Sacrifice

by Mitchell Smith

When his daughter becomes the latest victim of a serial killer lurking in the Florida swamps, Tyler Pierce, a reformed criminal, devises a plan to circumvent the corrupt local authorities and catch the notorious Sweetwater Killer. Reprint.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller

429 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Mitchell Smith is an American author writing crime fiction and science fiction.

Also known as Roy LeBeau.

Reviews

[Zedsdead · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stoic, aging bank robber who wants nothing more than to retire to a modest, honest life of roof contracting is drawn back into the criminal underworld when his daughter is murdered. He must track down a serial killer that has the cops spinning their wheels.

Over the course of his investigation, Tyler makes a few allies (a local prostitute/guide, a retired pimp) and a lot of enemies (local gangs who don't trust the interloper asking awkward questions on their turf).

The Good
--Tyler makes his way through calm competence and determination rather than silly shootouts and cocky badassitude.
--The characters are great. Sometimes it reads like an Elmore Leonard novel, though on Leonard's darkest day. A more serious, high-stakes Get Shorty.
--Good job getting inside a demented killer's head. Twisted but plausible.
--Memorable moments. A couple of small timers try to run a dinged-fender scam on Tyler. He disarms a gangster's bodyguard then calmly returns to doing business with the stunned/amused boss. Tyler's girlfriend asks him about his hooker/guide, and when he answers that it's just a professional relationship she confidently moves on to more important topics. And she's right to do so.

The Bad
...Eh. Nothing was really "bad". Some won't like how dark the story goes. And it's more thinky than actiony which could lead to some unfulfilled expectations. The prose won't win any literary awards but it's perfectly solid, I think.

All in all it was just a good dependable hard-to-put-down crime novel with excellent characters.

[Macha]

3 and a half stars. four star rating until the ending, which wasn't as carefully written and believable as the rest of the book.

[Joseph Hirsch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mitchell Smith was a curious writer. (I’m using the past tense notwithstanding that I’m not sure he’s dead, as he seems to have gone inactive, long ago.) He’s very good, and though he’s not very prolific, he still has a varied body of quality work. He’s written one of the best novels about life in prison, and he’s also written a great series on life among survivors of a post-collapse ice age world. The only ready comparison I can think of, offhand, is Walter Tevis, who knows an equal amount about the world of pool hustlers and the hearts of aliens from distant, dying stars.
“Sacrifice,” is not my favorite offering from Smith, but it shows his talent, and sings well enough in places for it not to be a total wash. It follows the travails of Tyler Pierce, an ex-con out for “one last job.” After that, he plans to spend some time playing nice with his ex-wife and trying to make up for lost time with his estranged daughter. That kind of thing is hard under the best of circumstances, but now it’s impossible, since it turns out his daughter’s been murdered by a serial killer.
Pierce, flush with lucre from his last heist, decides to finally do something good with his money, even if it’s while still working the wrong side of the law. He’s going to use all means at his disposal—violence, bribery, a well-tended grapevine of fellow cons—to find out who killed his daughter, and those other girls.
The book, despite its brevity, has some overlong sections and some subplots that probably don’t belong there. The cast of rogues populating his neo-noir Florida sometimes shades from the colorful into outright caricature. The decision to let us see things from the serial killer’s perspective also undermines whatever suspense Mitchell built up. That he tries to turn his baddie into a complex psychosexual basket case also shows a little too much borrowing from fellow suspense practitioner Thomas Harris. Hannibal and the Blakean metamorphosing Red Dragon worked much better than this particular meat carver.
Smith’s characterization of his con is top-notch, as is his understanding of the many ways things can go south between men and women, parents and kids, no matter how hard we all try to make it work. By about the book’s halfway mark, I found myself wishing that Smith had just trusted his central story, left the suspense to the Floridians, focused his tale on that ex-con dad roofing in Missouri. A little more Willeford and a little less Hiaasen.

[Susan Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tyler Pierce is a bank robber. Actually, since he was not caught for his last heist, he could be described as a successful bank robber. But his career prevented his being a part of his daughter's life. Now she's grown and a victim of a serial killer. Tyler gives up bank robbing to find her killer. This is my first Mitchell Smith novel, but not my last. The plot is intriguing and the characters are really interesting. I picked this one up cold - didn't know a thing about it and it turned out to be an excellent find!

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

A young woman has been killed by someone known as the Sweetwater killer. His criminal activities in his younger years has caused him not to have been an active presence in his daughter's life as she grew up. He feels he owes it to her to find this killer and prevent the deaths of other young woman. He uses money stashed from the bank robbery that put him in prison and contacts from his criminal past to track to do this.

[Chris]

Ned. Titel: het laatste offer

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyed the read, but felt the ending was a little rushed...

[Toesnorth's mom]

good until the end which was weak and not done well or explained well