What do you think?
Rate this book
Jessica Balzano & Kevin Byrne #2
The Skin Gods
With the breakneck pacing and intricate plotting of his most recent novel, The Rosary Girls, Richard Montanari established himself as one of the most exciting suspense writers working today. Now he proves himself a virtuoso with The Skin Gods, an explosive new thriller featuring Philadelphia homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano.
It is the steaming heart of summer in the City of Brotherly Love. Back on the force after taking a bullet during the arrest of a sadistic murderer, Detective Kevin Byrne warily returns to police headquarters. He cannot shake the memory of the Rosary Killer’s innocent victims–or his growing sense that the evil has not been vanquished. And when he and his partner, Detective Jessica Balzano, are called in on a bizarre case, Byrne’s gravest suspicions are confirmed.
A madman, dubbed The Actor by the homicide unit, is meticulously re-creating Hollywood’s most famous–and most gruesome–death scenes. The first murder is caught on film, spliced into a rented VHS edition of the Hitchcock black-and-white masterpiece Psycho. But in place of Janet Leigh is a real-life woman, and this time, the blood is red and the knife is real. Soon, more thrilling classics are turned into terrifying snuff films and placed on video store shelves for an unsuspecting public to find.
The key to this horrific puzzle could lie with any of The Skin Gods’ supporting the A-list Hollywood director, the ruthless executive assistant, the convicted mass murderer–or perhaps someone else who has made a sinister art of gruesome violence.
Hot on the psychopath’s trail, Balzano and Byrne descend into the mouth of madness and beyond, deep into the depraved underworld of S&M clubs and the porn industry, where the worship of flesh leads to malevolent evil. Before the final credits roll, the investigators will discover that none of The Actor’s victims are as innocent as they appear to be, and that the clue the police need to prevent future murders might be found in Detective Byrne’s own dark past.
It is the steaming heart of summer in the City of Brotherly Love. Back on the force after taking a bullet during the arrest of a sadistic murderer, Detective Kevin Byrne warily returns to police headquarters. He cannot shake the memory of the Rosary Killer’s innocent victims–or his growing sense that the evil has not been vanquished. And when he and his partner, Detective Jessica Balzano, are called in on a bizarre case, Byrne’s gravest suspicions are confirmed.
A madman, dubbed The Actor by the homicide unit, is meticulously re-creating Hollywood’s most famous–and most gruesome–death scenes. The first murder is caught on film, spliced into a rented VHS edition of the Hitchcock black-and-white masterpiece Psycho. But in place of Janet Leigh is a real-life woman, and this time, the blood is red and the knife is real. Soon, more thrilling classics are turned into terrifying snuff films and placed on video store shelves for an unsuspecting public to find.
The key to this horrific puzzle could lie with any of The Skin Gods’ supporting the A-list Hollywood director, the ruthless executive assistant, the convicted mass murderer–or perhaps someone else who has made a sinister art of gruesome violence.
Hot on the psychopath’s trail, Balzano and Byrne descend into the mouth of madness and beyond, deep into the depraved underworld of S&M clubs and the porn industry, where the worship of flesh leads to malevolent evil. Before the final credits roll, the investigators will discover that none of The Actor’s victims are as innocent as they appear to be, and that the clue the police need to prevent future murders might be found in Detective Byrne’s own dark past.
395 pages, Hardcover
First published March 14, 2006
About the author
Richard Montanari
51 books865 followersRichard Montanari is the Top Ten Sunday Times bestselling author of The Rosary Girls, The Killing Room, The Stolen Ones and the upcoming thriller, The Doll Maker.
Series:
* Jack Paris
* Jessica Balzano & Kevin Byrne
Series:
* Jack Paris
* Jessica Balzano & Kevin Byrne
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 242 reviews
September 2, 2021
A special series indeed. Sadly though it was read on my kindle and I hate making notes on the kindle so I take pictures of the pages with which I wish to mark as noteworthy. Again, sadly I have over 70 such pages saved on my phone and I'm not reading 70 pages again and more importantly a good percentage of those pages are likely spoiler related.
Also I read books and inside one of the front pages I mark when I read the book and what I rate it. I then write to review my review under Luna at goodreads. So these reviews are for me to remind me of the book experience. Sadly though I want to do the review justice and it's kind of taking to long. After this one I am still two behind and keeping them fresh in my memory is tough.
Having said this, as the book was a kindle read my review will be generic. As per his custom Montanari has great subplots within his main plot. This time he really hits it on the head as the subplot and the plot come together in a spectacular way. You see a bad ass incarcerated piece of crap (Julian Matisse) gets released on an allegation that our heroes former partner (now deceased, so he can't even defend himself) planted evidence against Julian Matisse. Our hero Kevin Byrne knows this is in no way true. Byrne decides he will become judge and jury and deal with Matisse himself. Loved what happened here. Byrne is so old school, pre iphone era when cops could make anything stick with just the power of the pen. And if you think how powerful cops could be back then it's scary. Still scary now really because if there are no cells to capture the truth the truth is what the cop writes :). And what cell phones capture is bs as they only highlight some part of what happened. It's why all cops should be outfitted with body cameras and their cruisers too so as to capture any specific event from its start till its conclusion.
So the above is the subplot. The main plot is so cool. It deals with murders being committed to the main murders done on film. Like the Psycho stabbing and Scarface's chainsaw shower scene - a true classic. So our murderer tapes his killings (reenactments) and then goes to the rental store and edits the original movie placing his murders where the original murders go and then unsuspecting renters get to view a real life murder!
And then there is the teaser very early on where you just suspect that Byrne's daughter who is a young teen may get dragged into all this. I won't say if she does. On a side note it has been two books in a row where Byrne reflects on his young daughter in a way a father really wouldn't. It's kind of creepy the way Byrne obsesses about his daughter - it's just not natural and any parent would be perplexed and disturbed by it. The aspect though of his daughter being dragged into things though crosses the line. It's bad enough when a cop is tracking you down. As the suspect I don't think you want to make that personal. Its just a BIG BIG MISTAKE.
Another aspect of the series is the fact that Byrne has premonitions and can see things relating to the case in his mind - like a psychic. In the first book this power was waning but due to his brain injury suffered in book one it comes back. This aspect though is nowhere near overdone and just kind of floats in and out as need be like once or twice. It is believable if you are open to that kind of thing.
I read book 7 of this series first and it was a stand alone. I read books one and two back to back and rarely do that. In fact I was so close to reading book three next but decided against it out of some disturbed principle. I wanted to really rock this review and pay this series its due but as I read it on kindle I just feel that I can't. I just hate making notes on the kindle as the keyboard function is just brutal. Trust me though this series is ON! The policing is true to form and it's good form. The plots within plots are worthy of the main plot too. Just one great read after another and I so look forward to reading more of this series. Who says you should just read the new ones. I kind of like the older ones and you can usually find them cheaper on Amazon and the like, especially the kindle versions even though I need to get better at deciding what will be a kindle read versus a paperback read.
This book is an easy four out of five stars and borders on a five. This whole series has been amazing so far and I highly recommend it!
Also I read books and inside one of the front pages I mark when I read the book and what I rate it. I then write to review my review under Luna at goodreads. So these reviews are for me to remind me of the book experience. Sadly though I want to do the review justice and it's kind of taking to long. After this one I am still two behind and keeping them fresh in my memory is tough.
