A Knife's Edge by Eliot Parker/Review by Jim Reed
A Knife's Edge
By Eliot Parker
Headline Books
$19.95
ISBN 978-1946664426
Publication Date: October 2018
Silver Falchion
BOOK OF THE DAY
A Knife’s Edge by Eliot Parker is a twisted bit of fiction. The sequel to Fragile Brilliance (Roundfire Books 2015), this is not a mystery for the faint of heart – and you will not guess the ending. The Clay Center was twenty years in the making. Completion was only made possible with the generous donation by the BTech company, the savior apparent of economically depressed Charleston, West Virginia. Charleston has been in a downward spiral for a while. The streets are run by gangs and the residents have turned to the absolutely devastating drug Krokodil (Krok). But tonight marks the beginning of a new era – maybe. The drama begins when Sargent Ronan McCullough of the Charleston police department crashes the celebration dinner and reception of a new cancer center at the Clay Center. But he’s not the only one. A car barrels though the windows into the crowded ballroom and chaos ensues. Interestingly, the driver of the van is dead – and was dead before the van crashed the party. In the trunk of the vehicle is the brutally murdered body of Sarah Gilmore, former nurse and current employee at BTech. There is a lot happening in Charleston.
Eliot Parker is a magician at the thriller genre. This is a completely engrossing, high-speed page turner of a book. I truly enjoyed the ride. But, there is more to it than that. Parker has a way of slipping in details quietly that lodge in your subconscious until they assemble into a vivid revelation. He never tells you what is happening. He shows you. Paints the scene and you are right there with the characters experiencing it. That is not an easy trick.
I have not read the first book in the Ronan McCullough series – but it is next on my “to read” list.