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Review
Sallis is a wonderful writer, dark, lyrical and compelling. --Spectator
The Killer is Dying is beautifully written . . . read as an extended prose poem, it's well-nigh perfect. --Guardian
Carefully crafted, restrained and eloquent. --Times Literary Supplement
A dazzling, haunting work that intertwines the tales of three characters who never actually meet, but who are nevertheless inextricably linked. --Big Issue
Another brilliantly written, brutally short slice of existential noir. --Mirror
'Sallis's spare, concrete prose achieves the level of poetry' --Telegraph, October 17, 2011
'Wonderful writing that stitches a complex picture of America's south west, with the story of a killer and a cop as part of that tapestry.' --Crime Fiction Lover, September 7, 2011
'As unique as it is profound' --Irish Times, November 16, 2011
'A work of staggering pathos' --Mike Stafford, Bookgeeks, October 25, 2011
The Killer is Dying is beautifully written . . . read as an extended prose poem, it's well-nigh perfect. --Guardian
Carefully crafted, restrained and eloquent. --Times Literary Supplement
A dazzling, haunting work that intertwines the tales of three characters who never actually meet, but who are nevertheless inextricably linked. --Big Issue
Another brilliantly written, brutally short slice of existential noir. --Mirror
'Sallis's spare, concrete prose achieves the level of poetry' --Telegraph, October 17, 2011
'Wonderful writing that stitches a complex picture of America's south west, with the story of a killer and a cop as part of that tapestry.' --Crime Fiction Lover, September 7, 2011
'As unique as it is profound' --Irish Times, November 16, 2011
'A work of staggering pathos' --Mike Stafford, Bookgeeks, October 25, 2011
Product Description
A hired killer on his final job, a burned out detective whose wife is dying slowly, a young boy abandoned by his parents and living alone by his wits. Three people, solitary and disconnected from society. The detective is looking for the killer, Christian, though he doesn't know that. Christian is trying to find the man who stepped in and took down his target. And the boy, Jimmie, is having the killer's dreams. While they never meet, they are inextricably linked - and as their stories unfold, all find the solace of community.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I found this a remarkable, haunting and extremely rewarding novel. I hadn't come across James Sallis before so didn't know what to expect and a description of the book might well have put me off. There is very little action but there is a mystery to be solved by both a contract killer in the last stages of terminal illness and a policeman whose wife is also about to die. We also see things from the point of view of a young teenage boy who has nothing whatsoever to do with the case, never meets or communicates with anyone involved, but has the killer's dreams. Against my expectations I found it extremely involving, thoughtful and very moving in places.
The pervading theme of terminal illness and the sense of neighbourhoods in decay give the book an elegiac feel. Sallis writes brilliantly in brief unaffected sentences and very readable prose. His characters drew me in from the start and I found them believable and engaging. He makes a lot of very shrewd observations about the way lives pan out, but makes them in an unobtrusive, deceptively simple way. For example, a rather world-weary detective is musing internally on his idealistic youth: "Big words, big ideas. Fit OK when you were young. And it wasn't that you outgrew them, it was just that after a while you just started looking silly wearing them." I liked that a lot, and similar things crop up throughout the book.
I though this was engrossing, wise and, in its own way, a real page-turner. Warmly recommended if you like a thoughtful and involving read which will stay with you long after you finish the book.
The pervading theme of terminal illness and the sense of neighbourhoods in decay give the book an elegiac feel. Sallis writes brilliantly in brief unaffected sentences and very readable prose. His characters drew me in from the start and I found them believable and engaging. He makes a lot of very shrewd observations about the way lives pan out, but makes them in an unobtrusive, deceptively simple way. For example, a rather world-weary detective is musing internally on his idealistic youth: "Big words, big ideas. Fit OK when you were young. And it wasn't that you outgrew them, it was just that after a while you just started looking silly wearing them." I liked that a lot, and similar things crop up throughout the book.
I though this was engrossing, wise and, in its own way, a real page-turner. Warmly recommended if you like a thoughtful and involving read which will stay with you long after you finish the book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
TKID is a story about a contract-killer reaching the end of his life due to terminal illness, a luxury not usually afforded to those in his field. At the same time, Jimmie, an abandoned but remarkably independent young man begins to dream lucidly about the killer's past & present. A cop, struggling with the loss of his terminally-ill wife wrestles with the victim's case. What connects these people?
