9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Asuperb psychological police procedural, August 5, 2003
In Central Park Police Detectives James Gurson and Didi Kane investigate the burned body of former cop Charlene Leone found in the Brambles and the apparent asphyxiation suicide of Dr. Orrin Gretz in his Mercedes buried in the snow. Charlene used to be Didi's lover and partner before being fired for drug use. Orrin's chosen weapon of death mirrors that of James' father, a cop who did his job well until the unfair charges that could have led to jail time did lead to his suicide in the family garage.
Soon Gurson, a psychology major, and Kane find themselves making inquiries amongst Manhattan's analyst world, a close mouthed group unable to answer as opposed to asking questions. As they dig deeper, ties to their personal lives surface beyond the already known obvious. However, Kane begins to wonder if her funky partner, as a means of enacting vengeance on the former ADA who played his father false, might be orchestrating one link.
AN HOUR TO KILL is a superb psychological police procedural that rips into the world of analysts especially those who use patients for sexual pleasure. The key is the believability of the cast from the dedicated but emotional hurting cops to the analysts pulling the wagons around in a siege mentality even though one who may have committed malpractice is dead and connected to a homicide. Though the very end feels more like a couch trip, readers, except psychoanalysts, will appreciate Karin Yapalater's strong debut.
Harriet Klausner
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Many Complaints, But Didn't Stop Reading, January 7, 2005
James Gurson is a NYPD Detective. He is a "second-generation blue" who is constantly battling to establish himself as a reliable and trustworthy officer. His father committed suicide over an unarmed punk dealer he killed, having thought he had a gun. Gurson was a child when it happened, and he's been trying to live it down his whole life.
Didi Kane is Gurson's lesbian, African American partner. She's a tough-nosed woman in a white man's world, but she holds her own. At least until her previous partner, Charlene Leone, shows up dead. Not far away, Gurson, out for a walk, happens upon another corpse, psychoanalyst Orville Gretz, dead of supposed carbon monoxide poisoning. Gurson is the only one who doesn't think it's a suicide. Everyone else thinks Gurson is too close to the case and his judgment is impaired because his dad committed suicide the same way.
It comes out that Didi and Charlene were lovers and may have fudged some reports. Suddenly Didi is a probable suspect in Charlene's murder. Didi and Gurson decide to keep working together. They begin investigating the sordid lives of Charlene and Orville, two apparently unrelated deaths.
Gurson's archrival in this story is Tucker Norville, an Assistant District Attorney whose goal in life is to make everyone miserable, especially Gurson. He's an alcoholic and jealous man, who is determined to break Gurson like he broke his father. He was the man prosecuting Gurson's father and he takes every opportunity he can to bring it up and rub it in Gurson's face. Like father, like son, is Norville's motto when it comes to the Gurson men.
An Hour to Kill has a shaky start. The opening scene had a peeping-tom spying on a guy being gratified in an alley. This was followed by a psychoanalyst lusting after one of his patients and copulating with another in his office. It made me wonder if there was going to be a real plot, or just a lot of shock factor.
Throughout the book the reader is lead to believe the killer is one character but near the end there are more than a few curves. I realize it's supposed to be a mystery but I felt like the severe turns were more of a deception. Once the change happened it became obvious where the new direction was heading.
Another annoyance was the confusing point of view and lack of differentiation among character's dialogue. This occurred throughout. They all spoke with the same short and often incomplete sentences, which also contributed to the point of view problem.
Despite these complaints, I didn't stop reading. It's like when you come across a traffic accident. You know you shouldn't gawk but you do anyway. I gawked into a strange world of fetish sex and psychologically dysfunctional people (not your average dysfunctional ones, either.) If you like books with sex, violence and demented characters then I'm sure you'll like this one
[...]
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A problematic debut novel, February 26, 2004
Two murders are committed in Central Park, NYC. A psychiatrist is found in his car- an apparent suicide. Also in his car is the dead body of a sparrow with the wings clipped off. The second murder is Charlene Leone, a police officer burned almost beyond recognition. Assigned to the case is NYC detective James Gursen. His partner, Didi Kane is quickly taken off the case when she reveals that she was lovers with Charlene. They must discover whether the two deaths are related and, if so, how.
This debut novel is quite problematic. First of all, the author fails to create truly sympathetic characters. She, instead delves deeply into psychology. Rather than characterizing this book as a psychological thriller, it should be called a thriller of psychology. For it is the psychology that is the reason for this book's existence. Long episodes of psychological descriptions and dissertations slow down the pacing and bring a sense of tedium to the story. On the positive side, the author can write with artistic prose. I just doubt her storytelling ability.
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