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SMALL TOWNLawrence BlockOrionReviewed by Ali Karim
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This book reeks of love, a love for New York, a love for the
process of writing, and a love for life, all framed by the awful events
of 9/11. This multi-viewpoint tale is set in the months following the
attacks on NY's World Trade Center. Jerry Pankow, a cleaner in Greenwich
Village, discovers the body(s) of what appears to be the markings of a
serial killer. Is someone acting out a hidden agenda linked to those
awful events of 9/11? Enter Creighton, a mid-list author who becomes
targeted by the police as a suspect in the case. Enter former Chief of
Police Buckram who becomes ensnared with a dominatrix and art gallery
manager Susan Pomerance. Pomerance soon discovers her own perverse
sexuality in these dark days, and in so doing, she also finds freedom
from the repression of her childhood. Enter Maury Winters, Crieghton's
legal advisor, and then finally enter the serial killer, a person marked
by the events of 9/11 and a force to be pitied more than feared. Block
weaves a modern morality tale full of pathos, sexual deviants, and
charged with an inventive plot, but most of all charged with a love for
life, when sometimes love gets hidden by the shadow of evil. This is my
first MUST read of 2003. Wonderful, and book that will lay in the mind
for a long, long time. Thank you Mr Block.
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