River by Roderick Thorp

Roderick Thorp. Who's that? Think of a book called Nothing Lasts Forever. Doesn't ring a bell? How about the movie Die Hard? That's the book the movie was made from.

In 1995, Ballantine Books published Roderick Thorp's book River. I confess that I'd never heard of Thorp or his book until my mom passed the paperback along to me. I was visiting family in the Pacific Northwest when I started reading it. While it's a bit unsettling to follow the activities of a serial killer in places familiar, I have to say that Thorp did an extraordinary job of bringing the people and locations to life, from detective Philippe Boudreaux in his King County habitat dealing with the politics of policing to serial killer Garrett Richard Lockman, nephew/foster son of Spokanites Al and Hazel Lockman. The chapters switch from one's world to the other's without becoming confusing.

Thorp's talent lies in his storytelling. He's worked as a private detective (for his father) and as a crime reporter, and it shows. His research is great, he keeps a good pace throughout, and he draws the reader right into his trap, complete with a surprise - if somewhat "Hollywood" - ending. That he could pull off having just two main characters when the real investigation had as many as 56 officers in 1986, is impressive.

For more on the Green River Killer, see http://www.cet.com/~snevets/greenriver.h...

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