Having said this, as the book was a kindle read my review will be generic. As per his custom Montanari has great subplots within his main plot. This time he really hits it on the head as the subplot and the plot come together in a spectacular way. You see a bad ass incarcerated piece of crap (Julian Matisse) gets released on an allegation that our heroes former partner (now deceased, so he can't even defend himself) planted evidence against Julian Matisse. Our hero Kevin Byrne knows this is in no way true. Byrne decides he will become judge and jury and deal with Matisse himself. Loved what happened here. Byrne is so old school, pre iphone era when cops could make anything stick with just the power of the pen. And if you think how powerful cops could be back then it's scary. Still scary now really because if there are no cells to capture the truth the truth is what the cop writes :). And what cell phones capture is bs as they only highlight some part of what happened. It's why all cops should be outfitted with body cameras and their cruisers too so as to capture any specific event from its start till its conclusion.
So the above is the subplot. The main plot is so cool. It deals with murders being committed to the main murders done on film. Like the Psycho stabbing and Scarface's chainsaw shower scene - a true classic. So our murderer tapes his killings (reenactments) and then goes to the rental store and edits the original movie placing his murders where the original murders go and then unsuspecting renters get to view a real life murder!
And then there is the teaser very early on where you just suspect that Byrne's daughter who is a young teen may get dragged into all this. I won't say if she does. On a side note it has been two books in a row where Byrne reflects on his young daughter in a way a father really wouldn't. It's kind of creepy the way Byrne obsesses about his daughter - it's just not natural and any parent would be perplexed and disturbed by it. The aspect though of his daughter being dragged into things though crosses the line. It's bad enough when a cop is tracking you down. As the suspect I don't think you want to make that personal. Its just a BIG BIG MISTAKE.
Another aspect of the series is the fact that Byrne has premonitions and can see things relating to the case in his mind - like a psychic. In the first book this power was waning but due to his brain injury suffered in book one it comes back. This aspect though is nowhere near overdone and just kind of floats in and out as need be like once or twice. It is believable if you are open to that kind of thing.
I read book 7 of this series first and it was a stand alone. I read books one and two back to back and rarely do that. In fact I was so close to reading book three next but decided against it out of some disturbed principle. I wanted to really rock this review and pay this series its due but as I read it on kindle I just feel that I can't. I just hate making notes on the kindle as the keyboard function is just brutal. Trust me though this series is ON! The policing is true to form and it's good form. The plots within plots are worthy of the main plot too. Just one great read after another and I so look forward to reading more of this series. Who says you should just read the new ones. I kind of like the older ones and you can usually find them cheaper on Amazon and the like, especially the kindle versions even though I need to get better at deciding what will be a kindle read versus a paperback read.
This book is an easy four out of five stars and borders on a five. This whole series has been amazing so far and I highly recommend it!
July 18, 2019
Kevin Byrne is recovering from his wounds from the previous book and his partner Jessica Balzano gets pulled into a case involving a killing taped and put inside the movie as borrowed from a video rental store, it does give Hitchcock's movie Psycho a whole new level of horrible experiences. This is only the first of a series of killings that involves cinematic masterpieces. Jessica becomes the task-forces leader because her partner is not yet up to task recovering from his wounds.
However Byrne does have his own demons to fight in which a sadistic killer gets released due to witness who never spoke up during the court-case. While Byrne sincerely doubts the witness he and the sadistic's last survivor are chasing the man down because they both are looking for justice. And they are both confronted by evil.
When the dust settles and all has been solved both Balazano & Byrne feel like their ordinary lives have been altered in their experiences because it became way too personal this time.
A decent serial killer book that is easy to read and has the right amount of twists and yet lacked some essential things to call this book good.
However Byrne does have his own demons to fight in which a sadistic killer gets released due to witness who never spoke up during the court-case. While Byrne sincerely doubts the witness he and the sadistic's last survivor are chasing the man down because they both are looking for justice. And they are both confronted by evil.
When the dust settles and all has been solved both Balazano & Byrne feel like their ordinary lives have been altered in their experiences because it became way too personal this time.
A decent serial killer book that is easy to read and has the right amount of twists and yet lacked some essential things to call this book good.
March 16, 2011
Okay that's it, I'm 2/3s in and I just can't take it anymore. Montanari's writing is just BAD. I wasn't being catty when I said he writes like me at 16, he literally does! The over-descriptiveness, the weird awkward emo stuff that is meant to be deep... Actually, I think he's a lot WORSE than me at 16. The main female character has yet to have A SINGLE SCENE where she doesn't find some excuse to ponder how her life is basically over because she's now OVER 30 and thus practically dead. And just... I can't be bothered anymore. It's too bad to try. The story idea was cool, a killer filming his crimes in the style of cult movies, and it was kinda fun guessing which movie he was doing at any given crime, but the writing is just too terrible to go on.
May 4, 2020
Bien, muy bien, ha mantenido el nivel del primer liro si no lo ha superado. Buena pareja la que hacen los detectives Byrne-Balzano, sin miraditas dulces entre ellos como se acostumbra en muchos casos en que los dos detectives protagonistas son de diferente sexo. Al lío desde el principio, en un caso de asesino en serie bien trenzado que al tener unos cuantos giros sorpresivos hay que estar "al loro" para no despistarse. Creo que hay unos cuantos libros que siguen en la serie pero no creo que tenga manera de pillarlos. Una pena. Recomendable.
March 21, 2019
A quick and complex read.
Detectives Balzano and Byrne are hunting whoever's killing young women - and okay, the occasional male - in scenarios taken from famous movies in which a murder occurred in a bathroom. (Think Psycho, Fatal Attraction, etc.) However, Byrne is still recovering from a near-fatal gunshot wound and Balzano is working out her relationship with her estrange husband, also a cop. (Byrne also has another killer to find, one who's been released too soon from prison due to a legal technicality.)
This is another crime investigation/mystery/thriller with grisly overtones and the requisite background of troubled/ill/recovering detectives with heavy back stories. Yeah, but it's also incredibly entertaining. I have found both of Mr. Montanari's books I've read to be fast reads. I kind of devour them, like 100+ pages at a time when usually I clock out around 60 or so. (Older eyes; they get tired.)
I love the dialogue, the action, the quick transitions, the need to not fill every space with information or overly long personal introspection. You learn as the MC's do with only the occasional glimpse into the killer's motives or mind - and without learning who he or she (or they) really are. They are swift books, but very well-done.
Having said all that, I'll be moving on soon to Book #3.
Four stars.
Detectives Balzano and Byrne are hunting whoever's killing young women - and okay, the occasional male - in scenarios taken from famous movies in which a murder occurred in a bathroom. (Think Psycho, Fatal Attraction, etc.) However, Byrne is still recovering from a near-fatal gunshot wound and Balzano is working out her relationship with her estrange husband, also a cop. (Byrne also has another killer to find, one who's been released too soon from prison due to a legal technicality.)
This is another crime investigation/mystery/thriller with grisly overtones and the requisite background of troubled/ill/recovering detectives with heavy back stories. Yeah, but it's also incredibly entertaining. I have found both of Mr. Montanari's books I've read to be fast reads. I kind of devour them, like 100+ pages at a time when usually I clock out around 60 or so. (Older eyes; they get tired.)
I love the dialogue, the action, the quick transitions, the need to not fill every space with information or overly long personal introspection. You learn as the MC's do with only the occasional glimpse into the killer's motives or mind - and without learning who he or she (or they) really are. They are swift books, but very well-done.
Having said all that, I'll be moving on soon to Book #3.
Four stars.
July 12, 2015
This book had an intricate plot with several victims, several suspects, and many unknowns. I never figured out whodunit and was surprised when the author finally made the reveal. I like Jessica Balzano and Kevin Byrne, both individually and as partners. The book was somewhat slow in places and got bogged down in too much description. For me, this slows the action when the pace could be so much faster.
