A Killer's Kiss

(William Morrow 322 pages)

by William Lashner

For Victor Carl, the trouble starts when an old girlfriend shows up at his door. And it's not just any old girlfriend.

"There's always one who gnaws at your bones," Carl says, narrating his own story. "You think of her when the alcohol floats you into a tidal pool of regret. You dream of her still. In the simplest of moments, waiting for an elevator, mailing a letter, the memory of her slices into your heart as naturally as a breath."

Carl's creator, William Lashner, says every man harbours that pain, that each of us secretly yearns for the girl who long ago stole our hearts and then cruelly betrayed us for another. You move on, find other loves, maybe get married and raise a family, all the while lying to yourself that the past is really past.

But if she should show up and want you again, chances are you'll throw your life away and run to her, even though you know in your heart that she's no good. Even though you know how it must end.

For Carl, a sleazy criminal lawyer from Philadelphia, Julia is the one. She left him at the altar years ago, dumping him for a urologist. Now she's back, professing that her marriage is a sham and throwing herself into Carl's arms. But as soon as he unsnaps her bra, there's a pounding at his door.

Detective Sims and Hanratty have questions. They want to know how come Julia's husband is suddenly very dead. They want to know which one of them did it, or if they were in it together. Carl has questions, too. Did Julia kill her husband? Is she setting him up to take the fall? Can he possibly live without her? Suspicious of her, but determined to save her and himself if he can, he digs into the murder case and gets deeper and deeper into trouble.

That is the premise for A Killer's Kiss, Lashner's seventh thriller featuring Victor Carl. From this beginning, the story unfolds with intense action, heart-pounding suspense, memorable characters and a lot of red herrings that keep you guessing almost to the end. Although wordy at times, the writing is fast-paced and vivid, turning elegant in those moments when Carl waxes about the nature of love and betrayal.

"Whoever you are with, whoever you kiss or ravish, can be only a pale imitation of the image that lies like a ghost in your soul. But here's the thing. When the old lover shows up again in your life, she is just as pale an imitation as everyone else. She is no longer 24 and neither are you."

Lashner ends with a note to his readers, informing them that he's going to give Victor Carl a rest for a few years and write books featuring different characters.

A Killer's Kiss will make his readers eager to see what he comes up with next.