The Silent Hour: Lincoln Perry Series, Book 4 [Kindle Edition]

Ex-con Parker Harrison pesters PI Lincoln Perry until Perry agrees to look into a case for him.

Harrison had gotten into a home for paroled murderers run by wealthy, Alexandra Cantrell and her husband, Joshua. Harrison feels that Alexandra's intersession saved his life. Now, after being missing for twelve years, Joshua's body is found, buried in the woods. Harrison wants Linc to find Alexandra.

Alexandra is the sister of Dominic Sanabria, a powerful Mafia figure. Soon after Linc begins his investigation, Sanabria pays him a visit and attempts to find out who hired him.

Another PI, Ken Merriman, approaches Linc. Merriman had been hired by Joshua's parents when he went missing twelve years ago. Now, he wants to work with Linc in his search for Alexandra. Merriman sees the advantage he'd have sinc Linc, a former cop, has connections with the local police and he has experience in dealing with homicides.

Linc is also contacted by Quinn Graham, a police detective who is working on the case of Joshua's remains being found in Pennsylvania. Quinn is a stern law enforcement official who demands that Linc go through him in any investigation.

As the story progresses, the reader sees the frustration investigators have in working a cold case. Linc wasn't too anxious to take the case in the beginning and with lack of success and another tragedy, Linc puts the case on back burner. However, something changes his mind.

The novel is a good study of a man in turmoil and provides an interesting view of how paroled people attempt to adjust to society. The plot is complex, with numerous plot twists to keep the reader guessing about the outcome.

There is less suspense than in the author's "Tonight I Said Goodbye," but perhaps this is a more factual manner in which private investigators deal with some of the cases and misfortunes that can occur.

The author's theme seemed to be that the belief some people place in others can be rewarded.

Known and revered for his Lincoln Perry novels almost immediately from the publication of TONIGHT I SAID GOODBYE, Michael Koryta took a momentary break from the series and its Cleveland area environs with 2008's ENVY THE NIGHT. If you skipped that book because of the change of locale to Wisconsin and the absence of Perry, I would urge you to go back and read it. There are passages that will resonate far after you've turned the last page. That having been said, Perry's return in THE SILENT HOUR is most welcome.

I spent my formative years in the Cleveland area in the 1960s and 1970s; it was a great time and place if you loved rock music and the trappings that went along with it. Its fortunes have risen and fallen a number of times since then, but no matter what happens, it seems informed by an ennui that never leaves --- infusing not only the city proper once one gets beyond the outskirts of downtown, but also some of the tonier suburbs such as Chagrin Falls and Rocky River. Koryta captures this feeling perfectly through Lincoln Perry, an ex-cop turned private investigator who isn't exactly sure that this is what he wants to be. Perry's state of mind results from the fact that his job brings the people around him into jeopardy, whether it be Joe, his partner in their investigation firm, Perry's girlfriend Amy, or occasionally his clients. It has also brought Perry a degree of notoriety, by turns welcome and unwelcome --- and it is the latter in THE SILENT HOUR that brings Parker Harrison to Perry's door.

Harrison is a convicted murderer who, upon release, was a resident of Whisper Ridge, a hauntingly beautiful but unusual home that housed a unique program for paroled murderers like Harrison. It was the brainchild of Alexandra Sanabria Cantrell, the daughter of a deceased Mafia don. Reluctantly aided by her husband Joshua, Alexandra had operated the erstwhile halfway house on the theory that its rural setting would aid violent offenders in their efforts to keep their darker sides in check. After a little more than three years, however, the Cantrells disappeared, apparently abandoning the program and the house, which has sat deserted and neglected for over a decade. Harrison wants to retain Perry for the purpose of locating the long-missing Alexandra; Perry is reluctant, even resistant, to do so, in part because of his basic distrust of Harrison at first sight.

Nevertheless, Perry begins an investigation and almost immediately discovers two things. The first is that someone has been paying the property taxes on the Cantrell house, which has never been sold. The second is that the decomposed body of Joshua was discovered in rural Pennsylvania at almost the exact time that Harrison began his attempts to locate Alexandra. Furious with Harrison and himself, Perry fires his client. Yet he is drawn back into the matter by a number of individuals, including a sincere but only semi-competent investigator who attempted to find Joshua when he first disappeared; a hardened Pennsylvania police investigator whose jurisdiction was the site of the discovery of Joshua's body; and a former FBI agent who is obsessed with the Sanabria crime family, particularly Dominic, Alexandra's brother. Perry wishes to be left alone, not wanting to visit the trouble that is surely coming upon Amy and the semi-retired Joe. But the case tugs at him, and pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place even as tragic events, past and present, are revealed as well.

Many surprises are uncovered here, and this continues until practically the last page, where the law of unintended consequences is laid bare for all to see. Koryta emerged fully formed as a major talent in the mystery genre with his debut novel, and with each new work he continues to exceed the promises made by its predecessors. THE SILENT HOUR is not to be missed.

First Sentence: He'd sharpened his knife just an hour before the killing.

PI Lincoln Perry is on his own after his partner, Joe Pritchard, decided to spend the winter in Florida. Lincoln is receiving letters from a paroled killer wanting to hire him to find the missing daughter of mobsters. The woman and her husband disappeared a decade ago from a unique and valuable rural home where they ran an unlicensed half-way house for violent offenders. When the skeleton of the husband turns up, having a less-than-desirable client, and a case connected to the Mob, Perry questions his abilities and commitment to being a PI.

It is so frustrating to have an author whose previous books I've loved, write one I find disappointing. Perhaps because I liked the previous books so well, I didn't notice them, but I did here: portents.

I intensely dislike the use of portents, particularly where they broadcast the plot and thus, detract from the suspense or surprise of the story. They were unnecessary.

The plot, itself, was interesting, but it bogged down in the middle. Lincoln's introspection nearly overwhelmed the pace and appeal of the story, even though some of it was well done..."It stacked up on you, after a while. The violence."

I understand wanting to focus on a single protagonist in a series where the protagonists have been a team. In this case, having Lincoln with Joe reminded me of soda without carbonation; flat. I like Lincoln as a character. I appreciated learning more about is background, particularly his mother. At the same time, without Joe, an older, ex-cop who brought Lincoln into his PI agency, Lincoln's inexperience showed in a frustrating way. The scenes where Joe is present, is when the book came back to life.

The biggest challenge was that beyond Joe, Lincoln and his girlfriend, Amy, none of the rest of the characters was appealing or interesting. There was nothing in them to make me care whether the case was solved.

If you've not read Koryta, I do recommend the first four books in the series and his standalone "Envy the Night." Shall I continue reading Koryta? Probably, but I'll hope the next book is much better.

THE SILENT HOUR (PI-Lincoln Perry-Cleveland, OH-Cont) - Good
Koryta, Michael - 5th in series
Minotaur Books, ©2009, US Hardcover - ISBN: 9780312361570