For those reading, not in the know, I participated in a promotion, and won the grand prize, a signed, limited edition hardback of Mr. Leverone’s novella-length work “Heartless,” published by Delirium Books.
And what is there to say?
First, Delirium’s worked hard over the years to earn their reputation as a quality publisher putting out not only stories begging to be read, but books wonderful to hold. Such is the case with Leverone’s “Heartless.”
The work’s a compact hardback, finely bound, with a great cover, easy-to-read print, and the highly coveted Delirium imprint on the back.
The real joy, however, was in reading the work in a sitting.
“Heartless,” tells the story of psychopath Gary Newton running into a pair of heartless (but subtly heart-filled, even if the author were to disagree) women. The plot’s simple: murderer meets his betters. A just-desserts tale. Any genre fiction fan with any experience, and certainly any writer, knows the ending (or close enough) shortly after the first chapter. If the work’s got a downside, that would be it.
But it wasn’t a problem.
The question, of course, with any work, that must be answered by a reader, is: “Do I want to turn the page?”
With “Heartless,” for this particular genre fan, who all-too-often can be quite critical, especially with how much poor material is flooding the market, the resounding answer, page after page, was YES.
It can be quite hard to surprise readers. With the murderous triangle tale of Gary, Janelle, and Audrey, Leverone opted to simply entertain–and he succeeded! The writing’s clear, captivating, and filled with the kind of tension required to carry a reader all the way to the end! If there were some reader-prognostications that did come to pass, they did so in a fulfilling and impressive and inevitable way.
“Heartless,” is a great risk-free introduction to Leverone’s work. For me, I know I’m now looking forward to checking out the rest of his titles. On the author’s Website, there’s a posted .mpeg interview, where Leverone mentions that among his list of writing icons, stands Lee Child.
I believe it.
And am looking forward to the next page-turning ride.
Alex, Thank you
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Heartless-Allan-Leverone/dp/B00770HB4E/ref=cm_cr-mr-title
