Illusions

By Bill Pronzini

Book Overview

In his 24th and most intriguing appearance, the "Nameless Detective" finds himself involved in two intricate and emotional investigations. The first is intensely personal: the unexpected death of his estranged friend and former partner, Eberhardt. Although there seems to be no question that Eberhardt committed suicide, "Nameless" becomes obsessed with the reasons behind the act. "A man doesn't just all of a sudden trade living for dying. Something prods him across the line between thinking about it and actually doing it. Every suicide, every homicide has its trigger. What was Eberhardt's?" Meanwhile, he is hired by a Santa Fe businessman to find his ex-wife, who disappeared three years earlier. Locating the woman turns out to be fairly simple; she is living and working in the northern California wine country. But just when the case seems finished, it takes on bizarre dimensions-a fatal shooting that may or may not be accidental, hidden motives, and a web of lies and deception. "Nameless" is compelled to continue his investigation when it becomes clear he is partly, if inadvertently, responsible for the victim's death. The keys to both cases lie in illusions-those people create about themselves and those they perceive in others. Additional similarities also emerge, leading "Nameless" to a series of startling revelations and ultimately to the two most difficult decisions of his career. Both a fair-play detective story and a novel of psychological and moral complexity, Illusions is another triumph for the sleuth praised by the Chicago Sun-Times as "the thinking person's detective." It is also further proof that Bill Pronzini is "an exceptionally skilled writer working at the top of his ability" (Denver Post) and an innovator in the field of crime fiction.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1628152818
• ISBN13: 9781628152814
• Release Date: November 2015
• Publisher: Speaking Volumes, LLC
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

One of the best in an outstanding series

I've never understood why Pronzini's "Nameless" series isn't more acclaimed - many of the books are out of print.

Getting to the Bottom of It

Long before Nameless and Eberhardt were partners, Spade and Archer were. Even though Sam Spade didn't have much respect for Archer, he knew that you had to avenge your partner's killer. In a similar way, Eberhardt's suicide hits Nameless hard. They haven't spoken for years, but they had been friends and partners for many years before that. What has happened to Eberhardt to make him want to kill himself? Nameless has to know. What he learns shocks him to the core, and makes him realize that he didn't know his old partner so well after all.While this is going on, Ira Erskine hires Nameless to find his ex-wife. Their young son is dying of leukemia and wants to see his mother before he dies. Something about Erskine bothers Nameless's assistant, Tamara Corbin, but Nameless takes the case anyway. He quickly locates the ex-wife and lets Erskine know where to find her. Soon, Nameless has a second jolt when Erskine ends up dead while cleaning his gun. What really happened?In both cases, Nameless realizes that he has been very naive . . . and that his naiveté has been dangerous to others. Although he cannot right the wrongs, he has to find out what really happened. The answers make him sick to the deepest part of his soul. And he has to decide what to do with the unpleasant truth.This is an outstanding book which stands on its own, but you will enjoy it more if you read Dragonfire, Shackles, Quarry and Hardcase first. As I finished reading the book, I also began to wonder where my rosy views about others hide a darker truth. This book can change your whole outlook on life.

JUSTICE SERVED?

A suicide always leaves lingering questions with those left behind and evokes deep feelings of guilt. So is the case with Eberhardt, Nameless's ex-partner, who commited suicide. Nameless is plagued by guilt and goes on an obsessive quest to find the answer as to "why" Eberhardt did it. What drove him to the edge? While pursuing this question Nameless deals with an accidental death or suicide of a former client. His search for answers to that killing leads him into the realms of abuse and the question of whether justice is really ever served by revealing an interpretive truth. Are the victims sometimes the guilty ones even though they have been miserably abused? Is justice a cut and dried formula that we mete out indiscriminately without regard to the circumstances? Come and join Nameless on this painful quest as he attempts to get answers. This is Pronzini at his best in story telling.