Description

Kellerman isnt just an Edgar Award-winning thriller writer, hes a prominent child psychologist, and it shows in Billy Straight . The hero is a 12-year-old runaway whose sharp mind and straitlaced moral sense make him fit to survive the lurid jungles of Hollywood. One night hiding in Griffith Park, Billy witnesses the butchering of Lisa Ramsey, the cokehead ex-wife of Cart Kellerman isnt just an Edgar Award-winning thriller writer, hes a prominent child psychologist, and it shows in Billy Straight . The hero is a 12-year-old runaway whose sharp mind and straitlaced moral sense make him fit to survive the lurid jungles of Hollywood. One night hiding in Griffith Park, Billy witnesses the butchering of Lisa Ramsey, the cokehead ex-wife of Cart Ramsey, a crummy actor-golfer once busted for pummeling Lisa. Did Cart knife Lisa, or was it his pathetic old football sidekick Greg Balch When O.J. was on trial, Kellerman said, This wouldnt make a good novel, but some of Kellermans toughest critics say this funhouse-mirror version of an O.J.-like case is his best, better than his famous Alex Delaware series. Psychologist Dr. Delaware has a bit part here, but the heroine is Detective Petra Connor, his distaff equivalent. Kellermans main strength is his vivid invention of secondary characters and his skill at juggling subplots. When Petras media-whore boss puts Billys police sketch in the paper with a $25,000 reward, two marvelously sub-simian bounty hunters join the chase: a vicious Russian ex-cop and the vile biker boyfriend of Billys stoned-out, trailer-park mom. Like the kid hero of Russell Bankss Rule of the Bone , Billy enriches his authors customary milieu by viewing it from a new, low angle. The tale is more taut than Kellermans 1997 bestseller Survival of the Fittest and more riveting than the O.J. casethe cops are smart and justice has a prayer. Tim Appelo