Pronzini, Bill - SHACKLES

[LJ Roberts]

SHACKLES (Private Investigator) – EX Bill Pronzini – 17th in “Nameless” series
St. Martin’s Press, 1988 – Hardcover

Imagine leaving your girlfriend’s apartment a few days before Christmas, being forced into a car, handcuffed, chloroformed and awake shackled with a leg iron attached to a wall in an isolated mountain cabin with 13 week’s provisions and told you are being left to die there. This is the situation in which Pronzini’s ‘Nameless’ finds himself.

There are not many books I reread but this is absolutely one of them. The plot is tight, dialogue crisp and sense of place makes you reach for a blanket. Written in first person, you experience the thoughts and emotions of ‘Nameless.’ Although out of print and somewhat difficult to find—I recommend used.addall.com—it is worth every effort. It is truly haunting and well deserving of the ranking of Excellent.