September 8, 2018
Καταπληκτικό αστυνομικό. ..πουθενά δεν κολλάει...πουθενά...δράση μυστήριο χαρακτήρες ωραίο γράψιμο ανά τροπες....Όλα σε ωραίο βαθμό....Βρείτε το
February 1, 2016
I read The Skin Gods entirely by chance a few years ago. It was one of those books that you pick up at the airport at random. This was pre-iPad era. At least for me.
I had really really liked it. I have no idea why I didn't try to look for more books by the author. Specially the first book in the series. And then it got lost in the massive quantity of books I intermittently drop at my parents house. Upon a recent cleaning, I found it and read it again.
Did not love it like I previously had. But I did enjoy it immensely still. So I might give the author a chance now.
The book premise is a couple of detectives solve the crime of a serial killer copying famous murder scenes from movies and leaving the footage scattered in video stores. Pretty straightforward. A lot of unresolved issues from what I suspect is part of the plot in book 1 that I never totally understood. But still readable and engaging. Also pretty gruesome descriptions all around.
I liked it.
I had really really liked it. I have no idea why I didn't try to look for more books by the author. Specially the first book in the series. And then it got lost in the massive quantity of books I intermittently drop at my parents house. Upon a recent cleaning, I found it and read it again.
Did not love it like I previously had. But I did enjoy it immensely still. So I might give the author a chance now.
The book premise is a couple of detectives solve the crime of a serial killer copying famous murder scenes from movies and leaving the footage scattered in video stores. Pretty straightforward. A lot of unresolved issues from what I suspect is part of the plot in book 1 that I never totally understood. But still readable and engaging. Also pretty gruesome descriptions all around.
I liked it.
June 13, 2020
Świetnie wspominam pierwszą powieść Montanariego - “Różańcowe dziewczęta”. Bardzo dobry thriller z typu tych jakie lubię najbardziej - mroczny, brutalny, z niesamowicie gęstą atmosferą i wciągająca nie dającą się przewidzieć fabułą. Bez wahania sięgnęłam więc i po kontynuację przygód policjantów z filadelfijskiego wydziału zabójstw - Balzano i Byrne’a. Liczyłam na równie udaną lekturę co “Dziewczęta” i tu niestety spotkał mnie spory zawód, bo “Reżyser śmierci” w porównaniu do swojego poprzednika wypada blado. Montanari debiutem bardzo wysoko postawił sobie poprzeczkę i tym razem nie udało mu się jej przeskoczyć. To nie tak, że to jest jakiś wyjątkowo słaby thriller - ba! nawet stawiając go obok najnowszych bestsellerowych tytułów wypada całkiem nieźle, jednak znając możliwości Montanariego to jak na niego wyszło całkiem przeciętnie.
Sam pomysł na fabułę był wyborny - seryjny morderca, odtwarzający sceny zabójstw z kultowych horrorów i kryminałów, a następnie wgrywający je na kasety vhs oryginalnych filmów. Wykorzystanie motywu snuff movies połączone z intrygującą historią i ponurym klimatem, czyli tym czym właśnie charakteryzowały się “Dziewczęta” to przecież gotowy przepis na thriller petardę! Ale jak wiadomo aby wypiek wyszedł idealnie potrzebne są wszystkie składniki - a w “Reżyserze” zabrakło i wciągającej opowieści i jakiegokolwiek klimatu. Niepotrzebnie Montanari ciągle nawiązuje do historii z poprzedniej części - pierwsze 70 stron to praktycznie tylko i wyłącznie wspominanie sprawy Matisse’a znanej z “Dziewcząt”. Wlekły się te rozdziały niemiłosiernie. Zdecydowanie na dobre wyszłoby książce gdyby Montanari zdecydował się zrezygnować z kontynuowania tego wątku (tym bardziej, że całą sprawę autor domknął do końca w pierwszym tomie) i poświęcił książkę w całości nowej historii. I przy okazji trochę mógłby ją dopracować jeśli chodzi o tempo akcji i rozwinięcie pomysłu morderstw, bo tu też szału nie ma. Około sto stron przed końcem już prawie całkiem straciłam zainteresowanie przebiegiem fabuły i bardziej przelatywał wzrokiem kolejne strony, a nie czytałam z zainteresowaniem i uwagą. Kontynuowałam czytanie w zasadzie tylko z ciekawości jaki będzie sam finał. A ja wybrednym czytelnikiem jestem i nie przepadam za książkami, które czyta się wyłącznie po to żeby poznać zakończenie. Lubię wciągnąć się w snutą przez autora opowiesć i zwłaszcza w przypadku thrillerów i kryminałów - przez cały czas z wypiekami na twarzy i uczuciem niesłabnącego napięcia śledzić grę mordercy z detektywami. Tu tego nie doświadczyłam.
Ogólnie czyta się raczej bezboleśnie. Dialogi wypadają naturalnie, nie wywołują zgrzytania zębami z powodu żenady, ale o jakiejś większej błyskotliwości czy ciętych ripostach nie ma co mówić. Rozdziały są w miarę krótkie, dzięki czemu czyta się szybko. I równie szybko zapomina się całą książkę. Czytelnik dopiero rozpoczynający przygodę z thrillerami prawdopodobnie z lektury “Reżysera śmierci” będzie szczerze zadowolony, jednak taki wyjadacz gatunku jak ja nie był pod większym wrażeniem. Nie skreślam całkowicie książek Montanariego, jestem nawet pewna, że sięgnę po inne tytuły z serii o Balzano i Byrnie, bo patrząc na oceny na Goodreads mogę mieć nadzieję, że przeciętny „Reżyser” był wypadkiem przy pracy, a kolejne części poziomem dorównują rewelacyjnej pierwszej części.
Muszę jeszcze wspomnieć o polskim wydaniu - przekład jest wyjątkowo niechlujny. Niektóre zwroty występujące normalnie w języku angielskim, ale już nie polskim są tłumaczone 1:1 przez co można natknąć się na takie potworki jak “I jak mnie znajdujesz?”. Dodatkowo widać, że tłumacz ma zerową wiedzę na temat kina, bo np. stosuje wyrażenie “cinema noir” - kiedy to coś takiego nie istnieje - jest “film noir”. O przekręcaniu nazwisk ludzi ze świata filmu już nie wspominając. Ja jak najbardziej rozumiem, że nie tłumacz nie musi posiadać encyklopedycznej wiedzy z każdej dziedziny jednak pracując nad książką zawierającą sporo nazw, zwrotów specyficznych dla konkretnego tematu, w którym “jest zielony” powinien trochę bardziej się przyłożyć i poświęcić parę minut na research, aby upewnić się, że sformułowanie, którego chce użyć rzeczywiście istnieje i jest poprawne.
https://romy-czyta.blogspot.com
Sam pomysł na fabułę był wyborny - seryjny morderca, odtwarzający sceny zabójstw z kultowych horrorów i kryminałów, a następnie wgrywający je na kasety vhs oryginalnych filmów. Wykorzystanie motywu snuff movies połączone z intrygującą historią i ponurym klimatem, czyli tym czym właśnie charakteryzowały się “Dziewczęta” to przecież gotowy przepis na thriller petardę! Ale jak wiadomo aby wypiek wyszedł idealnie potrzebne są wszystkie składniki - a w “Reżyserze” zabrakło i wciągającej opowieści i jakiegokolwiek klimatu. Niepotrzebnie Montanari ciągle nawiązuje do historii z poprzedniej części - pierwsze 70 stron to praktycznie tylko i wyłącznie wspominanie sprawy Matisse’a znanej z “Dziewcząt”. Wlekły się te rozdziały niemiłosiernie. Zdecydowanie na dobre wyszłoby książce gdyby Montanari zdecydował się zrezygnować z kontynuowania tego wątku (tym bardziej, że całą sprawę autor domknął do końca w pierwszym tomie) i poświęcił książkę w całości nowej historii. I przy okazji trochę mógłby ją dopracować jeśli chodzi o tempo akcji i rozwinięcie pomysłu morderstw, bo tu też szału nie ma. Około sto stron przed końcem już prawie całkiem straciłam zainteresowanie przebiegiem fabuły i bardziej przelatywał wzrokiem kolejne strony, a nie czytałam z zainteresowaniem i uwagą. Kontynuowałam czytanie w zasadzie tylko z ciekawości jaki będzie sam finał. A ja wybrednym czytelnikiem jestem i nie przepadam za książkami, które czyta się wyłącznie po to żeby poznać zakończenie. Lubię wciągnąć się w snutą przez autora opowiesć i zwłaszcza w przypadku thrillerów i kryminałów - przez cały czas z wypiekami na twarzy i uczuciem niesłabnącego napięcia śledzić grę mordercy z detektywami. Tu tego nie doświadczyłam.
