The Barbed-Wire Kiss

Completely hardboiled with a brooding protagonist, The Barbed-Wire Kiss is the outstanding debut thriller by Wallace Stroby. Plenty of violent action, mobbed up criminals and small time crooks feature against Harry Rane, a reluctant hero nursing a broken heart and an inability to overcome his grief and sense of guilt. Fans of hardboiled crime fiction should rejoice over another new name to look out for. Harry Rane is an ex-New Jersey state trooper living quietly on his own, grieving for his wife who died from cancer, now content to drift along doing nothing of any consequence. He is forced out of his malaise by a call from an old friend who has gotten himself into some financial trouble with a crime boss. His friend's name is Bobby Fox, and Bobby has been left holding the bag on a drug deal to the tune of 50 grand. The man he owes the money to is Eddie Fallon and Eddie's putting the pressure on him to repay the money, or else (insert your favourite mob-like threat here). Harry acts as Bobby's negotiator, meeting with Eddie to work out a plan that would get Bobby out from under. All goes reasonably smoothly, managing to get under the skin of Eddie's bodyguard, when Harry's world is rocked at the end of the meeting when he finds out that Eddie's wife is his first love Cristina, whom he hasn't seen in 30 years. Inevitably, they begin meeting behind Eddie's back, renewing their old acquaintances, and just as inevitably Eddie finds out about it which is just around the point where the action rockets into stratospheric proportions. From this point, the wise-guy violence that was simmering with cruel promise just below the surface is revealed as Eddie and his men flex their muscles. But rather than running along a predictable storyline, there is a suddenly tangent thrown in that reveals a surprising twist that will turn a simple debt repayment into a fight for Harry's life. Over and over in the course of the book, through his words and his actions, you get the impression that Harry cares little about consequences. His friend's in debt to a crime boss? No problem, confront the man and work out an arrangement to pay him back on your terms...take it or leave it. Met your former lover who now happens to be unhappily married to a crime boss? No worries! Begin an affair with her without being particularly careful about hiding it. When you feel as though you've got nothing to lose you can act with impunity. The problems arise when other people are involved and you realize that you're not as isolated as you thought. Such is the lot of Harry Rane. Wallace Stroby does an excellent job of setting the mood of the book early through Harry's mourning and then builds on it with a tough, no-nonsense plot that is both taut and gripping. Fully fleshed out characters who are given solid backgrounds that are brought to life by Stroby's colorful prose ensure that we care about the good guys, hate with a passion the bad and remain unsure who is going to get out o

Stroby is a fine writer. His dialogue is crisp and the prose is sharp. He is very talented at creating the atmosphere of the Jersey Shore. The action is good and not over done. The story is not wildly orginial, but it works. There are no punches pulled and no characters saved because they are "good." I would have liked to have seen the character of Cristina developed a bit more. In addition, I would have loved to see more of Ray Washington (who comes across as the classic smart ex-partner with a wife--think Danny Glover). Still, well done and worth a read.

Harry Rane retired from the New Jersey State Troopers after being shot on duty two years ago. He lives on a pension and the memories of his late wife- dead of cancer. A friend, Bobby Fox asks for his help. It seems Bobby was involved in a drug deal. His partner in the deal has skipped town leaving Bobby to pay the bills to a local mobster, Eddie Fallon. Bobby wants Harry to act as an intermediary between himself and Fallon. He needs time to get together the $50,000. Fallon, however, proves difficult to deal with and, eventually, Harry has to resort to violence. Wallace Stroby has managed to write one of the year's best novels to date. It is amazing to think this is a debut author. There is a maturity in the depth of the writing rare with a first-timer. Realistic and sympathetic characters mesh perfectly with the vivid New Jersey shore setting. The characters drive this novel but the plot is far from flimsy and could stand on it's own. So much character driven crime fiction focuses on the mundane with plot elements subjugated. Wallace Stroby manages to keep all the elements of the story in the forefront. Highly recommended.

