Book Review: Jinn

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Jinn     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Matthew B. J. Delaney
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Science Fiction   Police Procedural
St. Martin’s, Mar 2003, $24.95, 464 pp.

By May 1943, the war in the South Pacific is a deadly island by island fight with moth sides suffering high casualties. However, the American marines and the Japanese military fighting on Bougainville Island find something else to terrorize them besides the war. They hear sick laughter in the night followed by a light where they gaze upon soldiers from both sides hung, impaled, beheaded, and a "creature" ripping through the stomach of a dead man from the inside. Private Eric Davis feels fortunate to escape when the Gallo picks him up, but the American vessel is promptly sunk.

In 2007, undersea movie documentary director Pierre Devereaux directs an undersea filming of the wreck and subsequent raising of the Gallo. When the ship is brought to Boston, strange murders begin. Detective Will Jefferson investigates a double homicide following by more killings. Soon Will concludes that the culprit is a supernatural serial killer.

Though too many sidebars cause clutter, this delightful blending of the horror genre with a police procedural and elements from other genres provide readers with a powerful tale. The story line is action packed regardless of the setting’s era or locale. The key characters change depending on location, but enhance the feeling of terror. Quite descriptive and exciting, the JINN is a novel worth reading as the cretin comes across as a real nasty antagonist.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner