While this is a novel about crime at one level, a nerve-stretching, page-turning suspense story, it’s also the story of a man’s soul, his deepest loves, his darkest corners, his inner light, his passions, and his art. Heller gets inside the process of Jim Stegner’s whole being. When you read this book, you, feel as if you are Jim. You wade into his favorite fishing streams with him, experience his blinding rages with him, fall into the flow of creative inspiration with him, and feel every twist and turn in the road with him, as he navigates his grief over his teenaged daughter’s death, his fame, and his conflict with a dangerous man whose family doesn’t forgive or forget. Ever.

 

Jim is no saint, but he stands up for the weak, and he does it with fists. When he sees a man beating a horse, Jim fights with him in front of witnesses, breaks the man’s nose and liberates the horse. And so begins Jim’s trip to hell. There are stops in brief but intense heavens of love, painting and fishing, but this time Jim’s inner demons have pulled in some real ones, and they won’t leave him alone.

 

The landscape of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado is so alive as seen through this painter and fisherman’s eyes that it’s virtually a character in the book, it. The people in Jim’s life—his model Sofia, his friends, his oft-remembered late daughter, the police who question him—are vivid and multi-dimensional, and even the passing minor characters are so finely portrayed they seem to have lives beyond the story. The scenes revolving around art in Santa Fe are drawn from life: the wealthy collectors, the galleries, and the lionizing of the famous man. As scandal and suspicion grow around Jim, so does the value of his art. The confluence of the public pressure for pictures and interviews with the inner pressure from his emotions and the sense of being hunted like prey come together in an explosive and unexpected conclusion.

 

For an interview with the author about this book, go to

http://www.peterheller.net/media/peter-in-the-media/

and click on the video for The Painter. The story behind the book is as fascinating as the book itself.

 

 

Oh my . . . reminder to self: Stay clear of this gal, and do not get on her bad side! Pure EVIL. "Beware, of the stranger you meet at the airport and on a plane." The over sharing to the wrong person may kill you. "Keep Epi-Pin close by." Those nasty allergies may cost you.

THE KIND WORTH KILLING by Peter Swanson, is a deliciously evil psychological crime thriller. The author did an outstanding job of tying it all together. An entertaining audiobook with some of my favorite performers: Johnny Heller, Karen White, Kathleen Early, Keith Szarabajka.

Ted, a prominent wealthy business man is at an airport lounge from London to Boston. A beautiful woman, Lily sits next to him and starts a conversation. After a few cocktails, Ted opens up about his wife Miranda’s infidelity and casually says he would like to murder her. Of course, he was not serious.

He has no clue about this woman, thinking she is just a stranger he will never see again. He is unaware of how demented she is, and her past deeds. Thereafter, he sees her again on the plane and picks up the conversation once again, about getting rid of the wife.

As the book moves on, Ted begins to suspect his wife is only staying with him for his money, and begins to think more about this girl named Lily. However, he may be in danger, and Lily has a much more evil and complex plot in mind, as their worlds connect. Lily’s evil goes back to her childhood, as we learn about her author dad and his time in prison, and many more twists, turns and surprises.

There are many characters connected--a game of cat-and-mouse, in order to keep one step ahead of the other. Not many nice characters here...Swanson adds in some wit and humor, to make it interesting. I think they have a contest running, of who can commit murder the best, and get away with it.

A fast-paced clever, twisted suspense psycho-thriller--highly recommend. My first book by Swanson, and enjoyed it so much, have purchased his previous audiobook, The Girl with a Clock for a Heart.

I'm sorry, but the writing style is just too much. It feels like the "superflu" that killed 99% (it's always 99% isn't it?) of the population also killed 99% of Hig's brain.
God, this was irritating me. There's no structure to his sentences and you have to struggle to figure out what's happening and what he's thinking about and what he's actually saying.
It was impossible for me to relate to the main character (or any character) or get into the flow of the story... because there was no flow. It was actually kind of jarring.
I'd like to know what happens and why there are so many 5 star ratings, because I need to believe that people rated this book on the story instead of the writing... so maybe the story is amazing. From what I've read so far though, which is admittedly not a lot, it's nothing new and I'm okay with not finishing this book.

My heart broke throughout this book for this broken man trying to redeem himself from his past. This is a man who knows the value of beauty - the beauty of nature and the beauty of artistic creation. But violence and misfortune stalk him in his quest for serenity.

So beautifully written, this novel will both entrance you with its poetry while it has you sitting on the edge of your seat with its suspense. I wish I had just a few moments of Mr. Heller's talent so I could write a review that's fitting to his wondrous book. Highly recommended.

 

 In Peter Heller’s novel, Dog Stars, society has collapsed and the world as we know it has ended. Global warming is changing the environment and a virulent new strain of flu has decimated mankind.

 

In the midst of the devastation a symbiotic relationship is formed between hardcore Bangley - a shoot first ask questions later weapons expert, and the sentimental Hig, a pilot who can still maintain and fly an old Cessna.

 

They live on an abandoned airfield in the mid-west of what was America and have the resources, including fuel and solar power, to carry on almost indefinitely.

 

Hig flies out regularly on reconnaissance flights so Bangley can be prepared to surprise and eliminate roving bands intent upon raping and pillaging their sanctuary.

 

Hig keeps pining for what he’s lost though he’s not sure exactly what that is, while Bangley is determined to survive and seems satisfied with things as they are.

 

When his dog, Jasper, dies, Hig questions the purpose of the life he’s now living. He decides to fly out in search of some semblance of civilization, but he’ll settle for humanity in the true sense of the word.

 

This is dystopia taken to a literary level. Though the topic is not at all original, the plot is realistic and without flaws. The writing is powerful, the imagery beautiful and the emotion genuine.