Ogólnie czyta się raczej bezboleśnie. Dialogi wypadają naturalnie, nie wywołują zgrzytania zębami z powodu żenady, ale o jakiejś większej błyskotliwości czy ciętych ripostach nie ma co mówić. Rozdziały są w miarę krótkie, dzięki czemu czyta się szybko. I równie szybko zapomina się całą książkę. Czytelnik dopiero rozpoczynający przygodę z thrillerami prawdopodobnie z lektury “Reżysera śmierci” będzie szczerze zadowolony, jednak taki wyjadacz gatunku jak ja nie był pod większym wrażeniem. Nie skreślam całkowicie książek Montanariego, jestem nawet pewna, że sięgnę po inne tytuły z serii o Balzano i Byrnie, bo patrząc na oceny na Goodreads mogę mieć nadzieję, że przeciętny „Reżyser” był wypadkiem przy pracy, a kolejne części poziomem dorównują rewelacyjnej pierwszej części.
Muszę jeszcze wspomnieć o polskim wydaniu - przekład jest wyjątkowo niechlujny. Niektóre zwroty występujące normalnie w języku angielskim, ale już nie polskim są tłumaczone 1:1 przez co można natknąć się na takie potworki jak “I jak mnie znajdujesz?”. Dodatkowo widać, że tłumacz ma zerową wiedzę na temat kina, bo np. stosuje wyrażenie “cinema noir” - kiedy to coś takiego nie istnieje - jest “film noir”. O przekręcaniu nazwisk ludzi ze świata filmu już nie wspominając. Ja jak najbardziej rozumiem, że nie tłumacz nie musi posiadać encyklopedycznej wiedzy z każdej dziedziny jednak pracując nad książką zawierającą sporo nazw, zwrotów specyficznych dla konkretnego tematu, w którym “jest zielony” powinien trochę bardziej się przyłożyć i poświęcić parę minut na research, aby upewnić się, że sformułowanie, którego chce użyć rzeczywiście istnieje i jest poprawne.
https://romy-czyta.blogspot.com
May 3, 2015
Most serial killers like to hide their work.....not so the Actor.
He is recreating and filming the death scenes from famous movies, and then splicing the scenes into rental videos.
Byrne is still recovering from being shot so Jessica has a new partner. But a woman from Byrne's past that he is forming a romantic attachment with, is abducted.
Are the two cases part of one?
I did not enjoy this book as much as I have the other Montanari's I read.
The book started with its usual shock factor (I think at the end of chapter 4 I posted that I kept waiting for Montanari to disappoint me, and that it just wasn't happening). However about 1/3 of the way through the book, the pace slowed and i found my mind wandering as I read - not a good sign.
It is telling that I took 5 days to read Skin Gods, whereas all his others I have finished in 2.
The final third of the books picked up in pace, and the ending was great...a twist i never saw coming!
But all in all, The Skin Gods is not his best book.
He is recreating and filming the death scenes from famous movies, and then splicing the scenes into rental videos.
Byrne is still recovering from being shot so Jessica has a new partner. But a woman from Byrne's past that he is forming a romantic attachment with, is abducted.
Are the two cases part of one?
I did not enjoy this book as much as I have the other Montanari's I read.
The book started with its usual shock factor (I think at the end of chapter 4 I posted that I kept waiting for Montanari to disappoint me, and that it just wasn't happening). However about 1/3 of the way through the book, the pace slowed and i found my mind wandering as I read - not a good sign.
It is telling that I took 5 days to read Skin Gods, whereas all his others I have finished in 2.
The final third of the books picked up in pace, and the ending was great...a twist i never saw coming!
But all in all, The Skin Gods is not his best book.
June 1, 2019
Eigentlich wollte ich dem Buch vier Sterne geben, aber dann war es ein so unerwarteter Täter, dass ich doch fünf Sterne vergebe
September 3, 2020
Ο Μονταναρι,είναι ένας πολύ κακός συγγραφέας.
Από αυτούς που κοιτάς αλαφιασμενος μήπως χάσεις την στάση σου στο μετρό ή το λεωφορείο,που διαβάζεις αλλοιθωρα,με το ένα μάτι να τσεκαρει και το άλλο μην χάνει ούτε κόμμα. Από αυτούς που σε κάνουν να χάνεις τον ύπνο σου και να γαμωσταυριζεις που αντί να κοιμάσαι μετά από ζορικο νυχτοκαματο , "τι ψυχή έχουν 40 σελίδες μωρέ? Κάτσε να το τελειώσω".
Η ουσία ενός παιχνιδιού βρίσκεται στο τέλος του.
Μετά τα κορίτσια του Ροζαριου ,οι ζωές των αστυνομικών που απαρτίζουν το τμήμα ανθρωποκτονιών συνεχίζονται.
Μα και να μην έχεις διαβάσει τα κορίτσια,σου δίνει κάποια ψήγματα ώστε να μην νιώσεις ότι λείπει κάτι αν τα διαβάσεις ανακατα.
Πάλι πολυεπίπεδη γραφή,μιας και εκτός από την κυρία ιστορία,ξεμπλεκονται και παρακλάδια με τις προσωπικές ιστορίες των ηρώων,ώστε να ενσωματωθούν με τον τρόπο τους στην βασική. Ένα πολύχρωμο κουβάρι,που σε φωνάζει προκλητικά να το ξετυλιξεις και να βρεις ποιο χρώμα αντιστοιχεί που.
"Αυτό που θέλω πραγματικά να κάνω,είναι να σκηνοθετήσω".
Έτσι μας συστήνεται ο Ηθοποιός. Και το όνομα του πονήματος του είναι οι Θεοί της Σάρκας. Μας μιλάει κατευθείαν σε πρωτοπροσωπη γραφή,χωρίς όμως να μας αποκαλύπτεται. Βάζοντας μας να στιψουμε το κεφάλι μας σαν σφουγγάρι και στο τέλος να μας έρθει από το δεξιά,χωρίς να το περιμένουμε.
"Μπαίνω στον ρόλο. Μπαίνω στο πλάνο. Μπαίνω στο μύθο."
Και κλακ χτυπάει η κλακέτα και εσύ ετοιμάζεσαι να βουτήξεις στην ιστορία.
Κάπου στην μέση μας τα χάλασε.
Μα γκριζαρισμενη τριανταπενταρα???? Ρε φύγε από δω! Στα 35 ζήτημα να έχω πέντε έξι άσπρες,με έκανες να νιώσω κωλογρια. Μου φτάνουν οι πιτσιρικάδες που μου απευθύνονται στην δουλειά λέγοντας κυρία.
