Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Read it ‘n weep
Someone or something stalks the boys and young men of the Reach, kidnapping them, abusing them in the worst ways, killing them, and discarding their mutilated bodies. Dubric Byerly must find the killer and bring him to justice. He’s accompanied by his squire, Dien, his pages, Lars and Otlee, and the ghosts of all who have been murdered during his watch.
Threads of Malice follows Ghosts in the Snow, Tamara Siler Jones’s first Dubric Byerly novel. Since I’m fated never to read a series in the appropriate order, I started with Threads. It’s a credit to Jones’s characterization skills that Dubric and his comrades sprang to life for me within the first twenty-five pages. No backstory, by the way — scarcely a peep about what happened in Ghosts — and yet Dubric, Dien, and the boys captured and held my attention from the start.
Jones has horrible things in store for this foursome. If I remember correctly, PBW likes to ask her main characters, “What’s the worst thing I can do to you?” — and then, she does just that. I suspect Jones did the same thing when she conceived Threads of Malice, only she must have been having a bad day. I mean, a really, really bad day, because man, is she ever cruel to her characters.
What an incredible one-two punch this is: deft characterization plus Jones’s willingness to tighten the screws far past what would be acceptable among polite sadomasochists. Repeatedly, I found myself thinking, Oh, no she wouldn’t, she wouldn’t . . . I can’t believe it, she DID! She pulled very few punches indeed. As a result, I ripped through this book in a week, which is light speed for yours truly.
I cared deeply for these characters, and, yeah, I admit it: she made me cry. Y’all know what a crybaby I am (Sheila, you got me in StarDoc — damn you!) but still. A writer has to have a good deal of competence to turn on my waterworks. I’m impressed.
This novel features gruesome torture-murders, nasty-nasty autopsy scenes, slimy critters that bring to mind the best stomach-churning images from Martin Cruz Smith’s Arkady Renko novels, and two love stories: something for everyone.
I can only fault Jones on one thing: she keeps the pressure on almost until the very last page. Although the ending wrapped up the plot, I wanted a longer cool-down period, a chance to live with the characters during the aftermath. I want to know what happens next to these guys! Do I really have to wait until Fall 2006 for Valley of the Soul? This woman’s cruelty knows no bounds.
I’m sounding like a fanboy, huh?
D.
Hey, thanks for the review!
And it seems that I am fated to never, ever, ever read a series in the correct order as
well.
I think I managed to do that with Lloyd Alexander’s Black Caulrdon series, but that’s
about it. Very odd. Means that I usually like the second inthe series the best, since
it’s the first one I read. Hmm.
Yup. That would be tambo. She couldn’t allow a cool-down, because her characters NEVER get more than a brief, brief moment or two to catch their breath before she’s skewering them again. She IS incredible, isn’t she?
Hi folks. Suisan, in the old days (like, when I was ten) I’d read a series in order. With age, my head migrated asswards. There must be some theory to account for my inability to read a series in order.
Jean, are you one of my friends from FM Chat? Your blog looks familiar. Want me to roll you? Blogroll, that is 😉
This book sounds like it is right up my alley. I enjoy reading about gory details and the gorier the better. I’ll have to check this one out at the library next visit. Thanks a bunch.
[…] He seemed like such a nice young man . . . By Walnut Those of you who slavishly follow my every word know that I’ve been reading Tam Jones’s books all back-asswards, first Threads of Malice (reviewed here), now Ghosts in the Snow. Not that that’s a problem. As she has mentioned on her blog, she wrote Threads as a stand-alone — no knowledge of Ghosts necessary. […]