______________________________________________________________________________

STARVING MEN BY S.E. FINKIELMAN

A most rare personal comment from me before further reviewing Starving Men by S.E. Finkielman. Man, can the Irish tell a story! As subtle as English Brits, (not redundant here), but somehow more ruthless and poetic. Bloodless, yet emotionally overwhelming. Proven once again by this deeply talented author of a ruthless and poetic, bloodless and emotional mystery/thriller, itself connected inextricably to the recognizably potent history of famine, troubles, and vengeful murder. Subtle, too, in her masterful understatements and allusions; never underestimating the intelligence of her readers. A story that bowls one over with the power of delayed impact. One cannot write well enough to properly praise this writing.

Starving Men is a tale of serial murder. S.E. Finkielman deftly makes of it a tale of justice. Revisiting the historical past, not with the objective dryness of an historian but the ardor of an unwilling co-participant, the author co-opts her utterly captive reader into an emotional co-conspiracy. The Doolough Walk (1849) alone will chill your very soul. One would openly applaud the admittedly twisted “protagonist” were it not for the obvious diminishment of one’s own self-image in the process. One does not applaud serial killing. Except in secret. But the secrets held prisoner by all the characters in this roadrunner of a novel demand even an inequitable accounting. Or, at least an outing. And thus, with the inevitability of apocalypse and the perverse eagerness of defeat, the reader is overtly seduced and, also thus, kept reading on toward the inevitable climax. Strained. Emotionally wrought. Satisfied.  

AS AN AMAZON ASSOCIATE I EARN FROM QUALIFYING PURCHASES

VISIT MY INDIE BOOK SHOP

______________________________________________________________________________

Joel R. Dennstedt – Top Reviewer for Readers’ Favorite

ATTENTION ALL AUTHORS! BE SURE TO ENTER READERS’ FAVORITE BOOK CONTEST