Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Idiomatic (2009), 288 pages
Description
Everyone has their Boogeyman. But who or what is scaring Saskatoon locals to death? Private detective Russell Quant is roused from sleep only to fall into a nightmare case when the family of a suicide victim hires him to uncover the real cause of death. But what is real and what is imaginary? Quant works to narrow his list of suspects only to find the number of victims growing. Russell is mystified as the trail of fear connects him to a vast landscape of people, including an elegant potash miner, dubious trailer park denizens, reticent farm folk, the Pink Gopher choir, and a gaseous psychiatrist."
Media reviews
User reviews
LibraryThing member richardderus
This is by way of being the fourth Russell Quant mystery...and this time set in gay metropolitan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada almost exclusively! W00T!
The most interesting thread from the previous Russell Quant book, "Tapas on the Ramblas", comes in for its full-bore resolution here. Like
Be careful what you wish for. You'd think we'd have all learned that by the time we're (mumble)five. Buuut nooo! Laddies and gentlewomen, chapters 13 and 14 resolve this plot thread.
I cried **buckets**.
And I must inform you that those chapters contain material that is extremely disturbing. It's not graphic and it's not gratuitous, but it's very hard to read. While integral to the plot, it required me to take some breathers. I do not expect others to be quite so sensitive to this (mysteriously talked around) issue, and I certainly don't want to put anyone off reading the book, but forewarned is forearmed.
As with the previous book, the central hired-to-solve mystery wasn't exactly the same high-stakes riveting stuff as the Russell/Sereena plot...until the end, when it most certainly becomes super-high stakes, and deeply deeply scary. Bidulka gives away the identity of the perp of some really stupid-sounding crimes fairly early on, but the "why" remains elusive and is, in the end, pretty damned unnerving when revealed. It's very commonplace, seemingly harmlessly defused, and in fact the catalyst for a series of terrible events. Terrible. Cringe-inducingly awful events. These are graphically presented. They are not in any way gratuitous. They are, I am so sad to say, things that really do happen in the world, and so are in our newspapers, effectively sanitized by their tidily removed-from-life presence in black ink on newsprint.
I will never look at these crimes in quite the same callous way again. My inurement to them is breached. Damn that Bidulka! Couldn't he have chosen to send Russell, who is after all my future husband once we resolve the whole fictional-versus-actual thing, on the Mystery of the Fluffy Bundy Rabbix That Got Losted or something?!
For readers of the series...highly recommended. For newcomers to Saskatoon...start at the beginning, "Amuse Bouche" but be patient, because the rewards get more satisfying the longer you stick with the books.
The most interesting thread from the previous Russell Quant book, "Tapas on the Ramblas", comes in for its full-bore resolution here. Like
Show More
Russell, I really really wanted to know what was what with Sereena Orion Smith by the end of that book.Be careful what you wish for. You'd think we'd have all learned that by the time we're (mumble)five. Buuut nooo! Laddies and gentlewomen, chapters 13 and 14 resolve this plot thread.
I cried **buckets**.
And I must inform you that those chapters contain material that is extremely disturbing. It's not graphic and it's not gratuitous, but it's very hard to read. While integral to the plot, it required me to take some breathers. I do not expect others to be quite so sensitive to this (mysteriously talked around) issue, and I certainly don't want to put anyone off reading the book, but forewarned is forearmed.
As with the previous book, the central hired-to-solve mystery wasn't exactly the same high-stakes riveting stuff as the Russell/Sereena plot...until the end, when it most certainly becomes super-high stakes, and deeply deeply scary. Bidulka gives away the identity of the perp of some really stupid-sounding crimes fairly early on, but the "why" remains elusive and is, in the end, pretty damned unnerving when revealed. It's very commonplace, seemingly harmlessly defused, and in fact the catalyst for a series of terrible events. Terrible. Cringe-inducingly awful events. These are graphically presented. They are not in any way gratuitous. They are, I am so sad to say, things that really do happen in the world, and so are in our newspapers, effectively sanitized by their tidily removed-from-life presence in black ink on newsprint.