I picked this book up to read because the title intrigued me. It also provided the adventure of reading an unknown author's first novel and it took place in New Jersey, where I lived for over twenty-two years. I was not disappointed. The author is a journalist for the New Jersey Star Ledger and so well captures the aspects of the areas and the lives which he writes about that at times they become stereotypes. It is not a happy book, and the characters are not happy people (even excluding the many who are killed during the course of the book). It is spare and gritty with a reasonable amount of violence and profanity, but these are used for the sake of realism, not gratuitously. It is a novel about drugs and the mob, but also friendship, fate, love, a philosophy of life, second chances and barbed wire kisses (which finally get defined near the conclusion in a wonderfully appropriate touch).The plot is simplicity itself. Harry Rane is a retired NJ State Trooper. His wife died recently, and while in mourning he almost got killed while on duty and is now drifting aimlessly through life. His high school friend Bobby Fox comes to him for help when he is left owing $50,000 to Eddie Fallon, a small time gangster, when Jimmy Cortez, a casual friend who has drawn Bobby into a "one time easy money drug deal" disappears. Harry likes Bobby and his wife Janine and so agrees to help by talking to Eddie and trying to find Jimmy. Of course, complications soon ensue and violence results. A potentially major complication occurs when Harry unexpectedly learns that Eddie Fallon's wife Christina is an old high school sweetheart who left town years ago. Seeing Christina causes Harry to reevaluate his directionless life, and as additional violence ensues there is aforeboding sense that a tragic outcome is perhaps inevitable for many of the participants.This is a book that moves straight ahead and tells the story with only minor detours to fill in some necessary details. In addition, Harry's ruminations upon the meaning of his life, his friendship with Bobby, and his goals for the future were all very well integrated into the story and made his character come alive. The fact that Harry can feel a sense of accomplishment and redemption at the end of a story marked by so much death and violence without the conclusion feeling overly sentimental is a sign of how successful the author has been in creating a mood that keeps the reader interested.Thus, altough in many ways this is not at all typical of the type of books which I usually enjoy and rate highly, I found it so true to its goals that I felt that it deserved four stars. But be prepared for the despair of lives that often seem small and of little consequence, even to those who live them. But when you are through, you'll probably hope to meet Harry again in another book to learn what happened to him and how his life is progressing.

Harry Rane's longtime friend, Bobby, has gotten himself into deep trouble and now he's bringing that trouble to Harry. He needs help cleaning it up. Once a New Jersey State Police trooper, Harry still has some valuable contacts and knows how to use them. But Bobby's trouble is with an organized crime figure, Eddie Fallon. Eddie's not a good person to mess with. It seems Bobby figured that maybe he could strike it rich with a one-time drug deal. Unfortunately, he's come up short --- short of the drugs and about $50,000. And Eddie isn't a real patient man. Harry has some pretty good moves, but he also has one very bad one, a near-fatal one. It turns out that Fallon's wife is Harry's ex-girlfriend. Eighteen years ago, she left, pregnant with Harry's child and never returned --- until now. Harry's judgment has been impeccable up to this point, but Cristina is just too tempting to resist. To complicate matters further, members of the department he once was a part of are breathing down his neck over some bodies that have turned up.Wallace Stroby has hit the mystery scene like a steam engine racing along at full throttle. He knows how to grab your attention and never let go. Fast-paced and engrossing, THE BARBED-WIRE KISS delivers a satisfying punch.It came to a nice, tidy wrap-up and I was pretty happy with it. Then I realized I still had 20 or 30 pages left in the book. Stroby just doesn't let go. Even at the last page, I had the feeling it wasn't quite over yet. Harry has another chance, but what's in his future from here? I wouldn't mind seeing where he goes and what he does --- and soon. You've just gotta love him, especially when he's throwing caution and reason to the wind and letting his heart and mouth guide him. I read, cringing, wincing and shaking my head. I think I even cried out "Don't do THAT, Harry" a couple times. This is an exceptional first novel. If you love a mystery and crave action, give THE BARBED-WIRE KISS a few hours. You won't need more than that and you'll agree it was time very well spent.Note: Strong language, violence, minimal sexual content. --- Reviewed by Kate Ayers