Who's Got Skills by Tyrenna Tolbert
Murder, Motorbikes and Mad Passion Combine in this Debut Novel
The action centres around Shy, a New York undercover cop, determined to discover who is killing high-flying businessmen, and around Chin, Shy’s former best friend who saved Shy’s sister, Rachel from a rapist, only to be abandoned by his friend, causing him to turn to the life of an underworld hit-man. As one man battles with discovering the killer’s identity, the other systematically goes about his business, receiving his instructions from the mysterious agent, Skilz, and assassinating his targets.
But it is their simultaneous attraction to, and lust for, Patience, also known as TC, which begins to merge their worlds, already so dangerously connected, turning it into a lethal game, which has to be played out until the end. And Patience is good – good at getting what she thinks she wants while playing their emotions off against each other. Little does she realise just what hidden feelings she is forcing to the surface.
A Cross-Genre Treat
One of the interesting facets of Who's Got Skills is its inability to be completely defined by any particular genre category. It is crime writing at its most overt, full of suspense fiction on another level. Yet the driving psychological force behind each of the main characters is their lust, desire for romance and dangerous passionate encounters which intertwines them.
This cross-genre writing allows the reader to experience a rare treat. The crime fiction genre is turned on its head with the fact that the reader knows who was committing the crimes. It leaves a whole heap of room for an examination of the psychology of all the characters, which is handled superbly, giving the reader a better understanding of the motives behind their actions - even some of the more inappropriate, and, yes, also the more evil ones.
The Strength of Passion in a Modern World
This is a modern tale of modern lives. Although the central, psychological moments of this novel focus on the emotional entanglements of the characters, this is not a flowery, sloppy love story. The love, lust and passion never descend into mush. What you see is what you get – real world, contemporary downtown New York passions, arousals and sometimes hurtful actions, forced on the protagonists by their own baggage, their hopes for the future and their immediate needs.
Chin, particularly, has a strong depth of character. The reader is, in fact, taken on Chin’s emotional and psychological journey, from the beginning when he saves Shy’s sister, Rachel, from the rapist whom he attacks and who dies, through his building resentment of Shy who remains in the respectable world of the police force while he finds himself in the depths of the underworld of murder and prostitution.
The rape issue is handled extremely well, without going too overboard with it. Obviously it is a huge issue for Rachel, but readers don’t need it ramming down their throats, and it isn’t. It is used as a reason for Chin’s symbolic use of a white towel every time he assassinates a victim with a past which finally catches up with him.
With the towel, Chin is able to wipe away the dirt of the criminal who escaped justice of the law, just as he wiped away the physical signs of Rachel’s rape for her. But just how much does he eradicate the filth in his own mind? It is, in fact, his own lust and underworld lifestyle which almost lets him become the kind of person he detests most.
Chin’s cool-headedness for his job is juxtaposed superbly with the heat of his passion for TC, the businesswoman by day and the hard-nosed biker by night. The more that his desire for her eats away at him, the more he finds himself less detached from the world and that his feelings bring back thoughts from the past.
Old jealousies rise as the sexual tension between Chin and TC increases, as does that between TC and Shy. And hidden between the sheets of these intertwined sex lives lurks the feelings of Rachel, the rape victim of old, for her saviour, Chin. And it is exactly this emotional intertwining that forces secret loathings out into the open, thus creating another dimension to the suspense in this gripping debut novel.
A Denouement to Die For!
There is nothing about this novel which is conventional, and this includes the ending. The identity of Skilz, the mysterious agent for the client who wants Chin’s hits dead, is kept a secret until it is absolutely necessary. But right on the back of this mysterious revelation which contains its own secrets is a far worse scenario, as Chin’s last assassination job in this novel is finally played out.
This is a fabulous novel of uncertainty and unpredictability, creating an intriguing and authentic insight into an underworld which is multi-layered and culminates in its depths in murder and revenge. It also provides a disturbing vision of the undercover cop lifestyle and the depths which all people can, and sometimes will, sink to, in order to fulfil their lusts and desires.
More than anything, it reflects how emotional involvement can twist and distort a simple lifestyle and turn it into a thrilling, if increasingly disturbing, way of life – and death. Whether or not you are a fan of motorbikes or the underworld of New York, this debut novel is a fast-paced, intriguing read, full of love, lust and the psychology of a group of interwoven people struggling to make their way and to get it right – just like everyone. Read it and see just where your sympathies lie. They may not be where you expect!
Who's Got Skills?
|
What do you think about this article?
More in Reading & Literature
Latest Articles