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Down River
Johnny Mays has the moral conscience of a selfish child in the frame of a plain-clothes cop. The city is his playground, the rest of us his toys. He likes to find out where we work, and where we live, and what will scare us most. And Johnny never had a toy he didn't break.
But Johnny starts a car chase, and he pushes it too far. Soon they're fishing for his body at the foot of a dam, and his partner Nick Frazier has been left behind. They were friends, once, a long time ago. Nick had hoped that he might save Johnny.
Johnny's last words still echo in Nick's mind: "I'm going to remember this," he said, a dark fire in his eyes. "I'm coming back for you."
Then the killings start. Killings of people Johnny didn't like. And Johnny's car is dredged up, empty.
But Johnny starts a car chase, and he pushes it too far. Soon they're fishing for his body at the foot of a dam, and his partner Nick Frazier has been left behind. They were friends, once, a long time ago. Nick had hoped that he might save Johnny.
Johnny's last words still echo in Nick's mind: "I'm going to remember this," he said, a dark fire in his eyes. "I'm coming back for you."
Then the killings start. Killings of people Johnny didn't like. And Johnny's car is dredged up, empty.
368 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1990
5 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Gallagher
154 books135 followersStoker and World Fantasy Award nominee, winner of British Fantasy and International Horror Guild Awards for his short fiction, Stephen Gallagher has a career both as a novelist and as a creator of primetime miniseries and episodic television. His fifteen novels include Chimera, Oktober, Valley of Lights and Nightmare, with Angel. He's the creator of Sebastian Becker, Special Investigator to the Lord Chancellor's Visitor in Lunacy, in a series of novels that includes The Kingdom of Bones, The Bedlam Detective, and The Authentic William James. In his native England he's adapted and created hour-long and feature-length thrillers and crime dramas. In the US he was lead writer on NBC's Crusoe, creator of CBS Television's Eleventh Hour, and Co-Executive Producer on ABC's The Forgotten. Recent screen credits include an award-winning Silent Witness and Stan Lee's Lucky Man.
He began his TV career as a writer on two seasons of Doctor Who, and wrote two novelizations of his stories under the pseudonym John Lydecker.
** Photo by Lisa Bowerman **
He began his TV career as a writer on two seasons of Doctor Who, and wrote two novelizations of his stories under the pseudonym John Lydecker.
** Photo by Lisa Bowerman **
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 29, 2015
Decided to re-read all Stephen Gallagher's novel. Had forgotten quite how good they were, with 'villains' that you can't help but feel sorry for, even as they do the most monstrous things, and a lyrical turn of phrase for descriptions of places and people that's hard to beat.
December 19, 2019
Sorry - dated, cliched, predictable. Didn't care about the characters or the outcome.
January 7, 2025
A re-read which I think I enjoyed more this time round than when it was first published. Character driven, it's a cracking little psychological thriller with a brilliant prologue.
June 8, 2023
Johnny Mays is a crooked police officer with a book full of names of the people who have crossed him. After a police-chase goes wrong, Johnny is presumed dead. But when the people from his book start being brutally murdered it's up to his partner, Nick to find out what really happened to him.
OK. I admit it. The only reason I picked this book up was because of the cover art. It wasn't recommended to me. I'd never heard of it before. There's scarcely any information about it anywhere. I picked it because it looked rad as fuck. These kind of rash decisions don't always go well.
And today was no exception.
Eghh. Where do I begin? The pace was gruellingly slow. In fact for the first half of the book not a lot happens at all. Gallagher uses this time to set up the characters and scenes and he does an OK good job of it but, damn man, give me some fucking action! I'd have been happy if a character just stubbed his toe or something to liven things up a bit. I mean, I get it. Johnny was deranged and Nick was torn between being a good partner and a good person, but I think the author could've explained that in way less than 300 pages. In fact, I just did it in one sentence.
But the worst thing is that most of the time I felt like I just wasn't understanding what the author was trying to say. It's almost like he writes something and just expects you to know what he's talking about. It's like when you're mum says "oh Steve popped around the other day for a cup of tea and then we went to the park" and you're like "Mum. Who is Steve? You've never even mentioned him before." I don't know how to explain it any better than that. It could just be a me problem. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, but honestly I just felt lost most of the time. It's a shame because he can obviously write. I stuck with it. He had me intrigued enough to find out how it all ends...JUST. But this story just had no substance to it. It was boring. It was unoriginal. It was at times tedious to get through. It was a character driven story but unfortunately I didn't care for any of the characters. Which all adds up to a mostly forgettable book.
Unfortunately this is one to avoid.
OK. I admit it. The only reason I picked this book up was because of the cover art. It wasn't recommended to me. I'd never heard of it before. There's scarcely any information about it anywhere. I picked it because it looked rad as fuck. These kind of rash decisions don't always go well.
And today was no exception.
Eghh. Where do I begin? The pace was gruellingly slow. In fact for the first half of the book not a lot happens at all. Gallagher uses this time to set up the characters and scenes and he does an OK good job of it but, damn man, give me some fucking action! I'd have been happy if a character just stubbed his toe or something to liven things up a bit. I mean, I get it. Johnny was deranged and Nick was torn between being a good partner and a good person, but I think the author could've explained that in way less than 300 pages. In fact, I just did it in one sentence.
But the worst thing is that most of the time I felt like I just wasn't understanding what the author was trying to say. It's almost like he writes something and just expects you to know what he's talking about. It's like when you're mum says "oh Steve popped around the other day for a cup of tea and then we went to the park" and you're like "Mum. Who is Steve? You've never even mentioned him before." I don't know how to explain it any better than that. It could just be a me problem. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, but honestly I just felt lost most of the time. It's a shame because he can obviously write. I stuck with it. He had me intrigued enough to find out how it all ends...JUST. But this story just had no substance to it. It was boring. It was unoriginal. It was at times tedious to get through. It was a character driven story but unfortunately I didn't care for any of the characters. Which all adds up to a mostly forgettable book.
Unfortunately this is one to avoid.
June 7, 2009
Combines horror and the thriller genres. Good edge of your seat suspense.
May 22, 2012
Serial and really twisted, hard-to-believe twists....
May 29, 2015
This is a competent police procedural, which doesn't do anything remarkable but does what it does do well. I enjoyed the experience but I suspect I will forget this fairly soon.
January 31, 2017
Kauhua odotin, maalailevaa ja välillä jahkailevaa jännitystä sain. Positiivisesti yllättynyt kuitenkin.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews