The Fever Kill

by Tom Piccirilli

Crease is going back to his quaint, quiet hometown of Hangtree.It's where his father the sheriff met ruin in the face of a scandal involving the death of a kidnapped little girl and her missing ransom. It's where crease was beaten, jailed, and kicked clear of the town line ten years earlier.Now Crease is back. He's been undercover for so long that most days he feels more like a mobster than a cop. He doesn't mind the corrupt life is easier to stomach than a wife wh ocan't understand him, a son who hates him, and a half-dozen adopted kids he can't even name anymore. He's also just gotten his drug-dealing, knife-wielding psycho boss Tucco's mistress pregnant.A fine time to decide to settle odl scorers and resolve a decade-old mystery.With Tucco hot on his tail, Crease has to find his answers fast. Who kidnapped little mary? Who really killed her? Was his own father guilty? And what happened to the paltry fifteen grand ransom that seems to spell salvation to half the population of Hangtree? The town still has a taste for his blood and secrets it wants to keep. Crease has a single hope; a raw and raging fever driving him toward the truth that might just burn him up along the way.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Crime, Fiction, Noir

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 8, 2008

About the author

Thomas Piccirilli (May 27, 1965 – July 11, 2015) was an American novelist and short story writer.

Piccirilli sold over 150 stories in the mystery, thriller, horror, erotica, and science fiction fields. He was a two-time winner of the International Thriller Writers Award for "Best Paperback Original" (2008, 2010). He was a four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award. He was also a finalist for the 2009 Edgar Allan Poe Award given by the Mystery Writers of America, a final nominee for the Fantasy Award, and the winner of the first Bram Stoker Award given in the category of "Best Poetry Collection".

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

He wanted to kill somebody, but everyone who mattered was already dead.

I'm sure everyone is tired of me gushing on and on about how great Tom Piccirilli is. But I've yet to read a bad book from him and the guy's writing really illustrates the complexity of his characters in such an impressively efficient way. The Fever Kill is no different. Here we focus on a narc cop so deep undercover he doesn't know what side he's on anymore, returning to his hometown to confront his family's past.

I love the complicated gray area of morality that the book and it's protagonist Crease lives in, as well as the High Noon-style of the inevitable confrontation between Crease and the violent drug dealer he's involved with. The book was one of the first straight crime novels that Piccirilli wrote, and even though it's a gritty noir that takes place in modern-day Vermont, with it's structure and themes it could've been written as a classic Western. It's an intense tale about a man trying to figure out where he lands on the morality scale.

"Go on and get yourself shot. Do it close to the gutter so no one else has to clean up after you."

[Still · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really one of the best crime thrillers I've read in a while.

The plot goes a little something like this.
Fifteen years ago there was a kidnapping in a small New Hampshire town. A five year old girl was kidnapped from her home and held for a paltry fifteen thousand dollar ransom. Small amount of money for such a major crime. The F. B. I. was not called in. Small town police force handled the case by themselves. In the course of recovering the child after delivering the ransom, the child was accidentally shot and killed. By the police chief. The police chief will go on to become a hopeless alcoholic, carried home every night from whatever bar stool he's fallen from by his only child, his son.

Fast cut to present day.
That son of the small town police chief becomes a cracker-jack police investigator, working narcotics undercover out of New York City. He's tough and he's remorseless and he has a grudge to settle back in New Hampshire.

From such synopses spoilers can spring unexpectedly.

Tom Piccirilli is a better than average crime writer. This novel is packed with memorable characters, tough situations, and a truckload of similes and metaphors.
Highly recommended to crime/thriller enthusiasts.

The irony of the title was not lost on me in this hour of the pandemic.

[Jon Recluse · Rating 4 out of 5]

No one writes noir like Tom Piccirilli, and this stripped down muscle car of a novel is a prime example of his talent. Big city noir strikes a small town with secrets like a blast from a sawed off shotgun. And Crease is a troubled anti-hero that can stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the icons of the genre.

Highly recommended.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Pic. Dude can write. This was probably a 3.5er but I rounded up to 4 because like I said, I like Pic.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tom Piccirilli exploits the deepest and most basic of human instinct; survival, in his noir entrenched tale of blood, easy murder, and heart ache. THE FEVER KILL introduces readers to a calm, calculated and devastatingly violent individual in Crease. A small town victim of circumstance in his youth, and a product of the undercover law enforcement system in adulthood. Crease is the perfect example of someone who has lost sight of the thin line between good and evil. His cop father was a drunk responsible for the death of a kidnapped child. He lived and died by the bottle. Crease suffered as a result of this absentee parent and vowed to return home to find out the events that culminated in the young girls death. Only, his return is complicated by the underworld gang he has infiltrated having caught wind of his venture and following him into the dark recesses of his past. In a word - brilliant. One of the best books I've ever read. High praise well deserved.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily in the upper echelon of neo-noir novels. Crease is an undercover narc risen to the right-hand of a major New York drug dealer, except he has knocked up the dudes girlfriend and the dealer wants to carve him up. That is the sub-plot. The primary plot is Crease returning to his home town in backwoods Vermont to exorcise internal demons and solve the murder of six-year old girl who had been kidnapped. Problem for Crease is that is father, the town sheriff at the time, killed the girl and everyone in town knows it. Despite all the external action, much of it brutal, the raging storm inside Crease's head is what propels this novel forward, and that is also what really puts the neo in front of the noir. Stylistically, this one does not have the language pyrotechnics that many of Piccirilli's books do. But neither is it minimalist hard-boiled prose.

