Book Review - Blind Fall by Christopher Rice

Blind Fall
Christopher Rice
Scribner

After nearly three years, Christopher Rice, son of best selling author Anne Rice, has returned with his fourth book, Blind Fall. He has had a string of best selling, critically acclaimed novels including A Density of Souls, and The Snow Garden.

I am pleased to say Blind Fall continues his tradition of richly plotted, deep, and intricate stories. Rice has the unique talent to bring to life perfectly flawed characters making them all the more real and believable. Every word these people utter rings completely true because they are so human.

The story revolves around John Houck, a Marine who is shrouded in guilt after his friend and Force Recon Captain, Mike Bowers, is injured in a roadside bomb that John failed to detect. Bowers nearly sacrificed his own life to save John's and this plagues him as the story goes on.

John eventually finds himself delivering a gift to his friend in the hops of explaining what happened that fateful day and making amends. When he arrives he finds his friend savagely murdered and chases down the man he thinks is the killer, Alex Martin. In truth, Alex is Bowers' secret lover and possibly the next target of a killer.

The fact that John never knew the truth about his friend plays a major part to this story. He has to come to terms with this truth and with that come to terms with his own past including events that happened with his younger brother and older sister.

John eventually decides to train Alex in self defense and how to kill a man if necessary and the going is not easy. Alex and John are not remotely friendly in this. John is helping Alex purely out of loyalty to Bowers and Alex seems to know that.

There is some deep-rooted jealousy between the two as Alex seems to know a lot about John but John knows nothing about him. Both of them have secrets and suspicions and as the events unfold you really get a sense of how these to begin to relate to each other. Rice has given us two great characters both gay and straight and the tension and emotions between the two makes for some fantastic reading.

I don't want to give to much away, everything I've mentioned so far is pretty much included in the jacket of the book. There are some twists and surprises and I'll let you discover them on your own.

Christopher Rice really has the talent to create near perfect characters. It's almost as if he took someone from reality and stuck them in the pages of his books. This is something few other authors I've read can do. You always know you're reading characters that someone created. With Rice, it's different. They don't seem like characters he made up, they seem real and this makes his books that much more enjoyable.

I really think he has surpassed his mother in terms of storytelling. His work is more compelling to me than his mothers and Blind Fall is certainly no exception. It is intensely readable. I found it difficult to put it down. I kept forgetting I was even reading a book it sucked me in and kept me there.

Blind Fall is a great read with simply breathtaking heart and unforgettable characters. Compelling, thrilling, and powerful. Christopher Rice has delivered another tour de force novel worthy of his previous work.

I can only hope it's not another three years before his next novel.