Samaritan: Jackie

by Chaz Brenchley

A psychopath stalks the night-darkened streets of London. His victims die horribly--their last moments a nightmare of fear and pain that feeds a savage madness. Their mutilated bodies taunt the city. As the public panics, the police stand by, helpless.

In a desperate move, the authorities call in Paul Fenner, an ex-cop with a checkered past. Fenner has won his battle with booze and overcome the failure of a lifetime. Now, he's about to become the prey of an insane killer, caught in a maze of madness and murder.

Genres: Horror

Paperback

First published April 1, 1988

About the author

Chaz Brenchley has been making a living as a writer since he was eighteen. He is the author of nine thrillers, most recently Shelter, and two major fantasy series: The Books of Outremer, based on the world of the Crusades, and Selling Water by the River, set in an alternate Ottoman Istanbul. A winner of the British Fantasy Award, he has also published three books for children and more than 500 short stories in various genres. His time as Crimewriter-in-Residence at the St Peter's Riverside Sculpture Project in Sunderland resulted in the collection Blood Waters. He is a prizewinning ex-poet, and has been writer in residence at the University of Northumbria, as well as tutoring their MA in Creative Writing. His novel Dead of Light is currently in development with an independent film company; Shelter has been optioned by Granada TV. He was Northern Writer of the Year 2000, and lives in Newcastle upon Tyne with a quantum cat and a famous teddy bear.

Also known as author Daniel Fox.

Reviews

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very interesting contrast indeed jumping from Chaz Brenchley's current fantasy novel Bridge of Dreams clear back to his very first book, the psychological thriller The Samaritan. The prose is clearly the product of the same hand, even with twenty-some-odd years between the books, and even given that The Samaritan by necessity has a significantly terser style.

Paul Fenner is a former cop who was driven into alcoholism and divorce by the overwhelming brutality of a case he never solved: the rampage of the killer known as the Butcher. Since walking away, he's striven to rebuild his life; he's sworn off drinking and has established a new relationship with a young woman, Tina, whose fondest wish is to settle with him in a cottage in Wales. But when Paul's and Tina's landlady and friend is found murdered, Paul realizes that the Butcher is not going to let him go.

This entire story is intense, gripping, and in parts highly disturbing. The sections from the Butcher's point of view are particularly effective--told as they are in second person, which has the immediate effect of placing you right into his head so that you see every little twisted corner of his brain. You even relive the horrific abuse that the character experienced as a child, and this led me to almost, almost feeling sorry for the guy. Yet the gruesome barrage of violence in the very end of the book takes that little glimmer of sympathy, sharpens it right into a knife, and stabs you with it. Brr.

There's only one bit in the book I take issue with, one bit in the aforementioned barrage of violence that for me as a reader was really unnecessary--because in order for it to work, one of the characters in the cast does something that made me want to smack her so hard that I was momentarily taken out of the story. But that was mercifully brief. What comes after that point was otherwise a veritable storm, ripping through almost all corners of Paul's and Tina's lives, until its passing leaves them with barely more than a glimmer of gratitude that they've survived.

And after reading this book, I know exactly how they feel. ;) Three and a half stars.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book entertaining, if a little lacking in polish. The characters are drawn quite well, the dialogue was decent, and I enjoyed the second person viewpoint in some of the chapters, which reminded me in style of Complicity by Iain Banks. I do think the plot had problems if I'm honest - there were some contrivances that were a little too obvious and clumsy, and some pivotal scenes and conversations seemed a bit unnatural. Despite these flaws there were still some suspenseful moments and some vivid imagery at times.