The difference between good and great becomes apparent when...

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	• Blood Shot Eyes Patrick W. Picciarelli Trafford Publishing, 2000 - 300 pages average customer review:based on 14 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Crime fiction at it's best!!!

BLOOD SHOT EYES is a riveting page-turner that you simply can not put down. The suspense kept me up all night reading this book. Patrick Picciarelli is a master of pacing and crime fiction. I'm quite sure his name will appear on the New York Times bestseller list one day.

The difference between good and great becomes apparent when...

You read Blood Shot Eyes. I've read good mysteries before, complete with the conventions we've come to expect: A burned-out PI with ties to a connected lawyer or brutish bodyguard, either of which bails him out of heavy situations or gives him much-needed information at JUST the right time; a killer, whether primary antagonist or secondary threat, who's void of conscience and proves superhumanly strong; bureaucratic excess resulting in the stagnation of the protag's quest; and the fast-paced plot that oftentimes eschews accuracy and authenticity in favor of speed. You can still produce a good book with such clichés intact, but it certainly helps your cause if you ditch them or, at the very least, revise them for a fresh twist.

And that's exactly what Picciarelli does with Eyes. He comes closest to cliché in the internal turmoil of Ray Yale, a PI struggling with the death of his wife, but that's it. Yale, unlike Coben's Bolitar or Lehane's Kenzie, actually knows what he's doing and is competent enough to get the job done without the crutch of extra muscle or a brainy associate. The antagonist has a bloodlust, to be sure, but Picciarelli handles her character with enough care and backstory as to make her multi-layered and, dare I say, even a smidge sympathetic, parting from the standard of so many titles in the genre. The bureaucratic excess doesn't come in the form of a gaggle of precinct higher-ups commandeering Yale's crime scene or threatening him should he persist in his snooping; in fact, "excess" would be the wrong word entirely. Bureaucracy is presented as the entity which pushed Yale to become a PI in the first place, rather than a rigid institution stomping him every time he gets too close to the truth. Furthermore, Yale's sidekick is played extremely far from type, thereby making him--and the story--more effective and authentic. The slang, the insider's look into proper police procedure, and the back-of-the-hand knowledge of NYC allow the story to pulse with reality, no doubt stemming from Picciarelli's background with the NYPD.

All that and we haven't yet gotten to the plot! The story centers around a decade-old crime, giving our hero an even bigger hurdle to jump. Every layer that Yale pulls back reveals another, more intriguing piece of evidence that keeps you reading and wanting to find out the "why" and "how" of the crime. The answers are blocked by enough obstacles and challenges that you're left asking yourself how in the world Yale will pull it all off without getting caught. And when he succeeds, it all makes sense; nothing is unbelievable, clichéd, or stretched too thin. Because of this, Blood Shot Eyes is the first mystery I've read that felt so close to being real, and was one of my most enjoyable reading experiences to date in the genre. Five star recommended.

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Enthralling and fast paced!

I highly recommend this gripping mystery! Blood Shot Eyes is one of those whodunits that you don't want to finish because you know it will be a long time before you find another book as good. Patrick Picciarelli is a gifted storyteller. His characters are interesting, imperfect and realistic - the kind that every reader identifies with. The good guys and villains are equally captivating. A truly unexpected and absorbing tale of murder and intrigue!

Finally, A Mystery Book That Won't Let You Down!

Blood Shot Eyes by Pat Picciarelli hooked me in the beginning with the murder of a young female college student. The suspense mounts as Private Investigator, Ray Yale, ex-NYPD, Lt, is reluctantly persuaded by sympathy for the grieving father of the victim who can't let go of the mystery of his daughter's death. Yale takes on the case of solving the riddle of the ten-year-old homicide which leads him to the beautiful Leah Porter as the main suspect in the murder. This pychotic character while revolting the reader will also intrigue. Picciarelli's vast experience and knowledge of crime is revealed in this suspenseful story. I highly recommend it to all who love a well-written, captivating brainteaser.

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Great read!

Blood Shot Eyes is the first piece of fiction I've picked up in five years, and I found it difficult to put down. I have to read for my profession, and I spend so much time at it that I gave up leisure reading, which I used to enjoy. Once I picked up Blood Shot Eyes though, I gave up nighttime television for a week so I could find out what would happen next with Ray Yale and his investigation. Kudos to Patrick Picciarelli for a completely engrossing mystery, and for helping me rediscover the power and enjoyment of the written word.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

RAY VALE, ex NYPD Lt., Vietnam veteran, grieving widower and private investigator is hired to investigate the nine-year-old brutal murder of a female college student in New York's Flushing Meadow Park. He enlists the help of the retired NYPD detective who originally investigated the case, Charlie Wright, a bitter ex-detective with a deep secret, who is at first reluctant to get involved. Yale and Wright are outcasts from the department; Yale for his outspoken defense of his cancer-stricken policewoman wife who was forcibly retired from the NYPD after she was diagnosed, and Wright is a self-imposed exile from society. Together they put aside their demons to unravel a seemingly perfect crime.

They soon discover, through con man Tony Cippolone, that Leah Porter, a psychotic former cop, bounced from the NYPD for killing a civilian, is a prime suspect in the case. A Svengali-like radio personality, Wolfgang Steinger, controls the deranged Porter and has her do his violent bidding to stay on the top of the celebrity heap.

The motive for the slaying is a damning videotape used in a blackmail scheme that threatens to bring down the power structure in the NYPD. More murders come to light as Yale threatens to delve deeper into the minds of his two prime suspects against a backdrop of the underbelly of New York and a finale that will leave even the most jaded crime fiction reader breathless.

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