Customer Reviews

Shackles

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The Nameless Detective book titled Shackles is the very best in the collection by Bill Pronzini. When Nameless is abducted and taken to a mountain cabin where he is shackled and left alone for many weeks, he shows amazing resourcefulness in getting through the experience. All of Pronzini's Nameless books are treasures, but this one is certainly a notch above them all.

I had read a bit of Bill Pronzini, but not one his "nameless detective" series until I picked up "Shackles." This is one great story, divided into two parts. Nameless is abducted by an old enemy, blindfolded, taken to a remote cabin in the Sierras in November, and there chained--though with some food and heat--to die slowly during the long winter months. In diary fashion Pronzini records the physical and emotional trials that "nameless" endures before he finally hits upon the way to freedom.
The second part of the book is how "nameless" goes about tracking down the bad guy. With sparse but hard-hitting prose, the reader can identify with the painstaking steps used to eventually find the would-be killer. This is one mystery which can stand a rereading for the tautness of the prose style and the empathy one has with the protagonist. Read it!

"Shackles" is the best novel I've yet read in Bill Pronzini's "Nameless" detective series. Some of the "Nameless" novels tend to be a bit by-the-numbers, but the plot here is truly ingenious. Namless is kidnapped and chained in a remote mountain cabin and left to slowly starve to death. His escape and search for the man who imprisioned him make for some of the best detective fiction ever. As a bonus, Nameless becomes introspective during his imprisonment and confesses much about his childhood and how he became who he is. This book is a MUST read for P.I. fiction fans.

Bill Pronzini is my favorite mystery writer. His "Nameless Detective" mysteries are always a treat to read. I believe that "Shackles" is his masterpiece. "Nameless" is abducted, taken to a mountain cabin, and left to die by someone who blames him for ruining his life. "Nameless" vows to free himself, and find the person who left him to die a horrible death. Pronzini puts the reader right there with him, hoping that he will be able to free himself from the shackles that bind him. He is chained for 90 days in this cabin with scant provisions to keep him alive. No one in mystery fiction can place the reader at the scene like Pronzini. "Nameless" is a character that the reader really cares about. If you haven't met "Nameless", this novel will make you a fan for life. After reading this one, I went back and read all his novels to date, and now I have read them all, and anxiously await each new "Nameless" detective mystery. If I ever had to choose only one novelist to read, it would be Bill Pronzini. He's the very best!

I have been reading all of the Nameless Detective series in order, and this is definitely the high point so far. In fact, I would rank it in the top 10 crime novels of all time. That's how good it is -- a true tour de force of suspense by a master author. Nameless is abducted by an unknown assailant who takes him to a remote mountain cabin in the middle of winter. Nameless is shackled and left to die. I don't think I'm spoiling anything when I say that he does not perish (after all, there are at least 10 more books in the series), but how he gets out and what happens when he does are utterly fascinating. Most of the book takes place in Nameless' head -- his thoughts while imprisoned. We learn so much about his character and past. I can't recommend this book highly enough, though this is really a series that needs to be read in order (don't forget his short story collection, CASE FILE). It'll take you a while to make it up to SHACKLES, but it's worth the trip!

Bill Pronzini, Shackles (Dell, 1988)

Bill Pronzini has been writing "nameless detective" mysteries for nigh on three decades, and I never picked one up until a got a bag of books from my mystery-loving mother a few months ago containing Shackles. Comitting the heresy of reading a series novel out of order, I decided to crack the cover and see what all the fuss was about, assuming there is any fuss surrounding a non-A-list mystery writer. There isn't, really, but in this case there probably should be.

Shackles has "nameless" abducted by an old enemy-- we're not sure who until the closing pages-- and spirited off to a remote cabin somewhere in the dead of winter, chained to the wall, and left with thirteen weeks' worth of food, some reading material, a dying space heater and radio, and a cheery warning that suicide is probably preferable to starving to death. Needless to say, this ain't your typical hardboied detective offering. Pronzini carries it off nicely, adapting readily to the slower pace that such a book is bound to have (no pun intended) and keeping the reader's interest nicely. The pages fly on this short novel (roughly 250 pages) as nameless spends his time alternately bemoaning his present state of affairs, trying to figure out who it was that stuck him in this mess, and accepting that the world has probably left him for dead. A fun little book, and a decided change of pace for mystery fans. Worth picking up. ***

This is one of the best Nameless Detective books. They're all great, and Shackles shines like a gem. Nameless is kidnapped and imprisoned in an isolated mountain cabin in the dead of winter. The setup and plotting are excellent, with nary a plot hole or implausibility. It's a pivotal event for Nameless, who carries a rather white-knight self-image that he is always trying to live up to, a code of ethics and a sense of honor. But this is all sorely tested and he is a changed man-- whether for better or worse is revealed in the next several books in the series. His best friend Eberhardt and love interest Kerry are also sorely tested as they have to carry on not knowing what happened to Nameless, or if they will ever see him again. This is the second crisis shared by Eberhardt and Nameless, which makes the future decay of their friendship all the more shattering.

But I am getting ahead of this book. It stands well on its own, though it's richer if you've read other Nameless books and know the characters.