Saturday, October 10, 2015

The Skin Trade by George R.R. Martin

(pb; 1988: novella, published in the 2001 novella anthology Quartet)

Review:

Plot: Lycanthropic private investigator Willie Flambeaux and his partner Randi Wade investigate a series of grisly murders where the victims have had their skins flayed off in expert, swift fashion. The case leads them into the usual pulp-gumshoe themes of sex, corruption, old money and  past familial crimes.

Skin is a good, entertaining and fast-moving novella, with its sometimes humorous, sometimes bloody and violent storyline. The characters are familiar but infused with a werewolf themed twist or two, while the storyline does little else to surprise pulp-familiar readers.

The open-ended finish is satisfying in that it effectively concludes the tale, while indicating that there is much more to these characters and their stories than what is shown in Skin. Good read, this -- worth owning, if you are a fan of pulp and werewolf works.

Skin was published in the 2001 novella anthology Quartet.  I did not read any of the other works in this collection. Their titles: Black and White and Red All Over, Starport and Blood of the Dragon.

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The Skin Trade is being developed as a cable series for Cinemax. Its title: George R.R. Martin's The Skin Trade.


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