One often reads blurbs and reviews that talk about “fast paced”, “edge of your seat suspense” or “I couldn’t put it down.” In some cases these phrases are a bit exaggerated; in the instance of Vengeance is Mine by Harry James Krebs these phrases become understatements. This murder-mystery suspense thriller is among the very best I’ve read so far this year. I loved each and every character in this story. Not only were they interesting and perfectly designed for their roles, they were human…down to and including flaws that some reviewers have criticized. Ben has sexual thoughts about a beautiful FBI agent, even though he’s madly in love with his wife. Well, how human is that? Mr. Krebs knows how to put his characters into the story. The dialogue is as real as any I’ve ever read and fits each of the characters like a glove. In particular, the verbal exchanges between Ben Tucker and Detective John Netter are often-times funny, sometimes profane, and always spot on.
The primary plot line in Vengeance is Mine is relatively simple and straight forward for this genre. What is different and refreshing here is how the sub-plots interact with each other and the way in which the satisfying conclusion is achieved. There’s Oscar providing some funny, catch your breath moments, and Roberta, the housekeeper/nanny keeping Ben’s feet on the ground and often in the fire. You’ll also love and appreciate Maggie, the super-rich wife, who is cool, collected and often amused at Ben’s attitudes and antics. Not to be overlooked is the villain in this story, the brutal killer. He’s bad - very,very bad.