Customer Reviews

In Search of Mercy: A Mystery

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In high school in 1993 in Pittsburgh, Dexter Bolzjak was a legend on ice until he suffered a meltdown in the Pennsylvania state championship. Soon afterward, irate hockey goon fans abducted him and beat the crap out of him. Eight years since his rise, fall and assault has left Dexter a shell of what he was as he sorts produce at a warehouse while trying to keep his sanity, which he recognizes as a full time job.

Aging alcoholic Lou Kashon offers Dexter a deal to make some real money if he locates his lost love, former movie star, Mercy Carnahan, who has not been seen in public since 1958. The cash is too good to pass up so without asking too many questions Dexter begins a search for the recluse.

The key to this strong amateur sleuth is the past of Dexter and Mercy, as the audience sees how they got to where they are today. Fast-paced and vividly descriptive especially the violence (you will feel the hip checks), In Search of Mercy is an aptly titled thriller that readers who appreciate something radically different will fully enjoy.

Harriet Klausner

At first blush Dexter Bolzjak doesn't seem like the stock protagonist that pops up in most mysteries. He's not a disenchanted journalist, a reclusive police detective or even a family member seeking answers, revenge, etc. Instead, Bolzjak spends his day with his head down, sorting rotten onions at a whole sale produce warehouse while trying to scrape by. When he is approached by a homeless bum with a surprisingly large stash of money and even more surprising request -- to find a reclusive film star who disappeared decades ago -- Bolzjak is drawn by the money, not by a sense of curiosity or even justice. This changes over time, but don't be fooled into thinking that Bolzjak is your average "hero."

What makes the character of Bolzjak interesting is his inner struggle to repress his childhood trauma. As his search deepens for the missing actress Mercy Carnahan it becomes clear that Bolzjak and the mysterious woman he seeks share common psychological and emotional scars. Ayoob does not pull any punches and the reader will slowly realize the full extent of Bolzjak's ordeal in often very graphic images. Carnahan's story never feels quite as developed but the fleeting glimpses into her life as a film femme fatale are quite captivating and suggest a woman with many secrets of her own.

Michael Ayoob's prose is engaging and vivid. His writing style is concise but he gets a lot of bang for his buck. There are times when he slips into the psyches of his traumatized characters and for a few moments the reader is enveloped in the same darkness and chaos that plague Bolzjak and Mercy. The reader will feel his or her own chest tighten when the images feel almost suffocatingly real.

Unfortunately good prose can sometimes mask a lack of plot and that seems to be the case here. As intriguing as Mercy Carnahan was I never felt like I truly understood her or her motivations. Ayoob builds a lot of tension and sends his characters down interesting paths but the final resolution seemed too brief after all of the work of getting there. I would have gladly sacrificed a few pages of hockey for more about Mercy and Lou.

Fans of good writing will enjoy this book, but those looking for a satisfying mystery might find themselves a little disappointed.

Dexter Bolzjak was used to rowdy crowds. Dexter used to play hockey for the Falcons. His position was goalie. After one really violent game against the Blizzards, Dexter was accosted and tortured.

Years later, Dexter is grown up. Dexter was sitting eating lunch at a fast food joint, when a bum comes walking in. The bum starts causing some trouble when he spots Dexter and walks towards him. Dexter thinks the man is crazy but when the bum hands Dexter a hundred dollar bill and tells him there is more where that came from and to visit him the next day, Dexter can't resist the temptation.

The bum is not really a bum but Lou Kashon. Lou knows Dexter's father. Lou wants to hire Dexter to find Mercy Carnahan. Mercy used to be a very famous actress back in the day. Dexter agrees. Dexter is headed down a dark, gritty path, where there is no turning back.

In Search of Mercy is Mr. Ayoob's first novel. I have to say that after reading this book that Mr. Ayoob has nothing to worry about as his future as a writer is bright. The way Mr. Ayoob portrays mannequins in this book, just may have you quickly getting over your fear of clowns. Dexter is one disturbed individual but this is what I think gives him the edge as a private investigator. The flash back of the torture Dexter endured is horrific. Also, when Mercy would visit Dexter in his images, it was kind of like a weird trip but in a good way. In Search of Mercy is a hard core, dark, suspenseful and filled with a strong storyline and an engaging character in Dexter. Fans of private investigator mysteries will enjoy this new voice.

In 1993, seventeen-year-old Dexter Bolzjak of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, is a high school hockey star with long hair and feminine good looks. After his coach boots him out of a game, he is driving alone on a secluded road, Old Watermill, when he stops his car to help a woman injured in a car accident. It is a trap; the woman is a mannequin; and four homophobic rednecks abduct Dexter and film their sexual assault on him.

Eight years later, Dexter is an antisocial recluse. He lives in the basement of his best friend, Judd Hargauer, who is obsessed with slasher films. He works with misfits in a warehouse, loading fruits and vegetables. Dexter is approached by Lou Kashon, an aging, alcoholic Arab who is dying of cancer. Lou offers to pay Dexter to find a starlet, Mercy Carnahan, who disappeared over forty years ago. During his search, Dexter encounters many bizarre characters who, like himself, are forever trapped in the past.

