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Grim 'Reapers' Is A Killer Thriller

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By GEOFF HAMLIN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 1, 2008

"The Reapers: A Thriller," by John Connolly (Atria, $26)

John Connolly's latest novel, "The Reapers," is a dark thriller. The Reapers is an organization of professional killers trained and assembled for purely mercenary purposes by a man known only as Gabriel.

Gabriel is no angel.

Much of the story revolves around a former Reaper named Louis, who was recruited many years earlier by Gabriel when Louis was a young man being interrogated in a small Southern town for the murder of a man who killed his mother.

Gabriel extricated Louis from certain lynching or worse with the shadowy assistance of the FBI. Implicit conspiracies permeate "The Reapers" and provide some of its attraction.

Although Gabriel and Louis have a quasi-father-son relationship, it is incomplete on both sides. As fond as he is of Louis, Gabriel is willing to test him in life and death situations and to sacrifice him if necessary. Louis, in turn, knows he cannot rely completely on Gabriel.

Louis' partner, in killing and in life, Angel, is a man somewhat less callous about the taking of human life and the costs that entails. (Angel is no Gabriel.) Their friends, such as The Detective and Willie Brew, are all men and pretty much all capable of killing.

The story unfolds as Louis and Angel are being stalked by Bliss, a particularly lethal Reaper. They are trapped, waiting for the final confrontation, while their friends try to rescue them.

The plot could easily be summed up as "Male bonding story. No women. Lots of bodies." But Connolly, as befits his Irish heritage, is a fine storyteller and manages to weave his tale in dark and compelling language. There are some creative killings at the start and end of the tale, and the gunplay in between is all set up in dramatic fashion.

The book succeeds as a thriller. Fans of Clint Eastwood or Charles Bronson movies will love it.

Geoff Hamlin of Pinellas Park is a freelance writer.

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