Cannibal

Joe Ryker #4

by Nelson DeMille, Jack Cannon (Pseudonym)

Nothing surprises Sgt. Joe Ryker. Not corpses, crimes, nor sin of any kind. But when a beautiful New York call girl personally persuades him to investigate a missing persons report and a severed arm comes bobbing up in the East River, Ryker is in for a surprise.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Nelson Richard DeMille was an American author of action adventure and suspense novels. His novels include Plum Island, The Charm School, and The General's Daughter. DeMille also wrote under the pen names Jack Cannon, Kurt Ladner, Ellen Kay and Brad Matthews.

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd first read this back in the 70's, in the original paperback. Little did I know then, that the Jack Cannon/Nelson DeMille books would be in such high demand these days. Hard to find, and expensive to boot, the irascible Joe Ryker was one of my heroes. Always ready with a great one-liner, or a fist, or his gun, he was a man's man, a rebel, and irreverent too.

In this one, Joe is looking for the person responsible for body parts around town, some with teeth marks.

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the second book of the series I have read. "The Hammer Of God" being the first was a great book. This one was close to it but fell just short of the five stars. All the time I was reading it, I thought this was like a meaner raunchier version of those Naked Gun movies or Police Squad TV show with Leslie Nielsen. There was sarcasm galore and off the wall stuff going on. It also seemed like that one guy who says he's not racist. He hates everyone equally. This is the guy, Joe Ryker. No one is spared.

We start off in Vietnam. A medic is on his last patrol when a fire fight breaks out and he's the lone survivor. He falls down in an underground tunnel and is lost. Months go by and in between his escape, he has eaten some Vietnamese tunnel dwellers to live.

Fast forward to Chinatown in New York and people are disappearing. Most don't care or understand, but Joe Ryker puts two and two together and hunts down the Cannibal in his own habitat. The sewers. Wild ride from start to finish.

[King_In_Yellow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This schlocky gem reads like a 70s Italian grindhouse Dirty Harry knock off.

Douchey tough-as-nails homicide detective (and angry republican grandpa surrogate) Sgt. Joe Ryker suspects something sinister is behind a series of disappearances in New York's Chinatown. After a half-assed investigation that involves him insulting everyone he comes across, Ryker must descend into the sewers to confront a Vietnam vet who has developed a taste for human flesh.

This garbage truck chugs along at a good pace and is a lot of fun, if you like this sort of thing. So far this has been the least tedious of these Ryker/Keller paperbacks.

Joe D'Amato's delightful film Anthropophagus (aka Grim Reaper) features another lunatic cannibal villain with a very similar backstory and makes for an excellent pairing with this read.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nelson DeMille wrote this series under the pen name of Jack Cannon in the mid 1970's...1974 & 1975. As DeMille has continued to do throughout the years with all his novels, he is very graphic in describing everything that is going on, as well as doing an amazing job of keeping us in suspense. There are 6 books in this series, and since I don't mind reading out of order, I will be on the lookout for the rest of this series.

[Francesca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Problematisch ist an diesem Buch natürlich die Schreibweise/der Schreibstil. Das Buch ist allerdings von 1975, deswegen blicke ich von heute aus gesehen da natürlich ganz anders drauf. Unabhängig davon war das Buch ganz in Ordnung, nicht schlecht und auch nicht super gut. Hat ja auch nur 150 Seiten.

[Haloperidol · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5