Title: A Knife’s Edge
Author: Eliot Parker
Publisher: Headline Books
Pages: 277
Genre: Thriller / Mystery
Reviewed by: Arthur Thares
Pacific Book Review
Crime stories with heavy doses of action are always a gamble because you never know how the author will communicate a scene which would be better served on the screen. Still, a good author paints a picture in which the reader can visualize no matter what the material is being described, and author Eliot Parker certainly is a good author. A Knife’s Edge is a rich crime drama with a lot of emotion and plenty of twists and turns, but it especially shines in its action scenes.
The story centers on a hard-nosed cop, Ronan McCullough, but the author does a great job giving other side players a turn in the spotlight. From chapter one, you know that you are going to be in for a book full of action, suspense, and mystery. Though bullets fly early and often in this novel, there is a lot more to the story than a gruff detective novel.
The real action starts at the opening of a new crime lab owned by the Btech Company. From the start, it is clear that Btech is not the shining beacon of hope they portray themselves to be. As a street drug scourge devours the city and the bodies start piling up, it is Ronan McCullough’s job to try to crack the case while keeping himself, and the people he loves, safe; a task which proves to be increasingly more difficult the closer he gets to the truth.
An admiral quality of the book and a reflection of the skill of the author is the way diversity is portrayed. A Knife’s Edge has a diverse group of characters, but their diversity is not a key focus of the story, it is instead an underlying note, much like it is in our everyday lives. It is nice to see the balance of inclusion without that inclusion seeming forced down the reader’s throat. Most importantly, the characters in this book are complete. They are human, they have flaws, and they are not invulnerable, which helps to relate and invest in the characters of the story.
It is obvious Eliot Parker draws from his own life experiences in certain situations which lends some authenticity to the book. Those who live in the Charleston area will especially enjoy his many references to Charleston landmarks. With A Knife’s Edge, Parker delivers a solid crime drama with more heart than most. It is a thrilling story which will have you guessing the outcome page in and page out. It won’t take long before you are fully invested in Parker’s characters and rooting for them all to solve the mystery and come out of their adventures relatively unscathed.
