I have to admit that I don’t read
a lot of new fiction these days. Non-fiction (mostly true crime and music and
movie bios) provide the bulk of my printed nourishment, along with a plethora
of magazines and the odd comic book of course (online blogs and articles can be
great and rewarding, but I still love the process of going to a newsstand and
picking out a stack of public transport reading for the week). When I do decide
to read fiction, I usually scan through my library or the shelves of a
second-hand bookstore and pick out a thin old vintage horror or crime
paperback, or film tie-in novelization, to keep me occupied for a weekend.
Having said that, I ordered a
copy of Eric Red’s White Knuckle (2015
Samhain Publishing) from Amazon after reading a few rave notices from
people whose opinions I usually respect and find reliable, and after diving just
a few pages into the book I had become seduced and lost within its pages. White Knuckle is a gripping thriller
about a prolific, truck driving serial killer who has spent over forty years
criss-crossing the United States, abducting his victims and keeping them bound,
helpless and terrified within a secret steel chamber installed underneath his
big rig. A young, novice female FBI agent teams up with a seasoned, ex-con trucker
to cruise the interstates in the hope of finding the maniac who has been
leaving bodies all across the country. It quickly turns into a personal game of
cat and mouse for both agent and killer, with each of them seemingly gaining
the upper hand in turn, until the story reaches its frenzied climax.
Fast-paced, violent and
gruesome, but with a true sense of character and a remarkable detail for life
on the open road, White Knuckle is a
cracking good read, with a few moments of genuine tension that help the book live
up to its title (White Knuckle is the CB handle for the killer). The book has a
real cinematic feel to it, not surprising as author Red has penned a number of
excellent screenplays over the years, including The Hitcher (1986), Near
Dark (1987), Blue Steel (1990) and Body Parts (1991, which he also directed).
I had a few minor quibbles
with the story, mostly some moments of convenience and the odd detour into
territory that seemed a bit far-fetched and over-the-top compared to what the bulk
of the book delivers, but they did nothing to diminish my enjoyment of White Knuckle. Highly recommended if
you feel like reading a gritty, pulpy thriller that contains elements of movies
like Duel (1971), Breakdown (1997), Silence of the Lambs (1991) and
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), yet
combines them into something wholly of its own. I’ll definitely be checking out
more of Eric Red’s horror fiction in the near future.
