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SMALL TOWN

Lawrence Block

Orion

Reviewed by Ali Karim


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.