THE FURY
Jason Pinter
Mira Books
Thriller
ISBN: 9780778326274
I recently had a conversation with an author --- a gentleman full to the brim with wit, intelligence and talent --- who put forth the proposition that the most wonderful thing in the world is the mass market paperback book. I agreed; these paperbacks cost but a few dollars, is available just about anywhere, provides several hours of entertainment, is quiet, does not require a power source, and can be taken literally anywhere.
It is the latter element --- portability --- that I found to be a blessing when reading THE FURY, which is the latest and, by far, the best of Jason Pinter’s paperback series involving New York Gazette reporter Henry Parker. I picked up the book at a time when I was bopping around a bit. Once I started, I did not want to stop reading it. And, thankfully, I did not have to. I just brought it with me while waiting for appointments, standing in line, suffering through elevator music, and the like.
Pinter hits it out of the park with THE FURY. While the three previous Parker books have been great reads, this one takes it a step further as Pinter really gets into the soul of Henry Parker. It begins interestingly enough with Parker being accosted on his way home from work by an individual who he takes to be a common homeless person. Although a total stranger, the man seems to know Parker, who manages to extricate himself from the situation. Those of us who live and/or work in larger cities have experienced variations on this theme, have we not? But the change up from normal, everyday happenstance in THE FURY occurs a few hours later when Parker learns that the stranger, Stephen Gaines, has been found executed. The major surprise for Parker, however, is that Gaines was the brother whom Parker never knew he had, the result of a long-ago liaison between Parker’s estranged father and a woman who was in the picture before Parker was born.
Naturally, Parker wants answers. He returns to his hometown of Bend, Oregon, accompanied by Amanda Davies, his wonderful and true-to-life significant other, for the purpose of confronting his father. James is a belligerent, hostile man whose ambition (or lack thereof) is in inverse proportion to his anger at the world. The reunion between father and son is awkward enough, but is made more so when James is inexplicably arrested by the Bend Police Department on a warrant from New York for the murder of Gaines.
Don’t worry; there is an explanation here --- THE FURY is not a variation on THE COLORADO KID, a book littered with dead-ends and unanswered questions --- but I won’t spoil the revelation for you. Suffice to say that Parker, in spite of their strained relationship, attempts to prove his father’s innocence, demonstrating, as Davies notes, that he is not his father. In order to prove that James did not kill Stephen, however, Parker must solve the murder of the brother he never knew he had. Using his reporter’s instincts and tenacity, he begins working backwards, picking up the trail of Gaines’s life. While doing so, he uncovers an ingenious (and dangerous) criminal organization operating in plain sight in the heart of Manhattan, an organization that will remove anyone who might get in their way.
There is much to love in THE FURY. Pinter has been slowly but steadily building a supporting cast around Parker that manages not to overshadow the main character and yet remains memorable in their own individual ways. Pinter is also quite adept at sprinkling surprises throughout his narratives, and THE FURY is no exception: it is like unwrapping a Christmas present from beginning to end.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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