Head Wounds
Chris Knopf
The Permanent Press (2008)
ISBN 9781579621650
Reviewed by Audrey Larson for RebeccasReads (2/08)
Chris Knopf is a master of phraseology. His use
of “ten dollar
words”--and often strings of them--is fascinating. Often,
you just want to stay in a paragraph, reread it, and let the
wondrous words, nuances and insights they convey soak in. Pure
pleasure.
The main character in “Head Wounds” is
Sam Aquillo. He is a well-educated, complex
man, who was a successful corporate man and boxer, now turned
carpenter. He lives in
the waterfront cottage in the Hamptons that he inherited from
his late parents. Sam has a
dog named Eddie Van Halen, an ex-wife, and a next-door neighbor
who is a property
owner and developer. She is also his slowly-developing love interest.
Sam has restored
his late father's 1967 Grand Prix, and you can just see him driving
along in it with Eddie,
his dog, and perhaps a cup of his favorite gourmet, flavored
coffee.
When a man is murdered shortly after Sam has a
fight with him and his cohorts outside a
bar, the police are so sure than Sam did it, that they don't
even look for another suspect.
So, Sam embarks on a long investigation of his own to find the
motivation behind the
killing and the real murderer. It is an interesting journey.
There is some fascinating engineering, medical
and psychological information as Sam
investigates everything. Along the way, there is also mystery,
intrigue, arson, and
insights into why Sam lost his marriage and former career. He
has done some surprising
things in his life, drinks too much, and nurses his head injury
from former violence.
Since Sam is so likeable, you want everything
to work out well for him. You want him to
solve all the mysteries, find the real killer, stabilize his
life, settle down and find
happiness. And when there finally is a happy ending to “Head
Wounds,” you don't want
Sam's story or the book to end. Thus, it is good that it is a
part of the Sam Aquillo
Hampton's Mystery Series. Sam’s saga continues.
