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Crossbearers
One by one, the venomous scum that plagued the streets of New York were dying one by one, they were brutalized, poisoned, incinerated...In the name of righteousness they had been slaughtered the innocent and guilty alike. In the name of love, they had been condemned to everlasting death. In the name of God, they had to be stopped...
- GenresHorror
362 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 19, 2024
Leisure (mis)branded this pulpy thriller as horror back in 1988, but Crossbearers still hit a trashy sweet spot for me. Barry, our main protagonist, works as a detective in NYC; hard boiled, street savvy, and good at what he does. He hangs out with a priest in the Village, whom he met playing racket ball one day, and has a crush on his beautiful sister. This starts with a bang at a church festival in the Village when someone poisons a mob guy there who promptly dies. The mobster supported the church, and some priests were surprised at his 'connections'. The next day Barry, who was on the scene at the church, gets a letter from a group called the Crossbearers who claim the kill, and promise more.
I do not want to give a lengthy synopsis here, but I would call this a loose police procedural. As the bodies of mobsters start piling up, Barry keeps trying to track down the religious zealots doing the deeds. Strangely enough, the kills are super clean-- not bad for armatures! When they start happening across the nation, however, clearly this points out some kind of conspiracy. Would a rogue sect within the Catholic church be organizing it? Sure looks that way!
Brellen sets this in about 1982, and often presents NYC in all its pre-gentrified glory, adding to the pulpy feel. Strange religious cults, pimps in caddys, working gals on 42nd and Broadway, yeah, that NYC. Do not expect a masterpiece here. I lost count of the plot holes, typos and just plain bad writing, making this scream for a good editor; Leisure was just cranking out horror books in the 80s as fast as they could publish them, however. Still, among all the dross, you can find some good reads in these old Leisure titles. If you dig trashy pulp from the 80s, you could do a lot worse. 3 pulpy stars!
I do not want to give a lengthy synopsis here, but I would call this a loose police procedural. As the bodies of mobsters start piling up, Barry keeps trying to track down the religious zealots doing the deeds. Strangely enough, the kills are super clean-- not bad for armatures! When they start happening across the nation, however, clearly this points out some kind of conspiracy. Would a rogue sect within the Catholic church be organizing it? Sure looks that way!
Brellen sets this in about 1982, and often presents NYC in all its pre-gentrified glory, adding to the pulpy feel. Strange religious cults, pimps in caddys, working gals on 42nd and Broadway, yeah, that NYC. Do not expect a masterpiece here. I lost count of the plot holes, typos and just plain bad writing, making this scream for a good editor; Leisure was just cranking out horror books in the 80s as fast as they could publish them, however. Still, among all the dross, you can find some good reads in these old Leisure titles. If you dig trashy pulp from the 80s, you could do a lot worse. 3 pulpy stars!
Displaying 1 of 1 review