Starred Booklist review for THE BIG HIT by James Neal Harvey
Booklist liked The Big Hit by James Neal Harvey! So much they gave it a starred review...
This thriller starts off inside the mind of a contract killer--crude, sexist, sadistic. And it gets even better. Harvey has put together a grand whopper of a thriller, with Manhattan and Hollywood settings, glamorous people, slimy financial dealings, and craftily paced suspense. Mongo the murderer is commissioned to kill gorgeous superstar Catherine Delure. She’s heavily guarded. How does he do it? It involves a tape recorder. Jeb Barker, the cop on his trail, is blessedly free of noirish cynicism--he just does his job. The stalker learns he’s being stalked and decides to make Jeb his next victim. Their cat-and-cat game is played out in crime labs and Malibu pool parties, and the author cranks up the tension while letting readers think they know who’s behind the killing. They likely won’t. The author works in a pared-down, pulsating style and introduces nicely timed humor, as when Mongo tries to renegotiate his fees. The ending is self-consciously Hollywood hokum, but that’s fine. That’s the real world now.
