SKIN RIVER.

SKIN RIVER by STEVEN SIDOR.

SOURCE: Given to me by a member of my reader's group.

BACK COVER BLURB: He prowls the forest ...
Goatskinner kills without conscience, prowling the frozen forest for human prey. He revels in the chase, savours the visceral thrill of the cut and thrust. His victims are women, nearly always left in scattered pieces that briefly quiet his screaming hunger. Hidden behind a friendly facade, his depravity eludes those around him. But always, his hunger grows.

Looking for his quarry ...
In a sleepy backwoods town, Buddy Bayes inhabits a darkness all his own. On the run from the Chicago mob, he sought refuge as proprietor of a simple tavern. But then a series of gruesome killings puts him dead center within the authorities' attention, and Bayes finds himself locked inside Goatskinner's twisted world.

And killing with no mercy ...
Suddenly, Buddy's past catches up to him with the force of a hollow-point slug, as he's caught between the suspicious police and the unforgiving mob. His only way out? Find the killer and settle scores all around. But when Buddy comes face-to-face with Goatskinner, the encounter will leave them both shattered to the core.

FIRST SENTENCE {Chapter 1}: Flashlight beams play in the dark spaces between the trees as the search party fans out.

MEMORABLE MOMENT {Page 161}: Through lazy green willows, the figure retreats, and by layers, like a diver fathoming an emerald sea, he becomes obscure, a simple shadow, then he is gone.

MY THOUGHTS: This may well be a first novel for the author but with its stereotypical characters and a plot that doesn't stray far from a formula that most fans of crime thrillers are familiar with its hardly cutting edge stuff.

Alas not written in a style I particularly enjoyed. As a reader who likes red herrings I was disappointed that the who-dun-it was revealed to us so early on. That the book almost felt like two novellas joined together. Something that may have worked if it wasn't for the fact that the book was a relatively short read of just over 250 pages and had frequent flashbacks.