Genre:
Crime
Description:
Moses
McGuire is lost, staying hidden in Mexico with the ghosts of his
past. Until he’s approached by Rollens, a detective who claims her
niece has been taken and sold into a life of child prostitution.
McGuire reluctantly returns home to help. But all is not as it seems
and McGuire is drawn into a messy world of crime and desperation.
Author:
Josh
Stallings has had many occupations in life – from criminal, to taxi
driver to club bouncer. On the creative front he has written and
edited prize winning films, some in partnership with leading writers
such as Tad Williams. More recently Josh turned to novels. One More
Body is his fourth book. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his
wife and several pets.
Appraisal:
This is the
third installment comprising anti-hero Moses McGuire, after
Beautiful, Naked
and the Dead
and Out There Bad.
It opens with McGuire in a bad way, existing in Mexico, riddled with
guilt, talking to a ghost and pelting back prescription drugs and
alcohol in equal measure.
In effect,
the story takes up where Out
There Bad finished (although
each of the books operate as stand-alones). Once Rollens appears on
the scene McGuire slowly begins to take a grip on his life through
helping others. He’s a bad guy with a big heart, an excellent
character who’s as frail as he’s strong.
The story
moves along at a fast pace, flipping between first person (McGuire)
and third person (the kidnapped girl, Freedom). As McGuire rises from
the depths he’s cast himself into, Freedom sinks down into a grim
world of child prostitution, exploitation and murder. It’s here the
writing is at its most graphic - Stallings takes no prisoners when he
describes scenes of abuse. The pill isn’t sweetened in the
slightest.
What is
very interesting and incredibly well done is how the writing style
reflects McGuire’s mental state. At the outset he’s lost, guilt
ridden and off his face on narcotics and the prose matches it. Then
he’s drawn back to LA and begins to find a degree of purpose, but
his world is still confusing, he’s not sure which way is up. The
writing tightens, but still has a vague quality running through it.
Then McGuire comes off the drugs and is entirely focused so the style
shifts with it – to clipped and direct sentences. It’s clever and
very well done.
Here’s an
example of the writing:
I fired
a second shot into the windshield. The concussion sent a million
chunks of glass spilling back. It tore a three-inch hole through the
seat before ripping out through the trunk. The safety glass bloodied
up the bangers pretty good, but they showed good form, not a wail or
a moan.
A
thoroughly enjoyable, cracking read of knuckleduster prose.
FYI:
Plenty of
swearing and graphic scenes.
Added
for Reprise Review: One
More Body was a nominee in the
Crime Fiction category for B&P 2014 Readers' Choice Awards.
Original review ran November 27, 2013
Approximate
word count:
60-65,000 words
Format/Typo
Issues:
None.
Rating:
***** Five stars
Reviewed
by: Keith Nixon
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