FLINCH by Robert Ferrigno
Pantheon -
ISBN: 0375401253 - Hardcover
Language, Sex, Violence
Reviewed by Susan
McBride, MyShelf.Com
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Robert Ferrigno, author
of THE HORSE LATITUDES, uses the interesting title of
FLINCH for his sixth novel. Though apparent serial killings by someone
called "The Eggman" are the supposedly at the heart here, the
real theme underlying the work is the games people play. Usually dirty
games. Jimmy Gage is a tabloid writer, caught up in the murders because
of a letter sent to him by the purported killer, though no one seems willing
to listen. In the meantime, he's got a friend named Rolla who's in trouble
with some nasty folks, an ex-lover now married to his cold-hearted plastic
surgeon brother, and a female detective who can't seem to decide if he's
trustworthy or not.
The story runs like
a Hollywood screenplay with lots of action and visual descriptions of
crime scene Polaroids, murders and assorted foul play. FLINCH is a macho
tale with lots of blood and sex (or at least sex talk). And, though I
found the novel entertaining in a fast food kind of way, it lacked the
ingredients I appreciate most in good fiction: subtlety and finesse.
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