| Keeper |
| Keeper is the first Atticus Kodiak novel. Kodiak is a professional bodyguard hired to protect Felice Romero, director of a Manhattan abortion clinic targeted by militant pro-lifers. Kodiak gets wrapped up personally in the challenge of keeping Dr. Romero and her 16-year old daughter who has Down's syndrome. Some murders, some explosions and some high tension make this a thrilling suspense novel.
I am a huge fan of Rucka's writing. Keeper is the fifth Rucka novel I've read - the fourth Atticus Kodiak novel. The Kodiak novels are basically thriller genre books, but Rucka elevates himself above a cliched genre writer in how he handles his characters. A genre writer will usually develop the plot, find characters that fit or help move the plot, and write from there. Rucka, in creating a series around Atticus Kodiak, has to pay attention to his characters. Make them real. Then he writes to what his characters would do in the genre situations that he places them in. The plot no longer dictates the writing, but the characters in the plot drive the story. It makes for a richer read. Consider John Grisham or Tom Clancy. These two writers also develop great suspense novels. They work within the genre with their own spin. Courtroom suspense for Grisham, Military suspense for Clancy. I've read novels written by both of them and found their books very entertaining at first. However, after a few novels I grew tired of reading their work. The patterns in their plotting were quickly identifiable and the characters were disposable. Without an emotional investment in the character or a novel plot or story line, my interest in their writing dissolved. There are two ways to overcome this: Create richly detailed characters that you can carry from book to book - spending time to build these characters into living people who chance and learn from their experiences. Or you can strive to push the genre in new and exciting directions. Stephen King pushes the genre - hence his success commercially and critically. Rucka goes the other route and spends time developing his characters to see how they react within the genre. What also helps Rucka's writing is his technical expertise in his material. Grisham used to be a lawyer, so he brings a level of expertise in law to his writing that makes everything that more real to the reader. Clancy is the same way with his military knowledge. He's studied and researched extensively all aspects of the military so he can bring a heightened sense of realism to his books. Rucka has accomplished the same thing with his Kodiak novels. Not only is Rucka's police procedure knowledge top notch, his writing reveals a depth of knowledge of the world of professional protection (and later on in the series, professional assassins) that boggles the mind. What can I say? I just love these books. |