You Will Know His Name
By Joe Conlan
Joe Conlan, $14.99, 360 pages
A killer moves to Florida to concentrate on raising a family. What could go wrong? Born without a birth certificate, Shem has been able to define who he is and becomes one of the best “nameless” psychopathic killers with targets across the world. He settles in Florida and sets his sights on Annie Bryan. Shem must do something about her relationships and begins cutting down the competition. The fun really begins when Shem decides to frame Annie’s paramour, Special Agent in Charge Daniel Falcone.
There’s a lot of really great stuff in Conlan’s book. The characters alone are worth the ticket. The conflict between Shem and Falcone is set up well. With that said, a problem with the book is that we are shown Falcone’s one bad day and then the story flashes back to tell the lead up. The flash back sets up the history and personalities of a lot of the characters but it also removes a certain amount of mystery and creates a log jam in the narrative. It’s a beautiful log but it does slow things down a little.
The plot is built up rather nicely and there are minimal coincidences. Everything happens for a reason rather than merely being convenient to the plot. The characters relationships and interactions are full of struggles and fun, not just purely good or bad. Nameless is definitely a book for those long days at the beach and one that will keep you reading until the end.
Reviewed by Jamais Jochim
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