The Tower: A Facsimile Edition

This book is a thriller set in a maximum security prison in the San Francisco Bay Area, ala Alcatraz-style! The story follows not only the serial killer but also the detective determined to bring him to justice. You actually find yourself deep in the mind of the killer and the detective, seeing the situation from each perspective. I found myself completely absorbed in the characters as they made up the larger plot. The descriptions of the prison and surrounding area were so vivid and spell-binding, I felt like I was actually in "The Tower." I usually will only purchase paperbacks, but this book is well worth buying the hardback with its beautiful silver and red cover. To sum up this short review, I bought this book and read it cover to cover in 4 days because I literally couldn't put it down!

THE TOWER is a dark, though well written tale that gripped me from the start. The story has been amply recapped here already. Suffice it to say that the suspense was so well constructed I had a tough time putting the book down. While it's definitely similar in some respects to Silence of the Lambs, I don't feel it's fair to compare the two. They stand apart and alone, and both hold up well. When I bought The Tower, I also bought FALSE ACCUSATIONS, by Alan Jacobson. It was a great read as well. Although very different from The Tower, both have villains with a horribly real evil side. Can't go wrong with either of these books.

I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised by the number of readers who missed the point entirely on this one, including some who gave it rave reviews. Folks, this book works because it skewers a suspense sub-genre long overdue for skewering, and with impeccable timing, I might add, given some of the breathless expressions of joy expressed by the numerous "pre-reviewers" featured under the site for Thomas Harris's "long-awaited" volume, Hannibal. Hurwitz does just about everything but club you over the head here to let you know that he intends to lampoon every convention of the disturbingly much-beloved serial killer story. First off, there's the matter of the "brilliant" and/or "genius" murderer. Uh huh. So brilliant that he, like all of the "great" ones, has spent most of his life in a maximum security prison (and in solitary confinement, no less). Then there's the issue of the vastly complex and profound psychological conditions from which these guys suffer. Right. Hurwitz's baddie has an "unresolved Oedipal complex," i.e. he wants to kill his father and have sex with his mother. This of course brings us to the matter of the "hero," in this case, Jade Marlow, the much-maligned "tracker" of Hurwitz's tale. Hello, people, could it be that the intrepid former FBI man is an over-the-top spoof of all of those ever more tiresome "profilers" of current fact and fiction? You know, the brooding, solitary, sombre, borderline obsessed guys like the fictitious Will Graham (yes, a Harris creation and therefore sacred cow) or Frank Black of TV's Millenium. Hey, there's even the supposedly real-life John Douglas of the FBI cashing in on the serial killer biz. Then there's the point that these guys are obsessed with murderers, oh yes, very, very special murderers. One negative reviewer criticized this book's "gore without purpose." As opposed, of course, to meaningful, purposeful gore. Hurwitz's killer "evolves" and "matures" as a killer, in the words of The Tower's Jade Marlow. My guess is that the author would like you to see the gore as sickening and gratuitous, because, guess what! . . that's what it is! Don't get me wrong, I know that the violence and fearful tension of these stories is all part of the entertainment/thrill package. I suppose that it's fine that the violence in the world of an author like Thomas Harris is designed more for the purpose of developing the role of an "interesting" murderer, one with a certain flair for eloquently delivered cracks about eating livers "with some fava beans and a nice chianti," but it's just a bit disquieting that the character is then glorified by the "loyal" readers. Most readers will not admire Hurwitz's Atlasia, not because the author fails as one reviewer suggested, to "flesh out" the killer, but rather because there really is nothing to admire or be thrilled by in any of these demented monsters. Lastly, if you needed further convincing that the author

What an impressive debut from first time author, Gregg Hurwitz. He takes us on a psychological thrill ride as we follow Allander Atlasia's escape from the Tower and his chase by ex FBI agent Jade Marlow. The book is filled with an excellent combination of action sequences and psychological undertones that help make it a compelling drama. These elements make the novel stand out from other books in this genre. Hurwitz is a very visually descriptive writer and I would love to see this on the big screen. Make sure you don't read it late at night, or if you do, leave the lights on.

Gregg Hurwitz's first literary effort is a winner on many levels. Fans of the psychological intrigue found in `Silence of the Lambs' or `Kiss the Girls' will not be disappointed. Hurwitz paints a darkly textured portrait of Allander Atlasia, whose violence serves as therapy for his gruesome childhood. Equally compelling is the narrative of Jade Marlowe, an anti-hero whose own demons have gnawed his humanity to the bone. Hurwitz turns literary and cinematic cliches on their heads in the deadly chess match which ensues when Marlowe is hired to bring in a rampaging Atlasia, and the reader comes to embrace the innocence and evil of both main characters.With such solid characters and plot in place, Hurwitz has the freedom to run wild in the many action sequences which make the book so memorable. Atlasia and Marlowe battle in locales exotic as the maximum-security prison the book is named after, and as frighteningly `safe' as the suburbs of northern California.Perhaps even greater than Hurwitz's gift for plot and character is his flair for imagery. Just as readers feared the water after reading Benchley's `Jaws,' readers of The Tower should be warned that they'll never approach their front doors quite the same way again after finishing this chilling work.