In Nameless’s latest outing, the book isn’t really a novel. It’s more four novellas shuffled into one long presentation. His partner, a young black woman named Tamara Corbin, is still smarting over been jilted by an ex-lover. Feeling betrayed, which is the theme of this book, Tamara decides to find out who this man was and thoroughly screw up his world if he’s got it coming. He does, because Lucas Zeller turns out to be a con man of the first water.
I really liked Tamara’s story for the most part because this is a revenge tale that pays off. I’m sure most readers have dealt with some kind of heartbreak or betrayal, and they can empathize with Tamara’s situation and feelings. However, the investigation gets to be somewhat plodding and repetitious. It pays off satisfactorily, though, and there is definitely some suspense.
The second story, one of the two that Nameless investigates, has to do with an old woman who is the victim of scare tactics designed to get her out of her house. The house and property is worth a lot of money, but the woman simply wants to live out her life there.
This tale is a little over the top for me. Especially when it got to a guy showing up in a sheet trying to scare off the old woman. The solution came too easily as well, and I was a little disappointed with the endgame.
Jake Runyon’s story has him chasing after a bail jumper for a client. This one has a little more action in it and possessed more of the sense of a hardcore detective investigation. There were even reversals that caught me off guard at times. I wasn’t totally sold on the characters though. Pronzini usually makes them deeper and more complex. The motives were clear, as was Jake’s pursuit.
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