'Chasing Smoke' is a mystery story highlighted by vivid characters
JESSE COOPER, Clarion Opinion EditorEditor
Issue date: 10/22/08 Section: Entertainment
Madison based Bleakhouse Books is due to release ,'s latest dark crime mystery "Chasing Smoke" next month. Author of "Lost Dog", Cameron astonishes with dark characters, rich with dimension and easily relatable; ugly in their skin as well as in tone, but beautifully crafted with feathered touches of soft sincerity.
The protagonist Detective Kadash is as murky as Portland's Columbia River as he grumbles through the rollercoaster ride of a potential homicide case with resistance from all sides of the fight. Sharing a cancer doctor as well as this particular case with the recently deceased, Kadash's interest carries him deeper into the rabbit hole as he struggles with the advancing symptoms of his bladder cancer, the police politics that are threatening his livelihood, as well as the advancing discrepancies of the case itself. The complications compound as he is further alienated from his longtime partner, and his doctor's assistant appears more and more entangled in the mystery surrounding four men's supposed suicides.
Kadash is a foul-mouthed, foul-minded disgusting man of cynicism that you can't help but love as he pessimistically finds himself obsessing about a case he tried so hard to avoid. The investigation weaves in and around Portland with immense detail and homage as only a native Oregonian can induce. Cameron never falls short of capturing the essence and people of Portland in well-crafted literary form. From the Hawthorne traffic to the Willamette to the hustle and bustle of the MAX transit, Cameron boards you on a voyage through the streets of Portland in the summer heat.
This book is an instant mystery classic with vivid characters crafted with realistically deep personalities and secrets that keep you guessing to the very end. The questions, insecurities, mysteries, and resentment (both in regards to the investigation as well as his personal life) evolve through the characters, ultimately filtered through the cynical eyes of Kadash, into a literary minuet of a man's struggle with his own mortality.
The protagonist Detective Kadash is as murky as Portland's Columbia River as he grumbles through the rollercoaster ride of a potential homicide case with resistance from all sides of the fight. Sharing a cancer doctor as well as this particular case with the recently deceased, Kadash's interest carries him deeper into the rabbit hole as he struggles with the advancing symptoms of his bladder cancer, the police politics that are threatening his livelihood, as well as the advancing discrepancies of the case itself. The complications compound as he is further alienated from his longtime partner, and his doctor's assistant appears more and more entangled in the mystery surrounding four men's supposed suicides.
Kadash is a foul-mouthed, foul-minded disgusting man of cynicism that you can't help but love as he pessimistically finds himself obsessing about a case he tried so hard to avoid. The investigation weaves in and around Portland with immense detail and homage as only a native Oregonian can induce. Cameron never falls short of capturing the essence and people of Portland in well-crafted literary form. From the Hawthorne traffic to the Willamette to the hustle and bustle of the MAX transit, Cameron boards you on a voyage through the streets of Portland in the summer heat.
This book is an instant mystery classic with vivid characters crafted with realistically deep personalities and secrets that keep you guessing to the very end. The questions, insecurities, mysteries, and resentment (both in regards to the investigation as well as his personal life) evolve through the characters, ultimately filtered through the cynical eyes of Kadash, into a literary minuet of a man's struggle with his own mortality.
Be the first to comment on this story