Customer Reviews

The Skin Gods: A Novel

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A blurb on the dustjacket touting one of the author's earlier works says "Be prepared to stay up all night." I can tell you that James Ellroy was indeed right on the money where "The Skin Gods" is concerned. Though I had to be up earlier than usual, I didn't get to sleep until I finished the book: the sun was just a few minutes from rising. "The Skin Gods" is that good.

Detective Kevin Byrne, of the Philadelphia Police Department, is still recovering from wounds. His leg is not what it should be, not what it was. He returns to very limited duty and his partner, Detective Jessica Balzano.

A copy of "Psycho" has been found in a local video rental store. Spliced into the rental copy of the movie is a real life murder scene. The corpse start piling up quickly as a murderer seems intent on proving that life follows art. The killer stages scenes of famous movies as he strikes down one victim after another. The killer videotapes their handiwork and edits them into the namesake movies, leaving them at various video rental stores.

Slowly, as the result of solid police work by Byrne and Balzano, a story of death emerges, its tentacles ensnaring in some way each of the victims. Throughout, we are led to believe that we are in the killer's mind . . . or, more accurately, in the minds of killers because Montanari deploys a powerful backstory involving Byrne on a mission of personal revenge.

Montanari is essentially flawless. His plot is absolutely lush with twists and turns, each of them perfectly executed. The reader is brought into a labyrinth and Montanari never misses a step as he guides you where he wants you to go, all of which increases the power of the little and not-so-little surprises he pulls off along the way. The author is truly a master of plot.

The characters are well developed as well. Kevin Byrne is weighed down with a few devils of his own, but Montanari is wise in his treatment. None of these problems leave Byrne's character stereotyped, but rather make him more interesting. Balzano isn't as deep as Byrne, but she gets plenty of time onstage and is believable.

Montanari handles several backstories well. Some of them you know are going to become important and they do. Some of them are just backstories.

I don't like to describe the action of a novel in detail, especially when it's as good as "The Skin Gods." For me, that kind of advance knowledge takes away from my reading pleasure.

Suffice it to say that there's plenty of action in "The Skin Gods and lots of surprises. James Ellroy is right about Montanari's writing: be prepared to stay up all night.

Jerry

"The Skin Gods" is the first novel I've read by Richard Montanari and I got two words for you...Great book! It's a detective story laced with movie history and is totally original. The main characters are Jessica Balzano and Kevin Byrne, two Philadelphia Homicide detectives who are searching for The Actor. The Actor is a serial killer, who has recently stolen the video "Psycho" from an independent video store. When it was rented and the scene where Janet Leigh is killed finally arrives, the tape cuts to a real murder committed exactly like that one. As the detectives try to find out what he'll pick next and figure out his motive (as well as who the victim is), The Actor stikes again...The movie is filled with movie references and is really fun to read for a movie fanatic, but you don't REALLY need to know anything about movies to enjoy the book. It's got short, brisk chapters (there's 98 chapters and an Epilogue) with the story progressing from several different perspectives. It's actually pretty suspenseful. Some of the story is told from The Actor's perspective, but, wisely, Montanari doesn't tell us anything that the police don't know. The book is filled with false leads, making us second guess ourselves the entire time while never seeming forced. I highly recommend this book...It's the first book I've read by Montanari, but it's certainly not the last.

GRADE: A-

Richard Montanari was born in Cleveland, Ohio. As a young man Richard travelled Europe extensively and lived for a time in London, before returning to work in the family construction business. Five years and a few damaged thumbs later, he decided that writing may be a less painful occupation. He has now written several very successful suspense novels.

The Skin Gods is a suspense novel in the true sense of the word, sometimes violent and brutal, but not just for the sake of it It delves into the seedy world of cheap nightclubs and even cheaper women, pornography and all the other things that make a large city tick. Detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano are trawling the streets of Philadelphia in the blazing summer heat. A series of crimes has shattered the quiet of the city. A secretary has been slashed to death in a seedy motel shower and a street hustler has been brutally murdered with a chain saw.

Someone is recreating copy cat murders from famous Hollywood murder scenes and placing the clips in videos for the unsuspecting public to find while they are eating their pizzas and popcorn in their own living rooms. Is this some local psycho or is it something even more sinister . . .

Let me make the most important point clear right now: This is one heck of a good read, highly recommended.

In The Skin Gods, homicide detectives Jessica Balzano and Kevin Byrne are on the trail of a serial killer ultimately dubbed The Actor. His method? He recreates famous movie murders, then roughly inserts his scenes into rental videos which are then unwittingly borrowed by innocent members of the public. Of course, the viewers turn the tapes over to the police, and the chase is on. So far, so good. As I was reading the first few chapters, which set up not only this case, but fill in new readers on the back stories involved with Balzano and Byrne--for those of us who did not read the author's previous book The Rosary Girls--I was having a great deal of trouble with the "Kitchen Sink" nature of it all: Jessica's dad was a cop; her husband cheated on her; her father worries that all her friends are cops; she a high-caliber boxer in her spare time who's coached by her uncle the former boxer; she's tall and beautiful. For her partner Byrne, there is his constant pain from a shot to the head in the last book; he hasn't had a successful relationship in years; his daughter is deaf; he may be tortured by past on-duty actions. Did I mention he's often psychic when he touches people or objects? Whew! That's a lot of baggage for two detectives I've just met. In a long novel, such elements provide interesting history about who the lead characters are and how they became the tormented creatures before us today. Still, I was really worried early on that the author was just tossing random ideas at a corkboard to see what stuck.

