Harvest aka American Woman
Robert Pobi
Simon & Schuster 2015
400 pages
Having been blown away by Robert Pobi’s first thriller Bloodman (aka Eye of the Storm in Canada), I was very much looking forward to his next novel. Harvest aka American Woman in the U.S. aka River of the Dead in the U.K (aka can somebody pick a damn title already?) is a very good read but it did not knock my socks off. Robert Pobi on Kindle
Robert Pobi certainly knows how to write a page turner. This time around a NYPD detective named Alex Hemingway faces a serial killer who targets extremely talented kids and keeps rather macabre souvenirs.
The twists and turns really keep you guessing. You do not get the feeling some scenes or events are there as filler. If you like the cop goes after serial killer genre, this one really satisfies but does not bring anything new to the autopsy table.
One thing that really bugged me is the frequent allusions to back story and a previous and very important event in Alex Hemingway’s life that is presented in such a way as to give the reader the impression Harvest (aka whatever) is at least the second thriller in the series.
The reveal in Harvest aka American Woman by Robert Pobi is particularly clever with a great ultimate slight of hand. Logistically, I am less convinced by the plausibility of who the killer is.
Also by Robert Pobi and reviewed here: Bloodman