ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 14, 1996 TAG: 9601120090
SECTION: BOOK PAGE: F4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: BOOK REVIEW
ROUGH BEAST. By Gary Goshgarian. Donald I. Fine, Inc. $21.95.
Watch out Stephen King! Gary Goshgarian has taken your incredibly successful formula and made it work as skillfully for him as it does for you.
In "Rough Beast," we meet the Hazzard family, a perfect all-American father, mother and twelve-year-old son living the perfect life in a perfect bedroom community outside Boston. They're such an attractive, identifiable group that you care about them right from the beginning--even as they are drawn inexorably into a maelstrom of evil and horror that actually begins and ends with our highest levels of government.
An English professor at Northeastern University, Gosharian proves in this, his second novel, that he is an excellent writer of suspense. I personally take issue with what I believe is an unnecessary surprise twist at the end of this wild plot. But, overall, I found "Rough Beast" explosive, gripping and truly scary!
JUDY KWELLER
THE CADILLAC COWBOY.
By Michael Collins. Donald I. Fine Publishers, $20.95.
Michael Collins (aka Dennis Lynds) is a favorite of mine. He has written a number of novels; those in the mystery genre involve Dan Fortune. In this one, he writes about an ex-CIA agent who has taken money and run. When he is called by his ex-wife to find out who shot the father of her child (she's had so many marriages I can't remember which is which), he returns to help her out and to see if their flame could be rekindled.
This story involves a number of threads - the CIA, timbering, gun control, police corruption. I found some portions of the book to be an easy read and others to be boring. You can't, however, expect to find everything you like in everything you read. All in all I did enjoy the book.
Collins lives in Santa Barbara on the Left Coast, and maybe that's why he's taking a swipe at a lot of the establishment positions. He's been awarded an MWA Edgar and has been given a PWA Lifetime award. - JOSEPH WILLIAMS Judy Kweller is a special events coordinator+++ Joseph Williams works in the justice system.
LENGTH: Short : 49 linesby CNB