Book Review: Johnny Blade

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Johnny Blade     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Phillip Tomasso III
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller   Serial Killer
Barclay Books, Sept 2002, $15.95, 299 pp.

Martin Wringer punched his supervisor in the face and lost his job, but he doesn’t fault himself, he blames his boss. He has sex with a prostitute and contacts venereal disease, but he doesn’t impute himself, he accuses the hooker. When his wife finds out and throws him out of the house, he goes to Jack’s Joint where the hooker hangs out and kills her. He finds he likes killing prostitutes so much that he keeps going to the area round Jack’s Joint where the whores hang out and stars killing them one by one.

Michael Buzzelli works for the Rochester Chronicle writing obituaries and doing research but he wants to scribe some juicy stories so he takes a job at Jack’ joint as a bartender hoping to write a human-interest story about the dead prostitute. As he gets to know the people on the fringe who hang out at Jack’s Joint, he begins to like them especially Felicia who seems to reciprocate his feelings. As the killer dubbed JOHNNY BLADE by the press keeps on killing prostitutes, Michael is determined to be first on the scene to get the scoop or die trying.

Almost every person who hangs out at Jack’s Joint has an interesting story to tell and readers will find themselves wanting to hear it. The two lead police officers on the case are fascinating characters and should be featured in future books by Phillip Tomasso III. The villain is three dimensional, totally believable and pure evil. The romance between the reporter and the prostitute is sweet and charming. On a scale of one to ten, the plot scores an eleven.

Harriet Klausner

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