The Fever Kill – Review

First, let me state right up front that I’m a friend of Tom Piccirilli’s. He was one of the first folks I met back in 2001 when I started in this business and he has always been willing to lend a hand or provide a piece of advice whenever I’ve asked for it. I’ve enjoyed his work for a number of years now. and he was one of those folks who helped me out when I first came into the business.

With that out of the way, I can say this without any reservation whatsoever…

Tom? You suck!

THE FEVER KILL is not only the best book I’ve ever read by Pic, but perhaps one of the best books I’ve read in the last few years. I devoured it in a single sitting, regretting only that I didn’t have the willpower to slow down and make it last. But THE FEVER KILL is not one of those books you can linger over and savor. No, it demands to be read, forcing you to move along, to hurry toward the conclusion just as its protagonist, Crease, rushes toward a confrontation that has been building for ten years.

You see, Crease is going home again. Back to the place where his father, the sheriff, shot a little girl in the midst of a bungled kidnapping. Back to the place where Crease himself was beaten, jailed, and kicked out of town. Back to settle old scores and maybe create a few new ones.

But the thing is, Crease isn’t going alone. For the last ten years he’s been working as an undercover cop, playing second fiddle to a drug-dealing, knife-wielding psycho named Tucco, and in the process managed to get the man’s mistress pregnant. Now Tucco wants revenge. And with Tucco comes all the ghosts from Crease’s past, just waiting for a reckoning of their own.

While I’ve always enjoyed Pic’s work in the horror genre, THE FEVER KILL makes it clear where his true talent lies. Rather than slaving away in the publishing sub-basement that is home for those of us who dabble in the realm of the supernatural, Pic should be soaring among the clouds with the rest of the bestselling writers working in crime fiction today. THE FEVER KILL certainly proves he has the chops to do it.

Mention also has to be made of the phenomenal production job carried out by the publisher, Creeping Hemlock Press. This trade paperback is a wonderful edition, with a cover that screams noir and a beautifully laid out interior. It is a welcome addition to my collection and I know I’ll be buying more of their works in the future.

Tagged as: Creeping Hemlock Press, review, The Fever Kill, Tom Piccirilli