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Review of
THE SKIN GODS
Written by
RICHARD MONTANARI

The streets of Philadelphia are blistering in the summer heat, the homicide rate is soaring and the nights belong to the mad. Detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano are prowling with a growing sense of unease. When a series of seemingly unrelated crimes shatter the restless silence of the city, their worst fears are confirmed. A beautiful secretary is slashed to death in a grimy motel shower and a street hustler is brutally murdered with a chainsaw. Piece by piece, a strange and sickening puzzle presents itself: someone is meticulously recreating Hollywood's most well-known and horrifying murder scenes, capturing them on film and inserting the clips into videos - for an unsuspecting public to find. While Kevin Byrne begins furtive investigations of his own, Jessica Balzano goes undercover to work the steaming back alleys of Philadelphia, entering a violent world of underground film, pornography and seedy nightclubs, hidden to all but the initiated. Discovering that none of The Actor's victims are as innocent as they appear to be, the two detectives arrive at a terrifying reality: they are not just chasing a homicide suspect. They are stalking evil itself.

Often disturbing in its attention to detail, Richard Montanari has created two protagonists in the shape of Byrne and Balzano who should be cherished, whereas his antagonists – none of whom should ever see the light of day in the real world – are terrifying and believable in every possible way.

Philadelphia is not a city usually taken to be sinister. Here, however and in the hands of Mister Montanari, every corner, every building, every room take on shadows that can only be cast by the most masterly of story-tellers and so imbues the novel with a darkness that lingers well after the tale has been told.

The word “classic” is often over used. In the case of Richard Montanari’s second outing for Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano, the word “classic” does not do The Skin Gods justice.
9/10

www.richardmontanari.com

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