[Skip · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dark, fast paced novel about an undercover cop named Crease, returning to his birthplace: Hangtree, Vermont. Long buried secrets abound there in Hangtree, where his father, the sheriff, shot a little girl in the midst of a bungled kidnapping and where Crease himself was beaten, jailed, and kicked out of town. He is not exactly sure why he has returned though: to solve a crime, escape his own crazy life (as #2 to a drug-dealing psycho whose mistress he has impregnated, and his own broken marriage and family problems), settle old scores, or create new ones. As always, Piccirilli delves into on the darkest aspects of the human soul, but this one lacked the depth of the other books of his that I have read.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4🌟

[DJMikeG · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, fast and mean little noir novel that left me feeling a little confused and in awe of it. Piccirilli is a very original and skilled writer, and he manages to mix serious commentary on the darkness of human beings with compelling plots, action and even a touch of absurdity. This is a cool book, but it just kind of starts, thrusts forward for 186 pages and then ends abruptly. All in all, Piccirilli gets in many brilliant observations on the darkest aspects of the human soul, but I was left wanting more, at least in the story department.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very, very, readable, tightly plotted, tense, dark, gritty noir thriller.
Tip: prepare snacks before commencing and make sure any essential chores are also dealt with before you join the classically flawed undercover cop, Crease, who is going home to settle old scores.

[An Redman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a very strange book. The inner thoughts, epiphanies and conclusions the main character draws makes it a good book. The rest of the story is forgettable window dressing. It was a quick, clear, easy read.

[Jilles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Noir from a guy who really knows how to tell a story.

[L J Field · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had looked forward to reading this for quite some time, having purchased it right after the author's passing. I find the roman noir to be one of the most interesting of all genres and have several favorite authors, such as Goodis, Thompson, Willeford, Starr and others whose work I try not to miss. So expectations were high as I had read several of Piccirilli's horror novels and had found him to be a deft author who carried the reader along at a gallop. Sadly, this book just didn't work for me. There were some scenes that were questionable as to how likely they would be in reality. There was definitely a question about jurisdiction for a crime and how our hero was able to avoid a jail cell. The plot was intriguing, and there were some insightful character studies, but overall the story didn't stand up to scrutiny. Consider this book to be a pleasant afternoon's entertainment, but one that will be quickly forgotten.

[ABC Group · Rating 3 out of 5]

My fascination with New Pulp Press keeps going after reading The Fever Kill. Piccirilli is a great writer and this is apparently his first attempt at a noir novel.

A story of reconciliation and penitence, The Fever Kill left me wondering. There were truly great moments in this novel, but other things that left me wanting. The use of Teddy throughout the book was a bit trite to me.

I liked the ending despite the abrupt and open ended nature of it. I have a sense that this book could be optioned for film one day. A solid introduction to Tom Piccirilli, but my gut tells me that it's not his best work.

[Lisa Decesare · Rating 4 out of 5]

This very quick read definitely takes its tone from the noir mysteries of the 1940s and 1950s. The main character is ridiculously tough. I really loved it! It was a great read, the story moved along, the main villian was drawn it such broad strokes he was great to read about. What totally sent it over the edge was that it took place in Vermont. Yup, not your typical setting for a brutish noir. I finished it and immediately wished someone could make a movie of it.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lesser writer may have chosen one of the two plots which weave their way in and around each other and focused solely on that. Piccirilli manages to twine the two major problems of Crease's life around each other perfectly. The mystery of Crease's past shaped the person he became which in turn influences how he deals with the issues he must face. A good, quick read with a serious modern noir feel.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for a book club and it isn't my kind of book or story. An undercover cop too close to his drug lord, dysfunctional parenting, seedy friends, and lots of bloody violence are not my cup of tea. That said, the main character is powerfully written and I read a good writer's effort, regardless of my not liking the plot.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced with a slight feel of some old gangster movies, dark and the drama builds well into the end.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has less violence and more story than some of his others. It still feels to me that he has one stock protagonist in all of his books, but careers have been made of less.

[Max]

Loved it! Tom Pic can pretty much do no wrong. Great noir fiction.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've really liked other Piccirilli books I've read that managed to push the edginess factor without blowing it, but this one was just too pulp fictiony and melodramatic. Disappointing.