Barbara Seranella
No Human Involved
Harper Paperback 1997
ISBN 0-06-101361-7
Christina says:
The case of a junkie shooting his dealer in the L. A. drug scene never
is assigned top priority by the police. They call these cases NHI – No
Human Involved. Therefore Sergeant Mace St. John doesn't strive very hard
to find Munch Mancini, his primary suspect in the murder case of Flower
George, her father, her dealer and her pimp. Munch is trying to get clean,
to leave the drug scene behind and to rebuild her life. When St. John
links her case to the shocking series of murders that kept both the police
and the media busy for weeks, her new life is in danger and she has to try
to make a deal.
Barbara Seranella succeeded in writing a very special first novel. The
reader follows the fate of the unsinkable Munch with some unease, because
the author openly declared that this character has autobiographical
traits. But it's impossible to pity Munch – and this is meant to be a
compliment – because she is too strong a woman. The flashbacks into her
old life are not for the faint hearted.
Even if Munch is a really enthralling character whose future adventures
I am looking forward to, in my opinion Mace St. John is the secret hero of
the story. Starting out as the indifferent cop only waiting for the end of
his shift, he slowly turns into a touching, three-dimensional character
with dreams and hopes.
Munch's new experiences and old memories which are often told en
passant as if the cruelties weren't important, making them even more
appalling, alternate with the classic police procedural focusing on St.
John. Given the strong characters and the fluent prose, I didn't mind too
much that the ending was somewhat deus ex machina.
A fantastic debut. |
Any comments? Write us:
Christina
|
