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The publication of SLAY RIDE, Chris Grabenstein's third novel, raises an interesting question: is there anything that this author cannot do well? Grabenstein seemingly burst from out of nowhere onto the mystery and suspense scene with what has become known as the John Ceepak/Jersey Shore mysteries: the award-winning TILT-A-WHIRL and MAD MOUSE. Ostensibly a stand-alone work, SLAY RIDE in some ways is a more ambitious endeavor for Grabenstein. Certainly, if his intent was to tell a story that would keep the reader up all night, he has succeeded admirably.
SLAY RIDE centers on Christopher Miller and Scott Wilkinson, two very different yet driven men whose lives come to intersect briefly but meaningfully. Miller is an FBI agent, a specialist in kidnapping cases and a legend in the agency. Wilkinson is a wunderkind in the advertising industry who sees the world in terms of seconds and minutes, causes and effects. Both men value only one thing above their jobs: their families. Wilkinson's life, though, is dramatically changed when he complains to his car service about his driver's erratic behavior. Nicolai Kyznetsoff, the driver in question, is a dangerous, rabid wolf with the ability to wreak havoc and revenge at whim. He slowly and methodically begins researching Wilkinson's life, plotting a dark and final retaliation with a number of bloody rewards.
Meanwhile, Miller, riding a desk job since incurring the displeasure of a superior, finds his path intersecting with Wilkinson and Kyznetsoff as the result of a seemingly innocuous strong-arm burglary of a Russian immigrant's apartment. Kyznetsoff is indirectly tied to it, and it has attracted the attention of a number of people. Kyznetsoff, the hunter, finds that he is the hunted as well --- by more than one party and for more than one reason. Nothing, however, will prevent Kyznetsoff from carrying out his revenge against Wilkinson, even as Miller races against time and distance to keep Kyznetsoff from destroying not one but two families.
SLAY RIDE is a thriller best read on the edge of your seat. Kysnetsoff is an unforgettable villain --- Grabenstein does for Santa Claus and limo drivers what Stephen King did for clowns --- whose danger quotient is exceeded only by his animal cunning and intellect. The plan that Grabenstein constructs for the climax of the book is nothing short of amazing, all the more so because it's so workable. The author, however, does not give his characters short shrift either; Miller is an immensely and immediately likable protagonist. SLAY RIDE is supposed to be a stand-alone work, but Miller is too good a character to limit to a single novel. Hopefully we'll see more of him in the very near future.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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