Title: Killing Time
Author: Michael Joseph Mahn
Publisher: PageTurner Press and Media
ISBN: 979-8-88622-101-5
Pages: 386
Genre: True Crime / Investigative
Reviewed by: Lily Andrews
Hollywood Book Reviews
Killing Time is an eminently smart investigative novel that follows a former assistant district attorney and a writer, whose troubled pasts come back to haunt them and offer an outcome to a catastrophic event.
New Orleans was once a pleasant and lively city to reside in but when Hurricane Katrina wreaks havoc and causes its desolation, its beauty disappears. This is made worse by the presence of plunderers and criminals who roam around the city and made it their haven for wicked actions. Mass deaths and colossal injustices toward women make the place nearly inhabitable and little hope is left to restore the glory of the once-luscious gem.
A former assistant district attorney, Henry Xavier O’Grady is caught in a labyrinth of it all. A chance encounter with Martin Montague, a key witness in the JFK assassination provides them both a much-needed closeness due to their similar and troubled past. With a lot of feuds with local gangs, dishonest workmates, and memories of the past haunting them, the two are forced to work together to redeem their lives and restore the much-needed sanity in New Orleans. But beneath the exterior lies greed, deception, and violence that they need to wriggle themselves out of.
Mahn’s lucid prose and descriptive dialogue shine across the chapters with impeccable ease. He manages to invoke the inner sleuth in you by making you question the real intentions of every character. As the plot glides along gaining force and nuance, the book’s wonderfully hewn characters experience growth in their personalities and decision-making. The story is fast and crisp and its high stakes hold attention to the end.
There is nothing as gratifying as a compelling crime fiction novel to keep one turning the pages late into the night. Killing Time delivers everything it promises. It adheres to the basic structure of the genre and continues its principles with keen mastery that obscure theories and forms the writer’s every step. Artfully complex and everything an ardent thriller should be, Mahn’s work is a sumptuous gala laden with mystery, suspense, and action.