Redhead -- Duane Swierczynski

Earlier this year I read and raved about Duane Swierczynski’s novel THE BLONDE, which is still one of the best books I’ve read this year. Well, THE BLONDE has just come out in trade paperback, and as a bonus the book includes a new novella entitled “Redhead”, which is a direct sequel to the novel.

Anybody who liked THE BLONDE certainly won’t be disappointed in “Redhead”. It features the same blend of near-non-stop action with great dialogue and black humor that made the novel so much fun. In “Redhead”, two of the main characters from THE BLONDE are on the run from a team of vicious assassins and a mysterious, sinister woman. The action bounces back and forth in time, a technique that allows Swierczynski to play a neat trick or two on the reader while still being very fair about it. All of it leads up to a very satisfying ending that leaves the reader (well, me, anyway) hoping there may be more sequels to come.

If you haven’t read THE BLONDE, I highly recommend buying the trade paperback so you’ll get “Redhead”, too. That’s a one-two punch I don’t think you’ll be able to beat. But if you have read THE BLONDE, Duane has very kindly made it possible for you to read “Redhead” without buying the new edition. Check out the details on his blog, which I also highly recommend.

The Blonde -- Duane Swierczynski

And I thought the movie CRANK was weird.

Duane Swierczynski’s THE BLONDE looks like a hardboiled crime novel, but early on it becomes obvious that’s not really the case. Reporter Jack Eisley is in Philadelphia for a meeting with his wife’s divorce lawyer, when a good-looking blonde he’s setting next to in the airport bar calmly informs him that she’s just poisoned his drink and that he’ll die by the next morning if he doesn’t do what she wants him to. Jack doesn’t believe her at first, but he becomes convinced when more crazy things start happening. A government-sanctioned assassin on a mission of personal vengeance gets involved, then a human head in a gym bag becomes important to the plot. Throw in assorted sleazy characters, a lot of unrelenting action, and some technology so advanced that it sort of pushs this book over into science-fictional territory. All of it is told in prose so fast that it hardly ever stops to take a breath, along with fine dialogue and numerous touches of dark but very funny humor.

THE BLONDE is a great thriller and easily one of the best books I’ve read so far this year. It’s also the first thing I’ve read by Duane Swierczynski, but it sure won’t be the last.