Haftmann’s Rules
by Robert White
ISBN:
9780982945971
a 2011 release
from Grand
Mal Press
Thomas Haftmann
is an ex homicide cop living in Ohio. Now he’s a private investigator pretty
near the end of his profession. Clients are few and he’s struggling with some
major physical and mental problems. Haftmann is not your typical upstanding
white knight of a PI. He confronts his drinking problem by hanging out in
sleazy bars, has sex with women he finds on the Internet, and abuses the good
will of the few friends he still retains.
He’s bright and
the novel is littered with his political and philosophical ruminations. His
intimacy quotient is low, as his ex-wife would quickly testify. Somewhere in
his core, however, is a moral kernel that leads him to put his sanity and his
life on the line to try to tease out an unusual serial killer operating in the
sleaziest sections of Boston. His entry into this dark and dangerous segment of
society, in a town where he has no resources at all, is a search for his
client’s missing daughter who may be stripping in one of Boston’s unsavory
clubs.
The novel is
well-written, coherent and fast-paced. Make no mistake it is very dark, violent
and pretty explicit in several instances. It is a very modern story in that
much of the motivations on the dark side are rooted in some of the nastier beliefs
of today. The novel takes some effort to get into but somehow, for this reader
at least, Thomas Haftmann, in spite of his bizarre rules, grabbed me by the
collar and held my interest until the ride was finished.
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