American Devil

Any good recipe for a good hardboiled police procedural would include few surprises among the stock ingredients, comprising the usual clichés of maverick renegade cop, the mean streets of New York, gritty urban atmosphere, antagonistic bosses, a sadistic serial killer and the assistance of an attractive criminal profiler.

English author Oliver Stark puts them all together with surprising skill in his debut novel, an elegantly anachronistic pastiche of your typical noir pulp thriller, featuring Tom Harper, an engaging twitcher suspended for striking a senior officer, and psychologist Denise Levene.

Stark's debut novel treads the well worn path of noirish American serial killer novels. There's the familiar in the troubled renegade detective, pugilist bird watcher Tom Harper, and in the deeply psychological nature of the crime and its investigation. There's a lot of violence, related using what is often arresting language. Homage is paid in particular to Thomas Harris, with a West Virginian origin to the plot, and a set piece involving a pig farm.

The combination of a fast paced storyline and short chapters make it a quick and easy read, and engaging in terms of driving the reader to find out what happens. Don't look to this as great literature, instead see it as a good story that manages to pull strings regarding elemental fears show more about intruders in your home. For those of nervous disposition, it's probably not one to read alone at night either.

For full review please see: http://southlondonbook.blogspot.com/2010/04/american-devil-oliver-stark.html show less

A fantastic read...a violent killer is stalking the Streets of New York, Detective Tom Harper and psychologist Denise Leverne must work together to bring him to justice...brilliant!

Definitely a gripping read

Brilliant story from Oliver Stark. Couldn't put it down.

gek., geh. soweit ganz ok, aber Handlung ist vorhersehbar. Gegen Langeweile auf jedenfall gut.