Η γραφή είναι κινηματογραφική και νιώθεις ότι βλέπεις ταινία σε φρενήρεις ρυθμους.
"Σε κείνο το καταθλιπτικό και φριχτό μερος είχε υπάρξει μια στιγμή που αμφέβαλλε για τον εαυτό της , μια στιγμή που η σιωπηλή βία του φοβου την είχε κυριέψει."
Από αυτούς που κοιτάς αλαφιασμενος μήπως χάσεις την στάση σου στο μετρό ή το λεωφορείο,που διαβάζεις αλλοιθωρα,με το ένα μάτι να τσεκαρει και το άλλο μην χάνει ούτε κόμμα. Από αυτούς που σε κάνουν να χάνεις τον ύπνο σου και να γαμωσταυριζεις που αντί να κοιμάσαι μετά από ζορικο νυχτοκαματο , "τι ψυχή έχουν 40 σελίδες μωρέ? Κάτσε να το τελειώσω".
Η ουσία ενός παιχνιδιού βρίσκεται στο τέλος του.
Μετά τα κορίτσια του Ροζαριου ,οι ζωές των αστυνομικών που απαρτίζουν το τμήμα ανθρωποκτονιών συνεχίζονται.
Μα και να μην έχεις διαβάσει τα κορίτσια,σου δίνει κάποια ψήγματα ώστε να μην νιώσεις ότι λείπει κάτι αν τα διαβάσεις ανακατα.
Πάλι πολυεπίπεδη γραφή,μιας και εκτός από την κυρία ιστορία,ξεμπλεκονται και παρακλάδια με τις προσωπικές ιστορίες των ηρώων,ώστε να ενσωματωθούν με τον τρόπο τους στην βασική. Ένα πολύχρωμο κουβάρι,που σε φωνάζει προκλητικά να το ξετυλιξεις και να βρεις ποιο χρώμα αντιστοιχεί που.
"Αυτό που θέλω πραγματικά να κάνω,είναι να σκηνοθετήσω".
Έτσι μας συστήνεται ο Ηθοποιός. Και το όνομα του πονήματος του είναι οι Θεοί της Σάρκας. Μας μιλάει κατευθείαν σε πρωτοπροσωπη γραφή,χωρίς όμως να μας αποκαλύπτεται. Βάζοντας μας να στιψουμε το κεφάλι μας σαν σφουγγάρι και στο τέλος να μας έρθει από το δεξιά,χωρίς να το περιμένουμε.
"Μπαίνω στον ρόλο. Μπαίνω στο πλάνο. Μπαίνω στο μύθο."
Και κλακ χτυπάει η κλακέτα και εσύ ετοιμάζεσαι να βουτήξεις στην ιστορία.
Κάπου στην μέση μας τα χάλασε.
Μα γκριζαρισμενη τριανταπενταρα???? Ρε φύγε από δω! Στα 35 ζήτημα να έχω πέντε έξι άσπρες,με έκανες να νιώσω κωλογρια. Μου φτάνουν οι πιτσιρικάδες που μου απευθύνονται στην δουλειά λέγοντας κυρία.
Η γραφή είναι κινηματογραφική και νιώθεις ότι βλέπεις ταινία σε φρενήρεις ρυθμους.
"Σε κείνο το καταθλιπτικό και φριχτό μερος είχε υπάρξει μια στιγμή που αμφέβαλλε για τον εαυτό της , μια στιγμή που η σιωπηλή βία του φοβου την είχε κυριέψει."
July 20, 2015
Plot had a lot of potential because the idea of the murder movie recreations sound good, but the writing didn't deliver. Flat character that you forget easily and confuse because they don't resonate. The two mains are okay, but not great. Killer doesn't even interest and lacks any depth. The "reveal" felt like the author was just listing relationships and reasons this guy was the killer to justify rather than have a plot that made sense throughout the book. Seemed like it was written without the author knowing who would be the one to do the deed so needed a lot of rapid explanation and back peddling - there wEre no 'oh that all that makes sense now!' moments of resolution. The reader was just being told. Rough draft of a decent book, possibly.
July 11, 2024
Guys, I have a problem. I'm addicted to serial killer books.
And this checked all the boxes like my other favorite author (*cough Chris Carter *cough)
And this checked all the boxes like my other favorite author (*cough Chris Carter *cough)
April 14, 2021
Eh.Not really excited about this book. It was extremely sporadic. I had a hard time following it. There were too many stories intertwined. Some related, some not.
Jessica is making great strides on the force while still dealing with her separation from Vincent
Byrne is recovering from being shot. He is falling for Victoria. Also, keeping in touch with his deaf daughter Colleen.
The killer is “the Actor”. His murder scenes are reenactments of murder scenes from famous movies.
There were some definite,on the edge of your seat type scenes. There was just too much going on. And when I can’t keep track of everything, I lose interest.
Maybe the next one will be better
Jessica is making great strides on the force while still dealing with her separation from Vincent
Byrne is recovering from being shot. He is falling for Victoria. Also, keeping in touch with his deaf daughter Colleen.
The killer is “the Actor”. His murder scenes are reenactments of murder scenes from famous movies.
There were some definite,on the edge of your seat type scenes. There was just too much going on. And when I can’t keep track of everything, I lose interest.
Maybe the next one will be better
September 21, 2021
Η δεύτερη αστυνομική περιπέτεια με τους ντετέκτιβ Κέβιν Μπερν και Τζέσικα Μπαλζάνο. Οι δύο αστυνομικοί προσπαθούν να πιάσουν έναν παρανοϊκό δολοφόνο που σκοτώνει τα θύματά του μιμούμενος γνωστές σκηνές από κινηματογραφικές ταινίες. Μέτριο ως γράψιμο και μέτριο ως σασπένς.
May 8, 2022
THE SKIN GODS [2006] By Richard Montanari
My Review 3.5 Stars***
This is the second installment of the author’s Jessica Balzano & Kevin Byrne book series, following the successful launch of the debut novel the previous year (“The Rosary Girls”).
The action in this second storyline picks up after Byrne is out of the hospital and undergoing outpatient Physical Therapy. In one of life’s ironies, he is experiencing excruciating pain secondary to damage he sustained to the sciatic nerve when his twisted body dropped after the head shot he took in the dramatic showdown with the serial killer at the conclusion of book one. Kevin has lost weight and is reliant upon a mobility aide for getting around. He and Jessica are partnered with one another again, but Byrne is back in a restricted official capacity due to his unresolved medical condition.
Snuff films are right up there with the sickest topics your mind can conjure, whether they are real or an urban myth. Crime fiction author Montanari adds a creative and intriguing new wrinkle with his serial killer dubbed “The Actor”. The killer is recreating some of Hollywood’s most well-known and infamous death scenes, beginning with the iconic shower slashing in the classic 1960 film Hitchcock’s “Psycho”. The killer is splicing his director’s reboot of the original film’s footage into commercial VHS tapes in movie galleries across the city. The unsuspecting horror movie buff pulls a movie from the shelf, gets home, pops it in his VHS Player, sits down with his buttered popcorn, and hopefully doesn’t have a heart condition.
The plot, however, is more complicated than a linear narrative tracing the steps of the police investigation for this admittedly unique serial killer. Byrne finds out at the beginning of the novel that an evil monster named Matisse has been released from prison on a technicality and is walking the streets of Philly. “Technicality” is actually an understatement in that the legitimacy of the entire arrest has been sullied by a dying detective’s allegations that Kevin’s former partner (now deceased) manufactured the damning evidence that put the killer away. The subplot of Byrne’s hunt for Matisse looms just as large as the PPD’s frenzied search for the identity and motives of the killer behind a camera dubbed The Actor.
