Customer Reviews

Blood and Bone

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As his fans know, William Lashner wrapped up his Victor Carl series with the 2007 release of "A Killer's Kiss" in 2007, returning after a brief hiatus with "Blood and Bone." This is the tale of Kyle Byrne, the illegitimate son of a prominent Philadelphia lawyer, Liam Byrne. Liam dies prematurely and mysteriously when Kyle was only fourteen, who now, at twenty-six, a good-looking but purposeless slacker, still misses his dad. But when dad's former partner turns up murdered, Kyle is thrown back into his old man's life, soon unraveling secrets better left uncovered.

While many - myself included - were anxiously waiting the talented Lashner's return, I found "Blood and Bone" a rather uninspired and unlikely hodgepodge of random themes and listless characters. I missed the smart-talking, self-depreciating sometimes-mouthpiece-for-the-mob Vic Carl and the sharp and witty dialogue he so effortlessly spews. By comparison, Lashner has to forcibly extract insipid conversation from the mostly whining Kyle, an exercise lacking the color, energy, and edge of the Philadelphia that Lashner had previously captured so well. Lashner is more than capable of rendering a bizarre but entertaining cast, like Phil Skink, that human equivalent of a blunt weapon of the Carl books. But instead of the intimidating Skink, here we find only a couple of thinly drawn cops and a washed up lawyer-turned-assassin, about as terrifying as your local H&R Block clerk. It's not that Lashner doesn't try, but in describing a hotel room of smelling of "yesterday's urine, of indifferent adulterous sex," I'm pretty sure the witty Victor Carl would have noted that the subtleties between the aromas of "indifferent" and "passionate" adulterous sex were beyond his olfactory capabilities.

Sadly, a sub par effort for Lashner, a tired rerun of a plot we've read too many times. A snail-paced ride that lends little credibility to the pieces of the mystery as they magically flop into place for a painfully drawn out climax. Maudlin and sappy where a Lashner masterpiece like "Fatal Flaw" was edgy and cynically humorous, "Blood and Bone" left me wondering if we'll ever see the real William Lashner again.

I like "different." Different can be a really great thing when you are reading fiction day after day. So, I thoroughly enjoyed William Lashner's latest very different novel, Blood and Bone!

First, the main character was different. He was funny, sensitive, and in many ways utterly charming. Yet, he drank most nights, couldn't hold jobs because he forgot to leave his drinking or his latest female friend, to go to work, and he dressed most of the time in undershirts and shorts! Kyle Byrne won me over quickly. I enjoyed his considering himself an orphan, even though he was in his late 20's when his mother died. I enjoyed the stories about how he stole his father's cremation jar and the fact that he continued to look for him, even though he had died when he was 12 and that he kept some of his ashes in the glove compartment of his car--the only thing he still owned, after the bank took his home for his failure to pay the mortgage. And, later, I enjoyed his character change when he "put on his suit."

Second, I really enjoyed the "bad guy" character! I appreciated the inclusion of his introspection, the love-hate relationship that was behind his actions and the suspenseful buildup as to the female who guided his actions. The last scene between he and the woman was indeed strangely memorable!

But most of all I enjoyed the storyline and all of the characters combined! The storyline was unique and the individuals were those who would be fun to meet. All together this was just a fun read!

You see, Kyle Byrne is the illegitimate son of a man who had been a lawyer. While Liam Byrne had been married and his wife knew about Kyle, he was not able to see him that often. Kyle could remember times when his father had attended and watched him play ball or when he came to visit and stayed for dinner with he and his mother, but there was never enough time with him. Kyle's mother had continue to love Liam throughout her life and had instilled, perhaps, too much of her love and devotion into her son.

It was only when his father's old partner was murdered and other strange events started, that Kyle began to wonder exactly what kind of man his father had been.

It had started many, many years ago when Liam Byrne had represented a young man whose family wanted to have a "relationship" eliminated. That young man was now in the political arena and, as always, his past was "fair game" as he set his sights for new offices.