TKID is exceptionally well written, Sallis' style is Spartan but extremely direct. There is actually very little that happens in the time-period of the story, rather reflecting on character's pasts and resultant formation. The story progress by alternating between the three main protagonists and filling in a little more until they begin to overlap in theme, an intriguing technique, but it does means you have absolutely no idea what this book is about until about two-thirds of the way in. Frustratingly, this mercurial flitting between arcs means that you feel you need to re-read the book after you have finished it as relevance was largely lost on the first amble through - and amble it is - weighing in at 232 pages of widely spaced text, chapters divided by a blank leaf.
In conclusion, a well-written book, but difficult to truly fathom it's meaning - it feels wrapped up all too hastily and there are several aspects of the story left unfinished or unexplained. Worth a read, but Drive this isn't.
TKID is exceptionally well written, Sallis' style is Spartan but extremely direct. There is actually very little that happens in the time-period of the story, rather reflecting on character's pasts and resultant formation. The story progress by alternating between the three main protagonists and filling in a little more until they begin to overlap in theme, an intriguing technique, but it does means you have absolutely no idea what this book is about until about two-thirds of the way in. Frustratingly, this mercurial flitting between arcs means that you feel you need to re-read the book after you have finished it as relevance was largely lost on the first amble through - and amble it is - weighing in at 232 pages of widely spaced text, chapters divided by a blank leaf.
In conclusion, a well-written book, but difficult to truly fathom it's meaning - it feels wrapped up all too hastily and there are several aspects of the story left unfinished or unexplained. Worth a read, but Drive this isn't.
Format:Paperback
I found The Killer is Dying a curious read. It's elliptical, layered and somewhat ponderous, seeming to almost skirt around the edges of what might be considered the main story (the attempted killing of Rankin). For a short book, it's full of asides and tangent observations. The reader is given entry ways into the lives of the three main characters, small samples of their back stories, but it all remains a little bit elusive and enigmatic. One part of me liked this as it invited the reader to work with the author, another part found it frustrating that so much was left tantalizingly out of reach. Having reached the final page, my overall sense was that I never really felt I got to know either the case or the characters to any sufficient degree. Sallis' writing is prose with a nice cadence. His style and how he approaches the story has its charms, but for my tastes the story needed a little more depth and definition. There was enough here, however, that I'll give another one of his books a go.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Unusual and confusing, but atmospheric and somehow compelling
Up until the last few pages of The Killer is Dying I was far from convinced by this novel. Billed as a crime thriller, I had picked it up expecting an easy, lightweight bedtime... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Max
Stick With It!
I don't think I concentrated enough while I was reading this and therefore got quite confused,as it is not always apparent which voice is speaking,and I was hoping it would become... Read more
Published 4 months ago by C. M. Collier
Well written but unengaging
This book revolves around three main characters; an ageing hitman, a cop, who is investigating a botched assassination, and a young boy living alone after being abandoned by his... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Russell Smith
Phoenix Noir
I found 'The Killer is Dying' curiously compelling. Set in Phoenix AZ, it follows three characters, Christian, a contract killer, Jimmie, a teenager who has been abandoned by his... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Quicksilver
Smarter than the average crime novel.
In Phoenix, Arizona, on a street like a thousand others, a nondescript, middle-aged accountant is destined for death. Read more
Published 6 months ago by S. B. Kelly
Brooding Tale of Loss and love that takes its time
James Sallis is undoubtedly an excellent author. He has a way of writing that is both languorous and compelling at the same time; however he can also be confusing, ponderous and... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Tommy D
the killer is a mystery
I have to admit straight away that I only read half of the book. I ordered it through the Vine program because I had heard Sallis was a 'poetic' crime writer and that interested... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Josephine Huys
You won't get back the few hours you'll waste reading this
The idea of a novel in the crime/mystery/thriller genre is to keep the reader guessing the identity of the perpetrator (unless you're told otherwise, that is), and to throw in some... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Quiverbow
Superior crime story, brilliant!
I first discovered James Sallis in Death Will Have Your Eyes, and I loved it. This one has the same almost mystical feeling while being an excellent crime story with a great sense... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Penny Waugh
Here we go again
I often find myself the dissenting voice in these reviews which is never comfortable but what to do ? Read more
Published 7 months ago by C. Bones
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