Byrne’s intense and emotion laden relationships with the heartbroken families (and in this case a former living victim of crime) is almost too much at times. “The visions are back” (implications abound that Byrne is clairvoyant), an idea that took shape in the debut novel, and originated with the sketchy story of Byrne having a “near death experience” which was never explained in detail. In the first book Kevin believed that the experience had left him with a supernatural ability to function as a “human evil detector”. That notion initially appeared to take a blow, but in book two he is “seeing” the murders take place in his head like a picture show. In his trek to notify the family members and victims of Matisse he is reunited with Tori, a once beautiful woman whose face Matisse had slashed to pieces leaving only a shell-shocked victim whose life was ruined. Tori is a sympathetic character and a strong woman who battles her own depression by night while she counsels female victims of abuse and violent crime by day. It is gratifying to see the relationship grow between these two damaged psyches. It is this secondary plot line that has Byrne (and Tori alongside him) making a dangerous journey down the darkest paths in Philly and through its passage ways into the depraved world of S&M and the underbelly of the porn industry.
The active police investigation in hunting The Actor later sends Byrne’s partner Jessica into the dark underbelly of the city’s porn industry and its sicker side of sadism and bondage. She is deployed alongside another female detective in an undercover operation to discover the true identity and whereabouts of the serial killer stalking the city. There are some interesting characters that pop up in the official investigation who interact with Jessica and offers the reader a welcome respite from Balzano’s day to day woes. It is a treat that she is a female boxer in her spare time. Her personal life is otherwise ordinary. She is estranged from her husband…or is she? They are in “marriage counseling” which is suggested to be on the fruitless side until it isn’t. The acrobatic waffling, mental somersaults and the like that she performs over a cheating spouse is tortuous. She discovered him cheating with a meaningless fling in their marital bed. What’s to think about? In addition, the incessant ruminations about her little girl who is still a toddler growing up too fast is wearing thin as well. It is my understanding that the author is expanding our knowledge of Byrne’s demons and Jessica’s ongoing concerns about her marriage and her daughter, but enough already.
The author attempts but fails to satisfactorily manage the execution of a very complex plot that is composed of multiple threads which are destined to converge as the narrative reaches its conclusion. The common denominator among the different story lines is the porn industry in general and its darker edges that include the S&M community. The primary thread is the hunt for a serial killer dubbed “The Actor”. A second story line has Byrne entangled with the release of a murderous sexual predator back on the streets (Matisse).
It is gradually revealed that Kessler’s cryptic remarks to Kevin turn out to be connected with a case that Byrne and Kessler had been assigned from roughly three years earlier. Byrne had been partnered with Kessler to answer a call out to a service station where the body of a young woman had been discovered in the bathroom. This investigation with Kessler connects this initially independent subplot to the main storyline of the police hunt for “The Actor”. Matisse (for whatever reason) decides to revisit the victim he had disfigured for life (“Tori”). This was a pivotal point in the plot with respect to the co-main character of Byrne. It is as though he has been balancing on the edge of this precipice since the debut novel, and his transformation from an honest instrument of the justice system into a vengeful vigilante cop is thus not much of a surprise.
The character development was simply weak in the case of the secondary characters, but particularly with regard to the serial killer. The plot was convoluted and the storyline simply cluttered with too many characters for the reader to remember. The identity of “The Actor” was ultimately divulged but as a reader it didn’t ring true and it was fairly easy to conclude that the author would make another one of the suspects the killer. It was tedious to try to guess which one of the characters that were introduced would end up being the “big bad”. It was particularly unsatisfying when the real killer finally showed up, because I couldn’t immediately recall anything specific about him. The name barely rang a bell. It seems appropriate to say that the author snatched an “extra” from his large cast of actors to play the part of THE actor. I thought through the rationale behind the murderer’s carefully planned and executed string of killings, and it simply wasn’t plausible. This is also the second book in a row in which the serial killer nabs one of our main protagonist’s kids and the child ends up in mortal danger. It made virtually no sense that the killer would have that depth of rage for the Homicide Detective or the cop’s very peripheral whole in the calamitous death that ostensibly set the fuse for the string of murders.
This second saga of murder and mayhem set against the backdrop of the City of Brotherly Love was only somewhat satisfying overall. There is a lot to like about the tortured veteran homicide detective Kevin Byrne and his spirited, intuitive and relatively new partner. The Italian beauty Balzano has proven to be quite the “quick study” after two back-to-back successful hunts for intelligent and organized serial killers in her city.
That said, while the writing is pretty good, in this second outing the character development was weak. The main criticism is the identity of the serial killer. The “surprise upon a surprise” felt contrived, and the motivations that were ascribed to the perpetrator dubbed “The Actor” were not realistic or believable in my opinion. I plan to read the third installment and then decide whether this is a crime series that I feel interested enough to follow.
My Review 3.5 Stars***
This is the second installment of the author’s Jessica Balzano & Kevin Byrne book series, following the successful launch of the debut novel the previous year (“The Rosary Girls”).
The action in this second storyline picks up after Byrne is out of the hospital and undergoing outpatient Physical Therapy. In one of life’s ironies, he is experiencing excruciating pain secondary to damage he sustained to the sciatic nerve when his twisted body dropped after the head shot he took in the dramatic showdown with the serial killer at the conclusion of book one. Kevin has lost weight and is reliant upon a mobility aide for getting around. He and Jessica are partnered with one another again, but Byrne is back in a restricted official capacity due to his unresolved medical condition.
Snuff films are right up there with the sickest topics your mind can conjure, whether they are real or an urban myth. Crime fiction author Montanari adds a creative and intriguing new wrinkle with his serial killer dubbed “The Actor”. The killer is recreating some of Hollywood’s most well-known and infamous death scenes, beginning with the iconic shower slashing in the classic 1960 film Hitchcock’s “Psycho”. The killer is splicing his director’s reboot of the original film’s footage into commercial VHS tapes in movie galleries across the city. The unsuspecting horror movie buff pulls a movie from the shelf, gets home, pops it in his VHS Player, sits down with his buttered popcorn, and hopefully doesn’t have a heart condition.
The plot, however, is more complicated than a linear narrative tracing the steps of the police investigation for this admittedly unique serial killer. Byrne finds out at the beginning of the novel that an evil monster named Matisse has been released from prison on a technicality and is walking the streets of Philly. “Technicality” is actually an understatement in that the legitimacy of the entire arrest has been sullied by a dying detective’s allegations that Kevin’s former partner (now deceased) manufactured the damning evidence that put the killer away. The subplot of Byrne’s hunt for Matisse looms just as large as the PPD’s frenzied search for the identity and motives of the killer behind a camera dubbed The Actor.
Byrne’s intense and emotion laden relationships with the heartbroken families (and in this case a former living victim of crime) is almost too much at times. “The visions are back” (implications abound that Byrne is clairvoyant), an idea that took shape in the debut novel, and originated with the sketchy story of Byrne having a “near death experience” which was never explained in detail. In the first book Kevin believed that the experience had left him with a supernatural ability to function as a “human evil detector”. That notion initially appeared to take a blow, but in book two he is “seeing” the murders take place in his head like a picture show. In his trek to notify the family members and victims of Matisse he is reunited with Tori, a once beautiful woman whose face Matisse had slashed to pieces leaving only a shell-shocked victim whose life was ruined. Tori is a sympathetic character and a strong woman who battles her own depression by night while she counsels female victims of abuse and violent crime by day. It is gratifying to see the relationship grow between these two damaged psyches. It is this secondary plot line that has Byrne (and Tori alongside him) making a dangerous journey down the darkest paths in Philly and through its passage ways into the depraved world of S&M and the underbelly of the porn industry.