Soon, everybody was looking for "The O'Malley File" and when they discovered Kyle attending the funeral of his father's former partner, he automatically became the focus for all that was happening! And the police were the first who started asking questions!

Different is good! Yes, there are still gory murder scenes; there are gangsters, arson, and blackmail attempts--not so unique, except in the way that William Lashner rolled them together! Unique characters, unique storyline, a unique, enjoyably memorable read! You won't be sorry you choose this one!


G. A. Bixler
For Amazon Vine

This is a book I never would have finished unless I had been stuck in an airport for 5 hours and had read all the other books in my carry on bag. The first 200 pages draaaagggggg so slowly it is amazing to me that this book received any 5 star reviews at all. Surprisingly though, if you can slog through the first 200 pages, it does begin to pick up a lot.

The book features a thorough slacker for the main character. I did not find him interesting, sympathetic, funny, or engaging. Just a boring slacker who loves to whine and make excuses for his slacker lifestyle. I never became engaged in the plot, was never intrigued about learning "who done it" and never found a character who was engaging at all.

At times the dialogue really sparkles and you can catch glimpses of a gifted writer. However, those times are not frequent enough to warrant buying this book.

Jan Dahlin Geiger Get Your Assets in Gear! Smart Money Strategies

I've read some of Mr. Lashner's Victor Carl series and liked it, so I ordered this book and prepared to enjoy a new protagonist from the same author.

I did like the book overall, but there were points in this novel when the protagonist, Kyle Byrne, wasn't particularly appealing or interesting.

The premise here is this: Kyle Byrne, illegitimate son who lost his mostly-absent father a little more than a decade before, is living a life most of us would call dissolute. He has no full-time job; he doesn't have a functional, mutually-beneficial relationship with ANYone; he lets people down at virtually every turn because there's little that actually matters to him. His life isn't "pretty damn sweet," as the blurb on the product page indicates; it's actually bereft of emotional involvement and direction.

Then his deceased father's former law partner is murdered, and suddenly things begin to fall apart (that is, if they were ever holding together in the first place). Kyle begins a search for answers that leads him to rethink his "relationship" with his father as well as his prospects for the future. He's lived his life thinking that everything was touched by his father's absence and death, and now he must put all his assessments and judgments in a different place in his mind. He is quite fragile in many respects, ready to attach himself to someone before that person has proven himself worthy of the attachment.

The mystery in this book is satisfying enough, but Kyle himself is tough to really appreciate (at least for me; you may find him compelling and fascinating). I found myself wanting to throttle him for being so gullible at times, then found myself wanting to slap him on the head for being so blind to what's going on around him. He's fragile, vulnerable, and so much a victim of the crappy fathering he's received (or not received, in this case). He's also irresponsible and narcissistic. Hard to love the guy. Hard to like him, even. Hard to read more about him sometimes because he's just so damaged.

The upshot for me is that the story was decent enough, but the protagonist was sometimes tough to stomach. Still, he wasn't irredeemable, and he wasn't a total jerk, and sometimes I felt that he had great potential if he could just get out from under the self-created shadow of a man who really didn't deserve all the angst and devotion.

Others have provided a synopsis of the plot, with its twists and turns, so I won't repeat. The plot was interesting enough for me to finish the book, but when I was done, I found myself more annoyed than satisfied.

The main character, Kyle Byrne - despite being drop-dead charming, a star athelete in high school, and of normal intelligence - bums his way through adult life, continually blaming his dead-beat father for his problems. To make things worse, all of the characters who are his friends are classic enablers, letting him mooch his way through life. Early in the story, I didn't mind the whining - after all, Kyle was 12 years old when the books starts. But towards the end, the repeated reminders that the father was to blame for Kyle's failure to mature in adulthood became just plain annoying. And for me, it ruined my interest in the plot. (I would have given it 1 star, but I reserve that for books I can't even finish.)

Blood and Bone is William Lashner's first novel that doesn't feature attorney Victor Karl. It comes off as a lightweight Lashner. It's not as compelling as some of his earlier works. The plot is okay and the writing is fine, but it takes a while to draw the reader deeply into the story. Typical of Lasher, there are lots of questions and a few twists.

