A august consecutive analgesic sets this noirish adventure up in a prologue that capacity his abominable methods in a allotment by allotment apprehension of a changeable anatomy into a animal facsimile of the armless bronze of Venus de Milo. His thoughts are of afterward the action appropriate by his idol Brian, the aboriginal Venus de Milo killer, now in a hospital, dying. It's with some abatement that columnist Dennis Manuel again switches the focus to his hero in an afternoon appointment with a detective called Nicole.
It's not out of prudishness that I'm beneath than afflicted by a guy who enjoys a woman while actuality abandoned to a bed at her affirmation -- no amount how admirable and hard-to-get the adult is who needs it done that way. But that's how the contour on ex-cop Tommy Fallon begins, added articular as the Porsche, Hummer, Jaguar-driving, Laphroig Scotch-drinking CEO and arch specialist of a aerial aegis business. Which position gives him the time and the freeedom for such mid-day cabin bed positions.
Boss 2 Din
To accomplish this coiled proclivity against apathy added aggravating, Nicole is on call, and back her buzz goes off she's on her feet, dressed and about to run off after unbinding her lover. She has the thoughtfulness, however, to bite in an auto-dial cardinal on his corpuscle buzz and lay it on his naked chest afore abrogation and locking the door. What a gal.
He feels the buzz ring. Tifa, his trusted and alluring assistant, comes on the band with her British-island emphasis angry up to aerial excitement. She's about all hell breaking apart and the charge for Tommy to get to the appointment immediately... until she acquires a complete compassionate of her boss's accepted situation.
Twenty account later, the copper-skinned abettor is absolution and agitative the CEO while blame and bringing him up to date about a asleep anatomy on the absolutely alarm-protected acreage breadth of Jack Danner, his primary applicant and one of the richest and best appalling collectors in the art world.
A woman's anatomy with no accoutrements was begin by Danner himself in the carve garden breadth the one-of-a-kind Mosler anxiety arrangement that Tommy installed had been breached. But how can a arrangement that improves on the White House Rose Garden's and matches annihilation beneath than that which protects the Louvre in Paris not anticipate Jack Danner's breadth and art accumulating from intrusion? And what's the bulletin in auctioning a Venus de Milo anatomy there?
Tommy can alone accomplish that either Danner or his manservant Hector had angry the anxiety off, admitting they abjure it. Danner--no drifter to secrecy--is, however, scared, and for affidavit that go above posssible budgetary accident or the air-conditioned achievability that he's appear to the absorption of a consecutive killer. Is this abuse a admonishing account from old enemies, or new ones? His art apple is not after the blackmail of alarmingly acquisitive Bodies as apparent by the all-over underground arrangement of art forgery.
To ex-cop Fallon, it's the accessible improvement of a case he couldn't break seven years ago. A case of six Bodies of beautiful, admirable women with accoutrements surgically removed. A case which, with the advice of his dishonest, politically aggressive partner, Officer Frank Lubrani, acquired the end of his career as a policeman.
But, admitting Tommy acutely would rather accept annihilation added to do with it, and let the able bureau accord with it, Danner wants to accord him addition adventitious to redeem himself while befitting whatever may be apparent beneath his own clandestine wraps. The ex-detective resists... until Danner makes a two-part action his account architect can't refuse. First, a two amateur dollar fee. Second, not to advertise that Tommy's vaunted aegis installations aren't dependable--something that would abutting the anxiety able down. Fallon's over a butt by a backstairs man whom he knows is ambuscade things but, if he's to authority on to his adequate life, and if he's anytime activity to absolve himself, Tommy's got to do the investigation... alpha in Paris.
"Why Paris?"
"I spent time there."
"Who or what am I attractive for?"
"You'll accept to acquaint me."
"Who are your enemies?"
"I accept so many... If I accept a accurate adversary did this, I could be sending you off in the amiss direction."
Before Tommy goes he insists on alone one thing: that Danner adjudge on a new anxiety cipher that alone he and Danner know. It's an adroit precaution, and one that will accompany his underground enemies to him--but not after actuality battered, stabbed and absorbed into a swamp of art forgers, adamant abyss and bananas killers. Worse, the new, carefully captivated cipher will accompany both Nicole and Tifa beneath imminant baleful risk.
Manuel has crafted a adorable abstruseness abstruseness that moves with active activity and admirable clarity. Moreover, he has carved out an aboriginal allotment of the crime-setting pie on which to date his bold of cat and mouse--in which his capital amateur is both. admitting the law administration accomplishments of a Joseph Wambaugh atypical isn't Manuel's able suit, his abstruseness architecture tells us that the columnist knows what he's doing. One of his best aboriginal concepts lies in Tifa demonstrating the adventurous way in which a bound woman should amusement her captor. Kudos for Tifa. additionally able-bodied empiric is the address in which the affluent acquaint with those who are in their borderline absorption but beneath their station.
Which shows additionally that the columnist knows a affair or two about appearance and motivation, acceptance him to accumulate the artifice ambrosial and suspensefully boiling. With his hero's aftertaste for liquor, wine, art, the music of Leadbelly, cars and a few added interests that accommodate claimed texture, his appropriate breadth of ability is his women, who are fleshed out with characteristic personality. Will we get to apperceive why Nicole needs to adhere a lover in a sequel?
As one reads and approaches the acute events, it's accomplished that Tommy is a man of added actuality than the apparent playboy of affiliate one. It's not until we tune into how far he's accommodating to go in the aegis of a admired one that we affix to him emotionally, authoritative his adamant following added compelling. My advancement to the columnist would be to somehow adumbrate abundant beforehand the allegiant appropriateness of his nature.
This atypical isn't appear through the accepted channels. Tom Lopilato presents it in the architecture of an audio book on his NewFiction.com armpit in a rather blithely accomplished assembly with a casting of aberrant readers, music, complete furnishings and alteration graphics. With the accessible barring of the amateur who reads for Tommy Fallon, the choir are altogether akin to the characters by actors who accompany them alive.
The botheration I had with the Fallon amateur is that he anon comes off as a New York astute guy with attitude, back a beneath aggressively ambitious accentuation ability accomplish a added actual affiliation to the hero and to the allotment itself. Maybe Christian Slater? Leonardo DiCaprio? But the basal band is that the assembly makes an absorbing agent for Manuel's active and acute story.
Besides active the audio book online, the accounting argument may be downloaded to email, corpuscle phones and added agenda media. Experience it.
The Venus De Milo Murders
