Customer Reviews

Skin River

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

 

 

Most thrillers disappoint me with their cardboard cutout heroes, whether ex-special forces, brilliant physicists, or cynical, streetwise detectives. But "Skin River" gives us Buddy, a hefty backwoods bar owner and retired criminal, who wants a relationship with his waitress but sees too many complications. A strong plot pushes this refreshingly human protagonist into conflict with both his past as part of the vicious Chicago underworld and a gruesome serial killer. Add dead on dialogue and a gritty realism achieved through concrete details on everything from the real teeth and fake eyes a taxidermist uses to what your wrist feels like after firing a sawed off shotgun, and "Skin River" moves to the top of my list.

Maybe I've just hit my limit of the anti-hero, and I freely state that I need to feel an affinity to the characters to really like a book. I know others have really liked this book, but I found myself reading to get to the end, particularly as you know, fairly early on, who is the killer. In fact, I felt more emphasis was spent building his characters than the protagonist. On the plus, it is well written and suspenseful, but I'm going back to books where there are protagonists I like and maybe even have qualities I can admire.

This gritty and earthy slice of "country noir" iss et in small town Wisconsin ,where a serial killler is on the loose .The identity of the killer ,known by the name of "Goatskinner" is not long conceal;ed from the reader ; he is the local taxidermist ,"Angus Bodine " a man whose childhood traumas have resulted in his need to kill .He targets a waitress in a small diner ,a woman named Margot .Margot's boss and owner of the diner is Buddy Bayes and he has a thing for her .He is also on the run from the Chicago mob who have a score to settle with him ,and that is not the least of his worries either as the local law ,the barely competent Police Chief is determined to prove Buddy is the killer.When Goatskinner kidnaps Margot Buddy ,aided by his brother ,needs to rescue her from his clutches ,as well as evading the mob enforcers and proving his innocence

The prose is lean ,sparse and economical and the writer does not stint on the violence .His desriptive writing is superb and evokes the brooding bacwoods landscape and bucolic small town background superbly .The only problenm for me was the frequent use of quite lengthy flashbacks which served to vitiate tension and retard narrative drive .

This is promising and a potent slice of Daniel woodrell like "country noir" /A better and stronger grasp on structure would have made it an even better novel but it is still a worthwhile read

Never a dull moment with this thriller. An entertaining, page turner, that never lets you down. I'm looking forward to his other books.

I enjoyed Steven Sidor's first novel, Skin River. He sets a tale of a very damaged man who takes out his revenge on the world by murdering and dismembering young women.

Our hero has a checkered, organized-Chicago-crime past, and he's trying to exorcise his ghosts by making an honest living in the small town Midwest and letting time heal his psychological wounds.

He grudgingly must take up arms again as his past confronts him in his hometown, and he manages to find out who's behind the killings in his small town. Sidor does not overwrite, and his brevity makes reading his novel a pleasure. His style is thoughtful and somber, without being too heavy or taking itself too seriously. Mr. Sidor is a welcome new edition to the genre, and I look forward to his next work.

Interesting hero, over the top serial killer, good basis for future tales. We really don't need monsters to make this work. The author has enough with average Elmore-Leonard-like gangsters to carry the day.

Skin River never strays from its fully believable scenario. If you're looking for thrills derived from a story line that could conceivably happen anywhere in middle America, read Sidor's tingling debut. For starters, the pace is sure to hook you as you become quickly acquainted with Goatskinner.
Beyond 'skinner, all Sidor's characters contain the traits of 'real' people -- he doesn't snow you with superhuman agents, too-beautiful women, and exotic locales too good to be true. Instead, Sidor enthralls with vivid everyday people and visible scenes for the book's events.
Better yet is the unfolding of the plot -- I won't divulge it here but Sidor scores with the story's evolution from start to finish. If you're anything like I am you'll find yourself at his web site immediately after finishing this novel looking for his next release.

The searchers failed to find Melissa Teagles who was held captured and ultimately killed by the Goatskinner. The police could never find a trace of her until Buddy Bayes, the owner for the last year and a half of The Black Chimney Tavern in Wisconsin, found her hand while fishing; searchers never found the rest of her.

Buddy had left Chicago to start over after what happened in Chicago and he was an upstanding citizen until he found that hand. He believes that the person who took a contract out on him is responsible for Melissa's death. He doesn't realize that there is a serial killer operating in Gunnar. When someone abducts his waitress, he rescues her but the sheriff suspects him especially since the waitress is in a coma. Buddy devises a plan to make sure that the person who ordered the hit comes after him in Wisconsin. When his tavern burns down; no one lifts a finger to help Buddy who they believe is behind the killings. Law enforcement wises up that the Goatskinner has operated in the area for years and has at least fourteen kills to his credit, but Buddy and his waitress already left town determined to start anew.

SKIN RIVER is full of stark prose, a foreboding atmosphere and an anti-hero thief who is not ashamed of his past but doesn't want to end up in jail so he tries to go straight. He, like everyone, has good and bad character traits but readers will appreciate that he cares about his waitress and is determined to stop the killer from Chicago. Stephen Sidor has written an exciting debut tale with characters that are sides of grey and happy endings are just a pipe dream.

Harriet Klausner