The Terror of Living by Urban Waite
Urban Waite is a relatively unknown 30 year old author from Seattle but one thing is certain – he won’t remain a secret for very much longer – “The Terror of Living” is an astonishingly taut thriller for a debut novelist and one of my tips for 2011. Check out my interview with Urban Waite here (no spoilers)
As I settled down to read the thriller, one factor became fairly evident to me, certainly within the initial twenty pages or so – the narrative is intense and powerful. Waite has an assured style of writing, a wordsmith of the highest order – I’d go so far to say that his prose is beautifully evoking, hypnotic and mesmerizing.
Already dubbed the literary thriller of 2011, “The Terror of Living” is without doubt about to set the literary world alight!
As I was nearing the end of the book I stopped to gather my thoughts and wondered when I’d last read a book where I liked each and every one of the characters – I don’t think that has ever happened to me before.
There are three distinct themes running throughout the book namely the good, the bad and the bad bordering on good! – A guy who, for all intents and purposes, wants to do the right thing but is caught up in the fight for everyday survival and finds himself on the wrong side of the law.
Noticing an abandoned car in a remote area north of Silver Lake, Deputy Bobby Drake makes a decision that will change countless lives over the course of a few days. He runs the plate but it comes back clean – yet his experience tells him something is going down.
Available to buy from Amazon (UK) & Amazon (US).
High in the hills two men on horseback await a cargo drop just north of the border. Little do they know that Drake is lying in wait, anticipating their every move. A red flare ascends the dark midnight sky and the package falls from the plane on command, its parachute floating to the ground like a giant jellyfish. The chase is on!
Drake takes aim and shoots “the kid” but Hunt evades capture and, forced to abandon his saddle, rides bareback with an accomplished style away from Drake – the drugs remain in the mountains and in police custody.
What we now have is a case of retribution – Hunt has to answer to Eddie, Eddie has to answer to the lawyer, the lawyer to the Vietnamese and so on. Did I mention Grady? No? For good reason – the guy scares the hell out of me! Hired by the lawyer to kill Hunt following his recent failure, “The Terror of Living” descends into an almighty game of cat and mouse – a frenetic fight for survival.
Grady takes evil to another level. Trained as a butcher he owns a set of knives, keenly practicing his craft on dead pigs. It will take little imagination to realise he doesn’t stop with dead animals! The violence is horrific but every time Grady takes his knives to another victim, I imagine him smiling, at peace, and taking an inordinate amount of pleasure from torture and death.
Make no bones about it, Waite has delivered pure evil in the form of Grady – yet I found his character somewhat endearing – I am a little concerned! Although horrific and graphic the violence never crosses the line and is always within context of the scene – never there for sensationalism.
“The Terror of Living” is a complex tale of survival, greed, drugs and brutality – leaving nothing to the imagination, Waite has a sure fire hit on his hands. A magnificent debut – Highly Recommended.
Published by Simon & Schuster “The Terror of Living” is available from Amazon (UK) & Amazon (US).
