DYING FOR REVENGE
Eric Jerome Dickey
Dutton
Fiction
Hardcover: 9780525950868
Paperback: 9780451227539
Following the action-packed SLEEPING WITH STRANGERS and WAKING WITH ENEMIES, both of which were released in 2007, Eric Jerome Dickey has written DYING FOR REVENGE. The final book in the trilogy continues Gideon's story, a man who was taught to kill at a young age by the woman who raised him. His anger and near-hatred for her is partly what drives him, but now Gideon is conflicted between his need to protect her and her son, and his anger over how she abused him when he was a boy.
Gideon's main problem is a woman who had hired him years ago to kill her husband. Because he knows her secrets and failed to carry through on their agreement, she now has a hit on him and will do anything to cut his life short. The fact that she is a very prominent politician in Detroit adds spice and intrigue to the storyline. The public sees her as a beloved political figure, but Gideon knows the real person behind the mask. She has money and power, and her men will do anything she asks them to do --- whatever it takes to dispose of Gideon and help her exact revenge upon him by threatening the lives of those he holds dear.
"Detroit," as she is referred to by Gideon, has hired a man known as "El Matador" and his wife, two professional killers, to get the job done. Unfortunately for El Matador, his wife has a personal problem: an obsession with clothes (especially with expensive shoes) and a compulsive need to spend money. Her fixation on the movie premiere of Sex and the City has compromised their job, and they constantly remain one step behind Gideon as they pursue him and try to find a way to trap and exterminate him. She cannot stop thinking of her next shopping spree or her favorite show. It is this obsession that has prevented them from finishing the job, and Gideon continues to elude them. But she also makes other mistakes that are just as costly and that begin to anger and frustrate her husband.
In between the violence and the action, Gideon is still obsessing over his past as he did in the previous two novels. He feels troubled by the existence of the young boy who is now the center of Catherine's life, and at the same time he has a need to put to rest the childhood that continues to haunt him. Is this child truly Catherine's son, and is he going to have the same life that Gideon had? Gideon refuses to let that happen and keeps trying to understand her relationship with him. Catherine tells Gideon that she has changed and is not the prostitute she used to be years ago. Gideon isn't convinced and believes that the boy is in danger, just as Gideon was years ago when he lived with Catherine.
The novel takes the reader from the U.S. to the island of Antigua. The beautiful tropical setting makes a great backdrop for the heated action scenes that nearly bring an end to Gideon and Hawke, a woman who shared a brief past with him and is back to help Gideon bring down "Detroit" and end this chase once and for all.
There is a lot of violence in DYING FOR REVENGE, probably more so than any of Dickey’s previous books. I didn't have a problem with that or think it was overdone. However, others may not agree. There is plenty of dark humor as well as violence and sex; while there are lulls in the action, it doesn't stay quiet for long.
The reader gets to know Gideon well in this third novel. While a professional hit man, he does have a heart and a soft side but doesn't let that get in the way of his job. Readers may want yet another Gideon installment because there are still plenty of questions that need to be answered. While DYING FOR REVENGE was not my favorite Eric Jerome Dickey book, it is still worth the read.
--- Reviewed by Marie Hashima Lofton (Ratmammy@lofton.org)
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