Let’s start this review with a short, mental exercise. I want you to picture a loan shark for your inner eye. The greasy hair, smoking a cigarette, a big, fat gold ring on one of his fingers. His shirt tries its best to stretch over his bulk, and mostly manages it. At least one button is just a tad short of popping, though. Got it? Alright, now imagine someone owes money to this guy. He’s a loan shark, so that should come easy. But paying that debt does not come as easy, so he sends a debt collector to the person owing him money. I want you to visualize the debt collector, too.
If you’ve done visualizing the debt collector, I want you to visualize a young, blond woman. A lipstick wearing, lithe figure; very white skinned, blue eyed, easy on the eyes and with a nice smile. Got that? Now think about the person owing a debt again, and about the debt collector. And if you just thought this young woman was the person owing the debt, then you’ve got it all ass backwards. She’s here to collect.
Everyone, please meet Abigail. She’s new in town, and she’s looking for a job, doing what she does best – collecting on debts.
Some books impress you with a great opening scene, sometimes even just a great first sentence. (Looking at you, Neuromancer.) But sometimes, you just get hit over the head with a character breaking all definitions. And to be clear here – breaking (genre) definitions in this way is a good thing in my books. You have to break the mold to make something new, and this is what Steven does here. His novel reads a bit like some hard boiled thriller, including the lingo. But in that genre, women are either the damsel in distress or a femme fatale (and usually both, in quick succession). Steven takes the femme fatale and molds her as the protagonist, leaving all the males in distress. And it’s a fun read!
Steven’s writing is short and concise, a no bullshit approach to storytelling. For me, it’s reminiscent of the early Reacher novels, in style – and partly in character. Abigail is not exactly a female Reacher, but let’s put it this way: she might have studied under him.
The story is kind of a classic plot: Abigail does a debt collection for a new client, delivers and is happy. Until her client is found dead, and every gangster and his dog starts to think she looks good for having done it. Pretty clear someone’s framed her, and framed her good. Can she reveal the true culprit in time? Will she actually shoot someone with her big .44? And why the hell is the city named Hackensack? So many questions …
I’m going with 4 out of 5 stars. A straightforward crime thriller with a kind of basic backstory, but elevated through a great main character. I’ve got the feeling Abigail has a few more stories left in her.
Crossing the Pond Reviews 