THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 14, 1994 TAG: 9408120516
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY CHRIS KIDDER
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
DESERT KILL
PHILIP GERARD
William Morrow. 270 pp. $23.
PHILIP GERARD, director of the creative writing program at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, is a young writer on the rise. His first novel, Hatteras Light (now out of print), was a 1986 finalist for the Ernest Hemingway First Novel Prize. Brilliant Passage. . . a schooning memoir was published in 1989. Just six months after publication of his third book, Cape Fear Rising, suspense thriller Desert Kill is making its way to bookstore shelves.
Desert Kill is a contemporary story of a clever serial killer who uses society's demand for law and order as his cover, a twist that should keep most readers guessing until the end. But Gerard's tale is no sweet Agatha Christie brain-teaser: When his bad guy gets caught, the grisly crimes leave readers grappling with the concept of evil and how easily it can be mistaken for something else. The story contains graphic descriptions of violence and human depravity. Readers not hardened against atrocity will find a few scenes disturbing, possibly sickening.
With less white space between the lines, Desert Kill could have been 50 pages shorter. That's short (and stylish) as novels go. Gerard tells only enough to get readers through the story, nothing more. For many, this tight, skim-the-surface approach will satisfy.
Those wanting more substance may be bothered by Gerard's unwillingness to expose more soul. The book seems written for readers whose boundaries are set by what they can see, not what they might feel. There is a shallowness that makes the story more insignificant than it might have been.
Even so, Desert Kill is a good read. Gerard is a masterful storyteller; his words flow easily in and out of dialogue. His language is concise, sometimes clever, always coherent. His forte is meticulous research. Every detail is right; and his stories ring true.
Right now, Gerard is not well-known. His four books have little in common except for their notable readability. He is not established in any one genre. While Cape Fear Rising is historical fiction a la Gore Vidal, Desert Kill is a mix of Tony Hillerman and Thomas Harris. But remember Gerard's name. If he has more stories to tell, he'll be on bookshelves for years to come. MEMO: Chris Kidder is a free-lance writer who lives in Nags Head. by CNB