The Mercy Killer

In Hugh Fleetwood's bizarre novel THE MERCY KILLER Tom Carter has just been told by his physician that he is terminally ill and has little time to live. He decides that he will hire a killer to take him out of his misery when the disease progresses. A painter, Rick Austin-- whose sister is Cassie-- answers Carter's ad for a murderer that he runs in the NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS. Then Carter changes his mind and wants to live after all. He has a wife Carol, who has a clubfoot, whom he treats like dirt, as well as a mistress named Christine who doesn't get much better treatment from him. Mr. Fleetwood mixes up these characters in some fascinating ways. Even though you won't care much for any of them, you will get all caught up in the plot, which has a couple of surprises near the end of the novel. Additionally the author weaves a subplot about a serial killer who is preying on homeless people into the main story line. Mr. Fleetwood is right clever in letting his reader know that it's fine not to like these characters as he uses animal imagery over and over to describe them. Window blinds make Rick become "tiger-striped." His near-sightedness makes him owl-like. He sometimes looks like a hawk; "today he looked more like an eagle, or a vulture." "He [Rick] bit his lip, as if he wanted to peck at someone with his beak; he clenched and unclenched his hands, as if he wanted to tear at someone with his talons." While Tom is a fish in an aquarium, Eileen, a prostitute, exposes her body "with the indifference of a butcher skinning a chicken." Carol, though willing to "play the sparrow," was ultimately on the "side of hawks," but Rick was "beautiful. Like an eagle." Cassie has porcupine quills. The list goes on and on. This novel is well worth your reading time.