cover image Before I Wake

Before I Wake

Eric Bowman. Putnam Publishing Group, $24.95 (294pp) ISBN 978-0-399-14263-5

When a character all but admits to murder on page one, where can the story possibly go from there? In exciting, unexpected directions if the author is the pseudonymous Bowman and the murderer is the fiendish character of bestselling British crime writer Terence Peregrine Keyes. The investigation into the apparently suicidal leap of renowned TV anchorman Mackenzie Dennis gets assigned to hotshot Manhattan detective Jimmy Montone, who deduces that Dennis was murdered. Keyes, under the pretense of doing research for a book on homicide, persuades Montone to let him observe the workings of the case from start to finish. Remaining one step ahead of Montone, Keyes then sets the cop up at the murder site of model Holly Mews, with whom Montone was romantically involved. Montone becomes convinced that both crimes are somehow connected to him--and that Keyes is responsible. But can he prove it? As both hunter and hunted agree, ""it's a matter of will. Whose is stronger."" Keyes is a compelling killer who has an ax to grind, in more ways than one, and the wit to express it: ""American pop culture is a bloody steamroller with Mickey Mouse behind the wheel."" Through him, Bowman, a TV and screenwriter who here evinces a flair for irony, solid pacing and crisp dialogue, makes a debut that's as notable as it is twisted. (May)