It is obvious from reading "In Search of Mercy" that the author, Michael Ayoob, is very knowledgeable about ice hockey and film history, specifically the slasher film classics. The novel's plot centers around both subjects. The main characters, Dexter Bolzjak and Mercy Callahan, are stars of hockey and film, respectively. Both are emotionally scarred by success; both choose to hide from a potentially harmful society by disappearing into worlds of their own creation. Hockey and slasher films have much in common; for example, fans of both love to see gratuitous violence.

Michael Ayoob is quite the master of the macabre; he must've been influenced by such Italian directors as Mario Bava and Dario Argento. One of his minor characters, Judd Hargauer, has an unhealthy obsession with horror films. He earns his living by editing homemade videos of sadistic, true-life crimes. Dexter also enjoys horror films, but to a lesser extent than Judd; some of his favorites are "Hellraiser," "My Bloody Valentine," "The Burning," "Suspiria" and "Deep Red." I was pleasantly surprised when Dexter also mentioned "Gates of Hell" (unedited Italian version is titled "City of the Living Dead"), directed by Italian goremeister Lucio Fulci. A fan of horror films myself, I've seen all the titles of which Dexter spoke.

"In Search of Mercy" contains explicit language and graphic depictions of sexual abuse. Eventually the reader learns the gruesome details of the humiliation and torture inflicted upon Dexter; it was a shocking, horrifying scene that won't be easily erased from the reader's conscious. Keep in mind that Dexter was still a minor. Also, there is a scene involving a perverted plastic surgeon who has inflicted horrors upon his own family; it is a scene reminiscent of horror classics such as Danny Steinmann`s "The Unseen." Furthermore, the creepy use of mannequins and dummies is prevalent throughout the novel, giving it a "Twilight Zone" atmosphere.

The reader can't help but feel sympathy towards Dexter Bolzjak. Hate-filled hockey fans chant "Goalchick!" and call him numerous names such as "faggot." (I found it difficult to believe that fans at a high school hockey game in 1993 could be so rude and crude.) Dexter comes from a broken home. His parents are divorced and his mom Samantha has moved away. After the sexual assault, he began ignoring his father Marvin, owner of a novelty store that sells fake dog poop and other obnoxious gag gifts. During the week, Dexter merely goes to work at Marchicomo's Warehouse and later crashes each evening in Judd's basement; on weekends, he steals Judd's mom's anxiety drugs and slumbers the hours away until Monday morning.

Dexter has a second chance to redeem himself and regain his sense of self-respect and self-worth when Lou Kashon asks him to become a private investigator and find Mercy Callahan. Dexter's persistence to locate the reclusive actress forced me to admire him. Also, he truly cares about Lou who is dying in the hospital. Dexter's romantic interest and sidekick is his new manager Gen who, like himself, has many emotional problems created by family tragedy. Together, they travel from Pennsylvania to New York and interview very bizarre characters who knew Mercy.

Learning to let go of one's cruel past is the focal point of "In Search of Mercy." Characters can't seem to escape their tragic pasts or they are fixated on reliving their pasts. It is as though, especially in the case of Mercy, their best years are far behind them. Now I understand why forgiveness is so very important. One can't let go of the past and live for the future until they've forgiven those who have hurt them.

A unique blend of psychological horror and private investigative work, "In Search of Mercy" is highly recommended for mature mystery fans. (Keep this one away from the children.) It provides a graphic account of the emotional trauma inflicted on a person years after a sexual assault. In the future, I hope to read more novels from Michael Ayoob, especially ones that reference or pay homage to my favorite slasher films. He is definitely a new voice that needs to be heard. "In Search of Mercy" is too unique for me to think of similar novels that should be read. However, I do recommend that you watch some of the slasher films that were referenced in this novel. I have an entire collection of them.

Joseph B. Hoyos

The book starts out with a great action scene at a hockey game and then takes a crazy turn that leaves you hanging til the end before you really find out what happens. It's a quick page-turner and has very engaging descriptions of the scenes. It reads like a screenplay in a lot of ways. I could def see it on the big screen some day.

Highly recommended!

This is a fast moving, exciting mystery but it's marred by its amorality. I loved the Pittsburgh setting and the interplay of the 40's, 50's with the present. Film making and film history along with violence and pain tie the two separate plots together. The main character, Dexter Bolzjak, is a 25 year old failed high school hockey star whose fame from sports is supplanted by the horrible attack he endures from deranged fans and the film they make of their crime. He's living a half life with a low level job, sleeping in a friend's basement, when he runs into Lou in their shared neighborhood. Lou sends him on a mission to find his long ago lover who disappeared in the 50's. Dexter begins to come to terms with his attack on this search. It's odd to me that someone who has been through something horrendous fails to act when he sees someone else being hurt. That was really off putting for me. There's a great twist at the end of the book.