Review: The Barkeep by William Lashner

    The Barkeep by William Lashner Genre: MysteryReviewer: Sally Sparrow  

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    Justin Chase is the perfect barkeep, tending bar as he lives his life, in a state of Zen serenity. At least until Birdie Grackle, a yellow-haired, foul-mouthed alcoholic from Texas, walks into his bar, orders a Mojito, and makes a startling confession.

Six years ago Justin's life was ripped apart when he discovered his mother's bludgeoned corpse in the foyer of the family home. Now Justin's father is serving a life sentence and Justin, after a stint in the asylum, drowns his emotions in a pool of inner peace. But when Birdie Grackle claims to be the hit man who murdered Justin's mother for the money, Justin is hurled back to the emotions, back to the past, and, most frighteningly of all, back to the father he has tried to leave behind.

Who hired Birdie Grackle to kill Justin's mother? As Justin pieces together the truth, a merciless killing machine begins stalking the barkeep, leaving a trail of dead in his wake. Someone wants to bury the truth, and maybe Justin, too. As the terror closes in, Justin had better find some answers and find them fast, because the stakes have been raised, his life is on the line, and murder is so not Zen. 
     William Lashner’s The Barkeep is an interesting tale. It is told from many points of view,  which allows Mr. Lashner to expose his characters’ introspections without getting bogged down in telling dialog. The pace of the story is slow, yet quick. The time covered is maybe two weeks, but all of the self-analysis masks the passing of time. Mackenzie Chase was put away for the murder of his wife six years before the book begins.  His younger son, Justin, a law student at the time, is the one to discover his mother’s body in the foyer of their home. He is, of course, forever changed. Justin finishes law school by pure autonomy, and becomes overwhelmed by his despair. His brother puts him in a mental hospital for Justin’s own safety, but after being gifted with a tome from Buddhism, he finds his inner calm and rejoins society. Justin eschews his former career path and takes up bartending instead.   We meet Justin on a most auspicious day.  His father’s old buddy, whose original testimony was damning, has changed his story and a new trial for the elder Chase is on the horizon. That same day an old drunk shows up at the trendy, upscale bar where Justin works, and tells Justin that he, the drunk, was the hit man who offed Justin’s mother. For the first time in years Justin’s state of Zen is ruptured. Is this old drunk just scamming him or is there truth to his confession?   Justin had always been so certain of his father’s guilt, but now he has doubts. Could it be true? Could someone else be responsible for murdering his mother?  But who, and why? What follows is a roller coaster of emotions, exposés, and relationships, as Justin re-enters the messy world that is family life, and tracks down the real killer. William Lashner writes a great Whodunit. You hear the inner dialog of the different characters, and thus are right there in the story with everyone else. You can see the spiral spinning ever tighter as Justin gets closer to the truth, and are tensely gripping your reading tablet (which is less satisfying than gripping a real paper book, btw) as you wonder how it will all play out.  Even when you know, when you realize what happened back then, you still don’t know how the story is going to end. Will it work out? Will justice be served? Will there be some level of Happily Ever After for Justin and his dad?   You’ll have to read it for yourself, because I am not telling.  BOOM! FIVE STARS!