I will never look at these crimes in quite the same callous way again. My inurement to them is breached. Damn that Bidulka! Couldn't he have chosen to send Russell, who is after all my future husband once we resolve the whole fictional-versus-actual thing, on the Mystery of the Fluffy Bundy Rabbix That Got Losted or something?!
For readers of the series...highly recommended. For newcomers to Saskatoon...start at the beginning, "Amuse Bouche" but be patient, because the rewards get more satisfying the longer you stick with the books.
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LibraryThing member tripleblessings
Fourth in the Russell Quant mystery series.
"Everyone has their Boogeyman. But who - or what - is scaring Saskatoon locals to death?
Private detective Russell Quant is hired by the family of a suicide victim to uncover the real cause of death. But what is real, and what is imaginary? Quant works to
Compounding Quant's bewilderment is the complete disappearance of his once very real friend Sereena, who has become the ghost he simply can't find. With the Boogeyman always a few paces ahead, Russell travels from Saskatchewan's summer storms to the menacing Lotus Land of Vancouver, and the Canadian Arctic where tragic hope resides. Russell returns home to bully attacks, a desperate chase through midnight woods, and a sadistic abduction. As he penetrates the truth of the Boogeyman, he finds himself on a perilous suspension bridge between idyllic childhood and grown-up violence." - jacket notes (abridged)
"Everyone has their Boogeyman. But who - or what - is scaring Saskatoon locals to death?
Private detective Russell Quant is hired by the family of a suicide victim to uncover the real cause of death. But what is real, and what is imaginary? Quant works to
Show More
narrow his list of suspects, only to find the number of victims growing. The trail of fear connects him to an elegant potash miner, dubious trailer park denizens, reticent farm folk, the Pink Gopher choir, and a gaseous psychiatrist.Compounding Quant's bewilderment is the complete disappearance of his once very real friend Sereena, who has become the ghost he simply can't find. With the Boogeyman always a few paces ahead, Russell travels from Saskatchewan's summer storms to the menacing Lotus Land of Vancouver, and the Canadian Arctic where tragic hope resides. Russell returns home to bully attacks, a desperate chase through midnight woods, and a sadistic abduction. As he penetrates the truth of the Boogeyman, he finds himself on a perilous suspension bridge between idyllic childhood and grown-up violence." - jacket notes (abridged)
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LibraryThing member cameling
While not my favorite thus far of the Russell Quant series, I did like the unraveling of the mystery of Sereena Orion Smith, and I was touchingly pleased that Russell got to be with his beloved Uncle Lawrence again, albeit for a brief and secretive visit.
A group of singers, calling themselves the
There is a disturbing violent rape scene in the book, which, although not graphic, left an uncomfortable pit in my stomach. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone without a strong constitution, although I don't think this detracted from the overall tone of the book, which still carries waves of joy, fun, wonder, excitement and love.
And I've learned a new drinking game - Tequila Pigs!
A group of singers, calling themselves the
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Pink Gophers, are being harassed and frightened by a bogeyman who leaves, as his calling card, one simple word 'BOO' on various mediums, in spots to be found by his increasingly frantic victims. Russell is called to investigate the apparent suicide of one of the women, and his search for clues and answers lead him to uncover more mysterious deaths and attacks on other members of the group who have scattered across Saskatchewan. There is a disturbing violent rape scene in the book, which, although not graphic, left an uncomfortable pit in my stomach. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone without a strong constitution, although I don't think this detracted from the overall tone of the book, which still carries waves of joy, fun, wonder, excitement and love.
And I've learned a new drinking game - Tequila Pigs!
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LibraryThing member Condorena
Russell Quant tackles a puzzling case that starts out with the apparent suicide of a fragile girl but on closer examination reveals that even on the idyllic plains of Canada in the midsummer more than waves of golden grain are spreading out and causing people to sit up and take notice and shiver on
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the warmest of July days. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Lambda Literary Award (Finalist — 2007)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2007-04-01
Physical description
288 p.; 9 inches
ISBN
1897178247 / 9781897178249