Book Review: The Rabbit Skinners by John Eidswick
Disclaimer: I received a download of this book through a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was offered or requested.
Newsweek says that FBI agent James Strait is an American hero. He saved Colorado Springs from being blanketed with nerve gas by doomsday cultists, after all. But Agent Strait isn’t so sure. His original plan included no room for heroics. But then a fellow agent deliberately disobeyed orders and alerted the cultists to the presence of the FBI.
There was little choice but to go in shooting. Now Strait has a dead girlfriend, an inner ear condition that’s threatening to make him permanently disabled, and blood on his hands. To add insult to injury, the agent that screwed up the operation got a fat promotion. Time for a little rest and recuperation! And that’s why Agent Strait is returning to his home town of Pine River, Arizona.
It’s been a long time since Strait’s police officer father died and he and his siblings abandoned their birthplace. Law enforcement has gone right down the toilet, and the new police chief is both incompetent and racist, having hired only officers that also match those traits. As a result, the investigation into the disappearance of 9-year-old black girl Jophia Williams has been stalled for months. The chief is certain her own father killed her, but hasn’t been able to break the man’s alibi.
The citizens of Pine River have had enough, and since there’s a heroic FBI agent who’s not doing anything right now, they ask Strait to look into the matter. Strait correctly points out 1) this is not a federal case; 2) his actual FBI status is kind of in limbo due to the disability thing; and 3) the police chief flipped out at the merest suggestion he could use some help so cooperation with the local law enforcement is out. But he’s talked into at least taking a look around.
Sure enough, Strait almost immediately finds evidence the police missed, and is drawn into the case with some help from his one friend who still works for the feds. It turns out to be a federal case after all!
I am most reminded of the trashy men’s adventure paperbacks of my youth with the hypercompetent hero, ripped-from-the-headlines concerns (this story very much takes place during the Trump presidency), and bouts of over the top violence. Strait has a lot of manpain, and his disability does little to slow him down as it just so happens Pine River has the one doctor who’s an expert at treating this rare condition.
The rip-roaring adventure part and violence are done well.
It is however painfully clear that this is a first book, self-published, and could have used another editorial pass. This is most evident in some dialogue involving place names and directions that don’t make much sense in Arizona, but would if an earlier draft of the book were set in Appalachia and these bits weren’t fully updated. There’s also a howler involving “FBI dress uniforms” that calls into question the writer’s research on any other topic.
The characterization also has problems with piling on negative traits onto baddies; it’s not enough the police chief is racist and incompetent, he must also be morbidly obese and have a hair-trigger temper. There was a grand total of one character with any nuance.
After the “mystery” part of the plot is more or less solved, the viewpoint switches to Jophia for a while so we can learn about the motive behind her disappearance. She’s a likable character, but the motive for her abduction is kind of silly.
Content issues: Racism (boy howdy, but always depicted as repugnant), child endangerment, rough language, extramarital sex (not graphic.) There’s a supporting character that’s a cross between the Magical Native American and Mad Prophet stereotypes.
Recommended for fans of trashy men’s adventure who are willing to overlook some rookie mistakes.