The active police investigation in hunting The Actor later sends Byrne’s partner Jessica into the dark underbelly of the city’s porn industry and its sicker side of sadism and bondage. She is deployed alongside another female detective in an undercover operation to discover the true identity and whereabouts of the serial killer stalking the city. There are some interesting characters that pop up in the official investigation who interact with Jessica and offers the reader a welcome respite from Balzano’s day to day woes. It is a treat that she is a female boxer in her spare time. Her personal life is otherwise ordinary. She is estranged from her husband…or is she? They are in “marriage counseling” which is suggested to be on the fruitless side until it isn’t. The acrobatic waffling, mental somersaults and the like that she performs over a cheating spouse is tortuous. She discovered him cheating with a meaningless fling in their marital bed. What’s to think about? In addition, the incessant ruminations about her little girl who is still a toddler growing up too fast is wearing thin as well. It is my understanding that the author is expanding our knowledge of Byrne’s demons and Jessica’s ongoing concerns about her marriage and her daughter, but enough already.
The author attempts but fails to satisfactorily manage the execution of a very complex plot that is composed of multiple threads which are destined to converge as the narrative reaches its conclusion. The common denominator among the different story lines is the porn industry in general and its darker edges that include the S&M community. The primary thread is the hunt for a serial killer dubbed “The Actor”. A second story line has Byrne entangled with the release of a murderous sexual predator back on the streets (Matisse).
It is gradually revealed that Kessler’s cryptic remarks to Kevin turn out to be connected with a case that Byrne and Kessler had been assigned from roughly three years earlier. Byrne had been partnered with Kessler to answer a call out to a service station where the body of a young woman had been discovered in the bathroom. This investigation with Kessler connects this initially independent subplot to the main storyline of the police hunt for “The Actor”. Matisse (for whatever reason) decides to revisit the victim he had disfigured for life (“Tori”). This was a pivotal point in the plot with respect to the co-main character of Byrne. It is as though he has been balancing on the edge of this precipice since the debut novel, and his transformation from an honest instrument of the justice system into a vengeful vigilante cop is thus not much of a surprise.
The character development was simply weak in the case of the secondary characters, but particularly with regard to the serial killer. The plot was convoluted and the storyline simply cluttered with too many characters for the reader to remember. The identity of “The Actor” was ultimately divulged but as a reader it didn’t ring true and it was fairly easy to conclude that the author would make another one of the suspects the killer. It was tedious to try to guess which one of the characters that were introduced would end up being the “big bad”. It was particularly unsatisfying when the real killer finally showed up, because I couldn’t immediately recall anything specific about him. The name barely rang a bell. It seems appropriate to say that the author snatched an “extra” from his large cast of actors to play the part of THE actor. I thought through the rationale behind the murderer’s carefully planned and executed string of killings, and it simply wasn’t plausible. This is also the second book in a row in which the serial killer nabs one of our main protagonist’s kids and the child ends up in mortal danger. It made virtually no sense that the killer would have that depth of rage for the Homicide Detective or the cop’s very peripheral whole in the calamitous death that ostensibly set the fuse for the string of murders.
This second saga of murder and mayhem set against the backdrop of the City of Brotherly Love was only somewhat satisfying overall. There is a lot to like about the tortured veteran homicide detective Kevin Byrne and his spirited, intuitive and relatively new partner. The Italian beauty Balzano has proven to be quite the “quick study” after two back-to-back successful hunts for intelligent and organized serial killers in her city.
That said, while the writing is pretty good, in this second outing the character development was weak. The main criticism is the identity of the serial killer. The “surprise upon a surprise” felt contrived, and the motivations that were ascribed to the perpetrator dubbed “The Actor” were not realistic or believable in my opinion. I plan to read the third installment and then decide whether this is a crime series that I feel interested enough to follow.
January 1, 2016
Meine Meinung:
Mefisto ist der zweite Teil um das Ermittlerduo Kevin Bryne und Jessica Balzano. Dieses Buch schließ fast nahtlos an den Vorgänger "Crucifix" an. Seit Kevin Bryne angeschossen wurde, um seine Parnterin Jessica zu retten sind ein paar Monate vergangen und er befindet sich in der Wiedereingliederung. Er und Jessica werden bald mit einem sehr brutalen Fall betreut, in dem ein Serienmörder berühmte Morde aus Filmen nachstellt, diese aufzeichnet und in diese in die Orginale einfügt und in Videotheken platziert.
Mit Kevin Bryne wird dem Leser das Bild eines alten, müden Cops geboten, der seine Altlasten mit sich herumträgt. So geht es in der ersten Hälfte des Buches hauptsächlich um einen "alten" Fall mit dem Bryne noch nicht abgeschlossen hat und der ihn und sein privates Umfeld nun direkt bedroht. Auch von Jessicas Privatleben bekommen wir im ersten Teil sehr viel mit und Erleben mit ihr einige Auf und Abs. Der Fall rückt dabei stark in den Hintergrund und es wird sich ausschweifend den beiden Ermittlern gewidmet. Das war etwas ermüdend für mich, da mir hier der rote Faden oder auch einfach die Spannung fehlte.
In der zweiten Hälfte des Buches hat der Autor das Tempo dann deutlich angezogen. Das Privatleben der Ermittler rückt nun stark in den Hintergrund und er widmet sich nun endlich dem Fall. Wir dürfen dem Serientäter bei seinen Taten auch über die Schulter schauen und stellen erste Vermutungen an, wer der Täter sein könnte. Nun folgt Schlaf auf Schlag. Ein Wendung jagt die Nächste, eine Unwahrscheinlichkeit reiht sich an die darauffolgende und bald wird der Fall einfach nur nach konstruiert bizarr. Auch die Auflösung und die Präsentation des Täters ergibt sich nicht aus den 600 Seiten, die man so mühsam vorher gelesen hat, sondern wirkt letztendlich wie ein aus dem Hut gezaubertes Kaninchen.
Die Idee des Buches ist an und für sich gut und wird auch originell in Szene gesetzt. Durch das Ungleichgewicht der Erzählung, dem Schwanken zwischen privat- und beruflich hat der Fall jedoch nur wenig Sogwirkung auf mich ausüben können. Der Autor hat hier versucht seinen Charakteren mehr Tiefe zu verleihen, nur leider bedient er sich an genretypischen Stereotypen, so dass seine Protagonisten austauschbar und wenig tiefgründig bleiben.
Fazit:
Nach dem starken Auftakt in Crucifix, schwächelt der zweite Teil der Reihe deutlich. Die Idee an und für sich ist gut, jedoch ist die Erzählung zu unausgewogen und wirkt durch die vielen Nebenschauplätze auch nicht fokussiert. Wegen der guten Idee und des flüssigen Schreibstils gebe ich den Buch drei von fünf Sternen, werde die Reihe aber wahrscheinlich nicht mehr weiterverfolgen.
Mefisto ist der zweite Teil um das Ermittlerduo Kevin Bryne und Jessica Balzano. Dieses Buch schließ fast nahtlos an den Vorgänger "Crucifix" an. Seit Kevin Bryne angeschossen wurde, um seine Parnterin Jessica zu retten sind ein paar Monate vergangen und er befindet sich in der Wiedereingliederung. Er und Jessica werden bald mit einem sehr brutalen Fall betreut, in dem ein Serienmörder berühmte Morde aus Filmen nachstellt, diese aufzeichnet und in diese in die Orginale einfügt und in Videotheken platziert.
