Head Wounds. Knopf, Chris (Author) May 2008.
309 p. Permanent Press, hardcover, $28.00. (9781579621650).
Sam Acquillo—ex-boxer, ex-husband, and now an Absolut-drinking
construction worker on the east end of the Hamptons—shouldn’t
be mixing it up with the likes of Robbie Milhouser, a local bully
who flirts a bit too much with Sam’s flame, Amanda Anselma.
After all, his doctors have told him that another head wound
is the last thing he needs. Just as a brawl seems to be in the
offing, Robbie up and dies, and Sam seems to be holding the smoking
gun—that is, in this case, a staple gun that easily traces
back to him. Sam, who also has some amateur sleuthing on his
résumé (The Last Refuge, 2005), puts his sharp
mind and caustic wit to use in tracking back how the unfortunate
Robbie met his demise. The Hamptons setting provides much of
the appeal here, but it’s not the Polo-playing side of
the island we see but, rather, the seamier underside (yes, even
the Hamptons have an underside). Slow-starting Sam makes the
perfect antihero for our guided tour of the wrong side of the
tracks. Another satisfying entry in an endearing series.
