The first book in an omnibus edition of two novels by John Katzenbach (my first taste of the author), In the Heat of the Summer is a rollicking good thriller that I'd describe as 'unputdownable' if that wasn't too clichéd. A young girl is found murdered in Miami, Florida, and the killer chooses to phone the Journal reporter assigned to the case, Malcolm Anderson, to tease clues and promise more murders. As the killings continue, Anderson is caught between his job, his conscience, the police and the killer himself, whose motives involve a possible massacre in Vietnam...
brilliant...
So, 'unputdownable'. Well clearly any book is putdownable, I don't anything is *that* gripping, but I really enjoyed this book, from beginning to end. Katzenbach's style is punchy and raw, Anderson's first person narration and the handful of named characters really puts you inside the journalist's head and his grapple between following his media instincts and delivering a great story, and helping the police to stop the killer who has chosen him to communicate with. The mid-seventies setting uses post-Vietnam fatigue to develop a compelling backstory for the unknown killer, and the lack of technology such as DNA databases and instant phone taps add to the tension as the killer continues to murder seemingly at random, while Anderson and his paper feed the fear of the city's population. In our times of media saturation and influence, this book's concerns about whether this one murderer is having an effect on the community or whether it is the media obsession and over-exposure that really has the detrimental effect.
but...
I can't really think of anything that didn't work here. Even the unmasking of the killer wasn't a let down, mainly because it almost didn't matter who did it. Or even why he did it. The greater story was about the media and the relationship between journalist and killer, and so the ambiguous ending add's to the novel's success.
briefly...
Gripping, thrilling, exciting... A superior popular thriller that actually has something to say about the world at large. I look forward to reading the second volume in the omnibus, although I might read something a little lighter first.
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