Review-THE TERRORIST NEXT DOOR

 

The Terrorist Next Door         

By Sheldon Siegel

ISBN: 978-1-4642-0164-6

A 2013 hardcover release

From Poisoned Pen Press

 

A fascinating and important idea that could have benefited from better writing and better editing. Factual errors might call into question some of the more important elements of the story. Make no mistake, this is an exciting, sophisticated plot idea.. It is in the execution, the writing, that the book reveals unfortunate flaws that could easily have been corrected.

 

There is a lot of history here. One of the more interesting elements devolves from the meticulous and careful plotting that sends our hero, Chicago detective David Gold and his partner, detective A.C. Battles, from one end of Chicago to the other, in a frantic and sometimes predictable effort. They are chasing a clever, almost ephemeral perpetrator, clashing with their administration and trying to avoid the media. Readers will get that early on and don’t need too be reminded of it in  almost every chapter. The book does demonstrate how a careful, intelligent evil individual, might shut down a major city.

The author betrays an antipathy to politicians and law enforcement leadership which gets a little wearing. Thus the detectives have to battle both the diabolical mind of the evil near-genius and the perceived incompetence of their administration.

The pace is rapid which is a saving element and the question of satisfactory conclusion is in question until the very end. I just wish the author and his editors had fixed a few of the more obvious shortcomings, corrected factual errors and produced a better book..