The Silent Hour: A Novel (Lincoln Perry, 4)

"The Silent Hour: A Lincoln Perry Mystery" opens with Private Investigator Lincoln Perry working solo while his partner Joe Pritchard mends in Florida. Perry is receiving letters from Parker Harrison, convicted murder, who is seeking his help. When the letter campaign doesn't work, Harrison comes in person. Simplifying greatly, Harrison wants Perry to find the woman who owned the home "Whisper Ridge" where Parker Harrison first stayed on his release from prison. The home was unique as were its owners, Alexandra and Joshua Cantrell. She disappeared along with her husband, twelve years ago, and Harrison wants her found for a variety of reasons. Harrison wants an ending to the story. He says he wants to know what happened to her. He claims there wasn't a romantic interest and yet, it comes across to Perry that something was going on between the two. Along with being able to get under Perry's skin and push his buttons, Harrison has the ability not to tell all while saying he is telling all. He manages to pull Perry into the case, one agonizing step at a time, and once he is in, not let go for anything. While the book jacket states that, "... Michal Koryta has crafted an intricate, lightning paced thriller, ratcheting up the tension as he explores just how dangerous the offer of a second chance can be." I would disagree. Intricate---it certainly is. Thriller -- it isn't. Nor would I agree with the idea that the book has a lightning pace. Instead, this slow moving mystery novel is primarily a psychological character study of Lincoln Perry. As befitting fitting a fourth book of a series, usually a major turning point for the primary character, Perry is at a major crossroads. Guilt and fear have rightfully so become increasing burdens and Perry spends much of this book in contemplation regarding the human costs of his actions. Such mental gymnastics heightens the tension considerably and strengthens the complexity while also making it very important for readers to have read this series in order starting with the Edgar nominated first novel, "Tonight I Said Goodbye." Such mental contemplation of the past does noting to make the novel either a thriller or lightning paced. The fact that the jacket copy is so obviously incorrect does nothing to disprove the notion that this is a very good book. As long time readers know, Michal Kortya writes complex novels full of deep storylines, action, and intricate plots that create storylines that carry over from book to book. "The Silent Hour: A Lincoln Perry Mystery" is yet more proof that if you aren't reading this author, you are missing one of the big names these days and for some time to come. Kevin R. Tipple (copyright) 2009

Known and revered for his Lincoln Perry novels almost immediately from the publication of TONIGHT I SAID GOODBYE, Michael Koryta took a momentary break from the series and its Cleveland area environs with 2008's ENVY THE NIGHT. If you skipped that book because of the change of locale to Wisconsin and the absence of Perry, I would urge you to go back and read it. There are passages that will resonate far after you've turned the last page. That having been said, Perry's return in THE SILENT HOUR is most welcome. I spent my formative years in the Cleveland area in the 1960s and 1970s; it was a great time and place if you loved rock music and the trappings that went along with it. Its fortunes have risen and fallen a number of times since then, but no matter what happens, it seems informed by an ennui that never leaves --- infusing not only the city proper once one gets beyond the outskirts of downtown, but also some of the tonier suburbs such as Chagrin Falls and Rocky River. Koryta captures this feeling perfectly through Lincoln Perry, an ex-cop turned private investigator who isn't exactly sure that this is what he wants to be. Perry's state of mind results from the fact that his job brings the people around him into jeopardy, whether it be Joe, his partner in their investigation firm, Perry's girlfriend Amy, or occasionally his clients. It has also brought Perry a degree of notoriety, by turns welcome and unwelcome --- and it is the latter in THE SILENT HOUR that brings Parker Harrison to Perry's door. Harrison is a convicted murderer who, upon release, was a resident of Whisper Ridge, a hauntingly beautiful but unusual home that housed a unique program for paroled murderers like Harrison. It was the brainchild of Alexandra Sanabria Cantrell, the daughter of a deceased Mafia don. Reluctantly aided by her husband Joshua, Alexandra had operated the erstwhile halfway house on the theory that its rural setting would aid violent offenders in their efforts to keep their darker sides in check. After a little more than three years, however, the Cantrells disappeared, apparently abandoning the program and the house, which has sat deserted and neglected for over a decade. Harrison wants to retain Perry for the purpose of locating the long-missing Alexandra; Perry is reluctant, even resistant, to do so, in part because of his basic distrust of Harrison at first sight. Nevertheless, Perry begins an investigation and almost immediately discovers two things. The first is that someone has been paying the property taxes on the Cantrell house, which has never been sold. The second is that the decomposed body of Joshua was discovered in rural Pennsylvania at almost the exact time that Harrison began his attempts to locate Alexandra. Furious with Harrison and himself, Perry fires his client. Yet he is drawn back into the matter by a number of individuals, including a sincere but only semi-competent investigator who attempted to find Joshua when he first disappea