Mit Kevin Bryne wird dem Leser das Bild eines alten, müden Cops geboten, der seine Altlasten mit sich herumträgt. So geht es in der ersten Hälfte des Buches hauptsächlich um einen "alten" Fall mit dem Bryne noch nicht abgeschlossen hat und der ihn und sein privates Umfeld nun direkt bedroht. Auch von Jessicas Privatleben bekommen wir im ersten Teil sehr viel mit und Erleben mit ihr einige Auf und Abs. Der Fall rückt dabei stark in den Hintergrund und es wird sich ausschweifend den beiden Ermittlern gewidmet. Das war etwas ermüdend für mich, da mir hier der rote Faden oder auch einfach die Spannung fehlte.
In der zweiten Hälfte des Buches hat der Autor das Tempo dann deutlich angezogen. Das Privatleben der Ermittler rückt nun stark in den Hintergrund und er widmet sich nun endlich dem Fall. Wir dürfen dem Serientäter bei seinen Taten auch über die Schulter schauen und stellen erste Vermutungen an, wer der Täter sein könnte. Nun folgt Schlaf auf Schlag. Ein Wendung jagt die Nächste, eine Unwahrscheinlichkeit reiht sich an die darauffolgende und bald wird der Fall einfach nur nach konstruiert bizarr. Auch die Auflösung und die Präsentation des Täters ergibt sich nicht aus den 600 Seiten, die man so mühsam vorher gelesen hat, sondern wirkt letztendlich wie ein aus dem Hut gezaubertes Kaninchen.
Die Idee des Buches ist an und für sich gut und wird auch originell in Szene gesetzt. Durch das Ungleichgewicht der Erzählung, dem Schwanken zwischen privat- und beruflich hat der Fall jedoch nur wenig Sogwirkung auf mich ausüben können. Der Autor hat hier versucht seinen Charakteren mehr Tiefe zu verleihen, nur leider bedient er sich an genretypischen Stereotypen, so dass seine Protagonisten austauschbar und wenig tiefgründig bleiben.
Fazit:
Nach dem starken Auftakt in Crucifix, schwächelt der zweite Teil der Reihe deutlich. Die Idee an und für sich ist gut, jedoch ist die Erzählung zu unausgewogen und wirkt durch die vielen Nebenschauplätze auch nicht fokussiert. Wegen der guten Idee und des flüssigen Schreibstils gebe ich den Buch drei von fünf Sternen, werde die Reihe aber wahrscheinlich nicht mehr weiterverfolgen.
May 11, 2018
The Skin Gods is the second in the Balzano/Byrne series by Richard Montinari, and takes place a few months following the events of the first book, as a result of which Kevin Byrne is on medical leave, and Jessica Balzano has been working with other partners in his absence. When a rental tape of “Psycho” is brought into the Homicide division, into which a seemingly real-life recreation of the infamous shower murder scene has been inserted, an investigation is launched, which in short time leads to both the scene of the crime, and eventually the body of the victim; in due course, additional tapes and crime scenes come to light. Meanwhile, Byrne has learned that another detective, who is dying, has accused Byrne’s late partner, Jimmy, of having planted the evidence that led to the arrest and conviction of the killer of a teenage girl several years earlier. With the man released pending a second trial, and with the help of one of his surviving victims, Byrne begins an off-the-books investigation to get to the truth and clear Jimmy’s name. An additional subplot involves the filming of a high-budget action movie, and as all the investigations converge, the detectives find themselves drawn into the underbelly of Hollywood, and of prostitution, drugs, and pornography and realize that the answer lies in the past.
As with the first book in the series, the narrative is interspersed with chapters told from the POV of the killer, which give some insight into the reasoning of a twisted mind, although not necessarily any clues as to his/her identity. There are red herrings and suspects galore, as well as an escalation of the psychic visions that have plagued Byrne for several years, and which he more or less keeps to himself, attributing his sudden insights to intuition. The plot is complex and intricate, and I did find it necessary in several instances to go back a few chapters and re-listen for something that I’d missed during the first listen. A solid 3.5 stars.
As with the first book in the series, the narrative is interspersed with chapters told from the POV of the killer, which give some insight into the reasoning of a twisted mind, although not necessarily any clues as to his/her identity. There are red herrings and suspects galore, as well as an escalation of the psychic visions that have plagued Byrne for several years, and which he more or less keeps to himself, attributing his sudden insights to intuition. The plot is complex and intricate, and I did find it necessary in several instances to go back a few chapters and re-listen for something that I’d missed during the first listen. A solid 3.5 stars.
September 22, 2009
Detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano catch a serial killer case that revolves around the movie industry. The many old-movie references get tedious and annoying after a while. The killings are gruesome and somehow spiced into actual VHS tapes and placed on video store shelves. The mystery is extremely complex with multiple suspicious characters and storylines. The bad guy was a complete shock to me. This revelation came completely out of left field and was very surprising.
I found the beginning of the book rather boring and slow moving. About halfway through, the action picked up and the police were actively on the chase. The author keeps you turning pages with misdirection and back handed clues. Well-written and engaging.
I found the beginning of the book rather boring and slow moving. About halfway through, the action picked up and the police were actively on the chase. The author keeps you turning pages with misdirection and back handed clues. Well-written and engaging.
July 5, 2014
A really great idea for a storyline - a killer recreating famous murder scenes from movies and recording them, then splicing them into video rentals for the public to find. Yes a great idea but unfortunately I thought the writing fell a bit flat and didn't have the "oomph" needed. Then there seemed to be endless characters being brought into the book which was annoying. I won't be bothering to read the rest of the series I'm afraid.
August 29, 2016
At first, it was a hard to read book.. Lots of words and so many details. In fact, i have put this book down for 2-3 weeks. But as a bookworm as I am, i urged myself to finish it prior to starting a new one and to be honest, when you have gotten to the 2/3rds of this book, the pacing becomes more exciting and a bit faster. Which one is better? I would vote for the first book.
September 14, 2017
Aunque pienso que le sobran páginas y hubo líneas que tuve que releer por error en la sintaxis (entiendo que por la traducción) me resultó una buena historia. Prefiero el primer libro. Justo cuando ya tenía en mente una valoración de 3 pues me resultaba predecible, el autor logró engañarme y dar un giro inesperado con un desenlace lleno de suspenso.
April 13, 2010
The premise behind this book, a serial killer murdering people like scenes in famous films, was interesting, however the story fizzled out by the end and got way too convoluted to maintain its tension. That said, it was very well-written and I certainly would read more of Montanari's work.
September 16, 2012
I love the characters in this book although I think I preferred The Rosary Girls for storyline. In this novel, a killer re-creates famous death scenes from Psycho, Fatal Attraction and Scarface. Quite a bit of action, with a few "shock" moments.
June 5, 2014
If you enjoy your crime fiction with a good dose of preachiness and moralizing, this is the series for you. I'm guessing the next book will be about the Evils of Abortion.
Oh, and the tacked-on supernatural powers of one of the main characters. That was there too.
Oh, and the tacked-on supernatural powers of one of the main characters. That was there too.
April 6, 2018
Richard Montanari has done it again! The Skin Gods had me thinking it was a new culprit at each new chapter. Montanari has a way of writing that captivates it's read from the first chapter. I cannot wait to see what the rest of this series has in store!
March 6, 2012
Wow....... totally TERRIFIC ! what can i say unless this book hooked me up.
i love the storyline. just like watching a thriller movie awhile i'm reading it.
i love the storyline. just like watching a thriller movie awhile i'm reading it.
April 23, 2014
This was my second book from Montanari. I like the first one, it was ok. But this one was terrible. One of the worst books i´ve ever read and it´s the last one.
February 27, 2018
Confusing cast of characters.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 242 reviews