As a writer, Anthony Neil Smith knows no limits--he will go anywhere, and in this book, he goes everywhere, even if the plot never takes out of Duluth, Minneapolis, St. Paul and points between. The portrayal of the environs of Lake Superior in the Winter will actually have you wanting to visit, although you are unlikely to want to venture out onto the ice, given what happens to a character or two here. Where to even start about what goes on in this book? We have good cops, bad cops, local cops, state cops, ex-Marine cops, psycho girlfriends, politicians, bartenders, bad parents, good parents, understanding sisters--and a whole lot of transvestites, transexuals, and at least one person contemplating becoming one or the other. We have frozen lakes, gay dance clubs, stately St. Paul mansions, under furnished apartments, interrogation rooms, lake cabins, theatres, McDonalds restaurants--and quite a barn dance. We have murder, mystery, betrayal, unbetrayals, regrets, unregrets, crossdressing, undressing, real sex, internet sex, imagined sex, hunting, hiding in bushes, drinking, and tasering. And pulling the strings behind all of it, we have a writer who seems incapable of writing a bad sentence. He can write some really revolting ones that put images into your head you wish weren't there, but not bad ones. The characters are fully portrayed and fully flawed. But we can't help but root for our flawed, and very conflicted, protagonist as he tries to get to the bottom of the disappearance of a politician's younger brother (and campaign wizard). Everything, of course is connected, in the most imaginative, disgusting, thrilling, engrossing, visceral ways possible. And of course, you can't tell a story like this from start to finish--you have to jump around in the cop's (or ex-cop's depending on the particular moment) head as he tells the story in the way that makes the most sense to him. And Smith pulls it all off, leaving us with a satisfying, if perhaps temporary climax as we wait for the sequel, which comes out a month after I'm writing this. I have pre-ordered it. You should also.

If you haven't read Anthony Neil Smith, you can't imagine what you're missing. If you want books that grab you by the throat and don't let go until you're finished, this is it.