Lecture over.

This is a truly twisted book, with magnificent machinations of plot that never fail to logically line up at the end. It is, at times, a fairly gruesome read. The Actor--and the author--leave no unpleasant detail spared while creating his scenes. The reenactment of a particular scene from DePalma's version of Scarface is particularly disturbing in its description, but I cannot fault the writer for not putting us in the middle of the scene. I was repulsed but could not put it down.

Perhaps the biggest joy for me was the author's ultimate whodunit hook: He plants a juicy trail of red (and not so red) herrings that will leave even the most sophisticated thriller fan gasping at the triple-twist ending. The suspect I pegged fairly early on looked guilty only if you read between the lines, and each page leading up to the big reveal only further convinced me that "my" suspect was about to be unmasked. Let's just say the author got me good, and he did it fairly: when the book is over, you do not feel that the author held back or cheated in any way, as so often happens with bestsellers these days.

Thriller, heart-pounding, and gory-as-all-get-out, The Skins Gods is a great read for a stormy night.

This is the first book by this author that I'v read, and was totally amazed. It was supurbly written, and as soon as u start predicting the rest of the book, it takes a completly differnt turn and keeps your eyes glued to the pages. It's full of suspense and delivers 100% all throughout the book. This is the second book in the series and is just as good, if not better then the first! (The Rosary Girls) I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone, it was just great!

This is the first novel that I have read by Richard Montanari. There were some good, suspenseful moments in the book however there were also parts that seemed to drag along. I didn't read the Rosary Girls yet so I don't know if that would have helped to move along some of the character development that really didn't seem to go anywhere. All in all it was an entertaining read and I look forward to reading the Rosary Girls.

After reading the excellent THE ROSARY GIRLS, I decided to read THE SKIN GODS and consider this to be just as excellent.

Richard Montanari reminds me of when James Patterson used to be good. Excellent characters, suspenseful scenes, great dialog, a deranged killer and just enough red herrings to keep you guessing. I changed my mind several times when trying to guess whom the killer was. I think Kevin Byrne is one of the most intriguing characters I've read in a long time. He's a good guy who is definitely willing to compromise himself for what he believes is right. Jessica Belzano is a great character as well. Mom/Homicide Detective/Boxer - definitely an interesting combination (She's lucky to have such an understanding babysitter as well.)

I agree with the reviewer who thinks Montanari should be more widely read. I hope this series continues to grow. Can't wait for the next one.

One of the best books I read last year was 'The Rosary Girls' by Richard Montanari. Now Philadelphia detectives Kevin Bryne and Jessica Balzano return to active duty in this excellent sequel,' The Skin Gods'.
A death scene is discovered spliced into the video of Alfred Hitchcok's Psycho. A madman is re-creating famous death scenes from classic movies.
Monanari wxpertly weaves his story between the murderer and the detectives with near perfect suspense. The main characters compliment each other. Jessica is raising a young daughter while trying to gain acceptance as a detective on her own merits and not of her famous father. Byrne is a complicated character. His actions may bend the rules but he is a good cop. Even the supporting characters have a life of their own that the reader can believe in.
This novel remained with me long after I finished it. Monanari has been compared to Thomas Harris but he is truly in a league of his own.

Richard Montanari has quickly become one of my favorite authors and is one I consider to be among the elite of today's thriller writers. This author is nowhere nearly as well known as he should be, and he deserves to be widely read by anyone who is fan of thrillers, books of mystery and suspense and, hell, just a well-written book of any type. Montanari has written five thrillers in the past eleven years but it wasn't until his excellent book, The Rosary Girls, that he started to get the recognition he so richly deserves. The Rosary Girls was one of the best books I read in quite awhile. So, when his latest book, The Skin Gods, was recently released, I couldn't wait to buy it. I was a little concerned, however, that it might not be able to match the reading pleasure I got from The Rosary Girls. My concern was totally unwarranted, as The Skin Gods, which features the same two exceptionally well-developed homicide detectives as in The Rosary Girls, proved in every way to be able to provide the same level of edge-of-the-seat suspense and excitement. The Skin Gods is the story of a madman, called The Actor, who is carefully re-creating Hollywood's most famous and gruesome death scenes. Do yourself a big favor and get aboard the "Montanari Express." The Skin Gods can definitely be read and enjoyed as a "stand alone," but I think you'll enjoy it even more if you first read The Rosary Girls. Once aboard, I'd suggest you read his earlier books as well -- Deviant Way, The Violet Hour and Kiss of Evil. Enjoy the ride!

I had really looked forward to reading "The Skin Gods" because I had just finished "The Rosary Girls" which was a great mystery.I found this novel hard to follow, characters that were sometimes hard to remember,(possibly because they didn't impress me) a detective that was not the best. I've read all the rave reviews but in my opinion.... The Skin Gods was a disappointment...