Kyle Byrne, a 26-year-old slacker, is the main character. His father, a lawyer, died when Kyle was 12. When his father's partner is found murdered and some files are missing, Kyle begins to question if there's a link between the murder and his father's death.

Kyle's questioning leads him into trouble and uncovers some interesting developments. The present unravels into the past. Kyle refuses to give up and receives some much needed help in his quest to find the answers that might shed light on his father's death.

The foundations of the plot were promising but the pieces did not come together well enough to make this a good book. The beginning was slow, the middle not bad and the ending peculiar rather than off beat. Not the worst use of time but also not anything that I would recommend.

Kyle Byrne had wonderful prospects as a young man, but has become a drifter after flunking out of college. Unable to hold a job, his house foreclosed on, living with friends and generally being a slacker, he is emotionally numb and has been ever since his father died when he was just 12 (not 14 as the blurb says) and he was denied access to the funeral, causing him to sneak in. However, when his father's former law partner is murdered, Kyle starts to question what might have really happened to his father and sets out to investigate the crime on his own - while at the same time trying to stay a step ahead of the police, who see him as the primary suspect. As Kyle discovers secrets in his past that he may not necessarily have wanted to know, he understands finally the old saying "Be careful what you wish for ... you just may get it."

This is my first William Lashner novel - I have been collecting his Victor Carl series for awhile now, but haven't started reading it because I want the whole series first. I was glad to get a chance to read a stand-alone at this point to get a feeling for his writing style. I was impressed - he has a strong grasp on characterizations and is able to make every character in his book come to life - no matter how short their tenure on the page may be. He knows how to ratchet up the tension and keep it there, making the reader keep those pages turning way beyond light's out! This is definitely a great book and I would recommend it.

I am a huge fan of William Lashner. He is a terrific writer, and the Victor Karl books are good for a number of reasons. The plots are good, the writing is full of wit and style, and the characters have meat on their bones. They are full of motives, like hate, love, jealousy, revenge. This book is missing that. The characters just did not ring true to me. The emotions of the main character seem to be forced. There are way too many things he does not care about for him to care deeply about a select few things. Actually, one thing. His father. Lashner writes with feeling about the loss Kyle feels for his dead father, but it seems to be the only thing he cares about, and it makes Kyle too shallow. The other characters are mostly quick sketches and we do not see why they feel the way they do about Kyle. It is not the volumes of pages I am talking about here. You do not need a lot of back story work to help a reader feel a character. I remember a detective in a T. Jefferson Parker novel coming into a crime scene. He was described as walking with the self-assured stride of the indispensable. You know that guy immediately. I felt that way about one of the detectives in this novel, but only that one guy. Women seem to respond to Kyle, but, other than being glib and good-looking, he has absolutely nothing going for him. We get very little on why Kyle's friends are Kyle's friends. Kyle is a weak character, at least to me, yet seems to inspire loyalty among his friends, but I never felt I knew why. Everything seemed a little forced, a little rushed. Now, an average Lashner book is still a lot better than most other authors. But Lashner has set the bar way above this. It is okay, but it is like watching a home run hitter bunt. He gets to first base, but we expect more than this.

Take Holden Caulfield - Salinger's iconic prototypical slacker from "Catcher in the Rye" - and update him to present day Philadelphia, and you have William Lashner's Kyle Byrne, a disaffected societal dropout who's adept at drinking, baseball, and chasing skirts.

Kyle finds himself embroiled in a murder mystery that hinges on the actions of his dead father, the man who sired him illegitimately, and as he grapples to discover the answers to why people are dying, he also hopes to resolve his own conflicted emotions which have held him back from being able to find purpose and direction in his life.

In his first stand-alone novel, Lashner - author of the Victor Carl series - brings us a very entertaining story centered on another of life's amiable bumblers. Engaging, funny where appropriate, told with zest, the story also has a couple of real zinger plot twists (at one point, I told myself, "Whoa! I didn't see THAT one coming!").

This is a fun book. Get it; you'll enjoy it.