A convicted murderer who has served his sentence walks into Lincoln Perry's office one day asking him to find the missing daughter (and sister) of Mafia figures. Immediately distrustful of the man, Perry resists the potential client, but finally succumbs to the challenge. The missing woman and her husband had built a secluded home where they began a pilot program to rehabilitate paroled murderers. Thus begins a complicated tale in this latest entry in the series. On the surface, the woman and her husband appear to have abandoned the multi-million-dollar home, leaving no clues to their whereabouts. And after 12 years, there is little to go on, until the bones of the husband are discovered in Pennsylvania, far from Cleveland where Perry operates. The investigation is daunting both as a case and to Perry's commitment to the PI business. He weighs the dangers in which he places his girlfriend, partner and those close to him against his desire to continue. The plot is intricately woven and moves forward slowly with intuitive leaps of faith. As a protagonist, Perry is completely human, with knowledge, ability and insecurities. The twists in the story are so unexpected that the reader can only scratch his or her head in awe and wonderment. Highly recommended.

Lincoln Perry has ignored Harrison Parker's letters for several months, but when the ex-con shows up at his office door step, he doesn't have much choice but to talk to the man. So, he'll listen and politely decline. Parker wants Perry to locate his former employer, Alexandra, who disappeared with her husband twelve years ago; he's convinced Lincoln is the right man to tell the story. The case seems simple enough and despite his determination not to take it, Perry agrees. Then little by little, he discovers all the details that Parker conveniently left out of his explanation. The details that walk Perry right into the middle of a murder investigation with possible ties to the Cleveland mob. This is the summary of the crime that Lincoln investigates in this novel. But it is really more of a by-product of the main focus of THE SILENT HOUR. Lincoln does have to be a storyteller and find something that is hidden from the world. However, that search is internal. What Lincoln needs to find most in this novel is his way, the answers to his own questions. Lincoln must find the person inside himself who isn't full of the rage and the hate and vengeance. Even more than a crime novel, THE SILENT HOUR is a passionate study in character. This is a Koryta novel that is going to wreak havoc on the spectrum of the reader's emotions, more so than any of the novels before it. And when Lincoln's story has finally been told, the reader will forever be changed.

Convicted killer but freed Parker Harrison sends a series of letters to private investigator Lincoln Perry asking for his help; the sleuth simply ignores them. Exasperated by no response Parker arrives at Perry's Cleveland, Ohio office to cop a plea in person. Harrison explains that twelve years ago he worked at a rehabilitation program for violent offenders run by Alexandra and Joshua Cantrell. The couple abruptly vanished without a trace. He wants Perry to find them. Perry is suspicious of the motive since a dozen years in a long time to wait to begin an inquiry. He soon learns that Joshua's remains were found in A WELCOME GRAVE near Pittsburgh. Not long afterward, Pittsburgh based private investigator Ken Merriman comes to Cleveland to ask Perry to assist him in finding who killed Joshua; a homicide that Alexandria's mob chieftain brother wants left interred. This is a super dark yet redemptive investigative thriller that grips the audience from the onset with Harrison's persistence and never lets go with Perry's persistence as the focus. The story line is fast-paced throughout with readers wanting to know the truth while so does Perry and Harrison though they fear what he will find as things are never quite like they seem in THE SILENT HOUR after death. Harriet Klausner