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Mystery Scene says:
In Keith Snyder's Show Control, the archetype of the amateur detective is taken to a new level of wit and carefully constructed near-slapstick humor, full of fun everymen characters whose primary skill is the fact that they don't take themselves seriously in the least. Scenes abound where our trio of protagonists run into hardboiled schemers, thieves, and murderers, only to escape by luck or the intervention of other key players. As one of the "professionals" in the novel puts it, "If you plan to continue this thing you're doing, you can't be making beginners' mistakes." For a highly impressive novel of rare quality, it's decidedly clear that Keith Snyder doesn't make any beginners' mistakes.
Recovering from the pangs of a recent divorce, musician Jason Keltner becomes embroiled in the murder of performance artist Monica Gleason, a woman he barely knew through a shared interest in computer-run light shows and synthesizers. While onstage, Monica is cut down by own of her own lasers, tampered with in a computerized fashion that Jason soon uncovers. Along with two of his other starving-artist friends -- Robert, an actor, and Martin, a graphic designer -- the trio set out on a vague notion to find the killer, but they're actually more interested in diversion and excitement than actual justice. Soon they discover that they're actually much better at being thorns in the side of crime than they are at their own respective and stumbling artistic careers, and enjoy becoming more deeply entwined in the mystery at hand.
When Jason isn't infuriating the police officer in charge of the case, he's attracting gun-toting attention from persons unknown. Pressing people's buttons seems to be what Jason does best, and it isn't long before he's on the trail of the Preacher, a false church leader with stolen millions lining his pocket. But the Preacher's only the first step on a dark path that twists deeper into Monica's life and death, and somewhere beyond the conspiracies and robberies hides a clever killer and his true motive.
Using The Art of War as a guidebook the trio decide to "harass the enemy ceaselessly," only to realize later that perhaps it wasn't such a good idea. Sharp-witted, silver-tongued protagonists draw together as the stakes are raised higher and higher throughout the novel, and herein Keith Snyder has developed a style of characterization that is at once hilarious, realistic, and immensely gratifying. The three friends working together adds greater depths of humor an poignancy, so that running jokes roll even more quickly and the bonds of comraderie come into focus. Keith Snyder certainly shows control, deftness, diversity, and a wealth of talent in this first effort; definitely take in the enigmatic show of and come back for the next.
--Tom Piccirilli
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