentally abused him as a child. However his sister Julia reacts differently to the death of their odious dad. She comes from Boston to arrange the funeral, but also wants to connect on a sibling level for the first time outside of avoiding their father with her brother. Perhaps it is Julia's presence, but Junior feels a need to know the truth about his father's death so he makes some tentative inquiries angrily hoping senior suffered. The relationships between the dysfunctional Sanders family even after the abusive patriarch is dead is the prime story line superseding the whodunit. The fully developed cast is powerful even the deceased and the location Staten Island's Fresh Kills symbolizes human decay and misery as the world's largest garbage dump (higher than the Statue of Liberty). Bill Loehfelm provides a vivid look at the aftermath of parental abuse that clings like fungus to the victims; even years later as adults who cannot relate very well. Harriet Klausner

I waited for months for the opportunity to read the REST of Bill Loehfelm's "Fresh Kills" and now I must say that if you're looking for an excellent grown-up story, you must do the same. Bill's story centers around John Sanders, Jr., who is an antagonistic protagonist. If THAT sounds like a balancing act, it is, and I marvel at Mr. Loehfelm's ability to use words to create a gritty universe I can almost see and touch and smell. Junior finds out in the beginning of the book about the murder of his Dad, who was a friend to no one. Because Junior was last seen in a fight with his Dad it follows that he is a suspect, but this story takes you not on a police procedural but, rather, a character's soul-searching. It's a great ride. If this story were told with the most elementary words it would be a fun summer thrill-ride of a read. But Loehfelm's prose makes this hard-boiled tale something so much more. Back in the contest I quoted this sentence from the first page, and to avoid spoilers I'll use it again: "Every five or six months a new junkie moved into the neighborhood, marked my comings and goings, and figured I was easily rattled out of a few bucks by a skin and bones wraith that held his fighting weight eating the cheese out of rat traps." I couldn't write a sentence like that with a nine millimeter pointed at my sweaty temple. (See?) The story and the language are not for children, but I think it's safe to say it isn't aimed at them either. If you're easily offended by disreputable characters using street language, just move along. But if you're looking for a great story told with an elegant, graceful, gritty style, look no further. Well done, William.