On the Line, by S. J. Rozan (REVIEW) — The Name of the Game is Revenge

An old rivalry that has morphed over the years into an obsessive quest for revenge and blood...

 

Long-buried guilt over a series of tragic events that took place a decade earlier...

 

A sometimes-partnership that’s gradually progressed from wariness to tentative respect and trust (and maybe, to something more)...

 

And a group of hapless young Chinese women, who’ve become prey for a sadistic madman bent on making a point.

 

These various elements come crashing together for one terrifying twelve-hour period in S. J. Rozan's latest tale of suspense featuring her New York private detectives Bill Smith and Lydia Chin, On the Line.

 

 

The chain of events leading up to this eventful half-day begins with the mundane ringing of a cell phone. 

 

Bill, concentrating on the new piece he's been struggling to learn on the piano, stops what he's doing and picks up because the ring tone is Lydia's—the only person for whom he's willing to drop everything. 

 

Any warm tingles he feels quickly evaporate, though... since she speaks only a couple of words before the phone is taken away from her, a disguised voice tells him she’s being held captive.

 

The kidnapper—who claims to know Bill well—has only one request: he wants Bill to play a game with him. 

 

He’ll provide clues and evidence, and Bill's job is to figure out what they mean... if he ever hopes to see Lydia again. "You find her, she lives. You don't, she dies." 

 

The rules of the game? Bill can't involve the cops, he has only twelve hours, and the game clock starts right NOW.

 

Bill—normally a cool customer—freaks out. Of all the scenarios he's ever imagined, his part-time partner's kidnapping is bottom of the list. But clearly, this is happening, and it’s up to him to play the game.

 

Over the next several hours, the kidnapper leaves Bill trash bags of bizarre clues all over the city, which Bill and a handful of helpers attempt to track down... hoping against hope, each time, won’t lead them to a dead Lydia.

And, as the kidnapper continues making calls on one burner phone after another, taunting Bill and showing signs of becoming increasingly manic, the game clock continues winding down. 

 

There are a few different ways this horrifying twelve hours could end... but only one of them is acceptable to Bill.

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

On the Line is Rozan’s tenth book about Bill and Lydia, and yet again, she does everything right.

 

From the crisp, realistic dialogue, utterly-believable relationships, plausible villains, splendid sense of place (she breathes New York, and it really shows), to her innate understanding of so many different "cultures" (those encompassing variations of sex, age, experience, and ethnicity), she never fails to craft a thoroughly-entertaining story... intelligent, poignant, thrilling, and honest.

 

I never know whether to describe Rozan as a brilliant suspense writer who always stretches beyond the bounds of that genre with her elegant prose, emotional depth, and vision... or as a superb contemporary novelist who pens some of the most ingeniously-crafted tales today, liberally peppering them with gripping suspense and heart-pounding action scenes throughout. 

 

Perhaps I should just say "her books are not-to-be-missed", and leave it at that.  

 

In any case, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of On the Line. You won’t be disappointed.

~GlamKitty