Voices of the Dead by Peter Leonard

Published by The Story Plant on January 17, 2012

Harry Levin and his father were at Dachau in 1942. Harry escaped; his father was executed. In 1971, Harry is a scrap metal dealer living in Detroit. His daughter is killed in Washington D.C. by a drunk driver who is released from custody because he has diplomatic immunity. When the State Department refuses to identify the diplomat, Harry does some snooping. Assisted by a D.C. police detective named Taggart, Harry learns that the German diplomat is Ernest Hess. Rather coincidentally, Taggart is also investigating the murder of a Jewish dentist and his wife. The reader knows (but Taggart doesn't) that Hess is the murderer. He goes on to commit similar crimes in Germany as Harry trails behind him, looking for an opportunity to avenge his daughter's death.

If you can swallow the premise -- a respected member of the German parliament who is expected one day to run for the office of chancellor is visiting the United States for the purpose of committing murders -- the story that Peter Leonard constructs around it is moderately entertaining. The premise itself is so implausible -- and for the sake of avoiding spoilers I haven't mentioned its least credible aspect, a coincidence so unlikely it made me laugh out loud -- that I found it impossible to suspend my disbelief. Thrillers often skate on the edge of credibility but this one skates out of the rink.

The story has the feel-good quality of a revenge fantasy and if that's what floats your boat, this one will certainly be satisfying. My preference for thrillers to be at least slightly grounded in the real world didn't stop me from cheering for Levin. Of course, I still cheer for Bugs Bunny as he outwits Yosemite Sam -- a fair comparison in that Voices of the Dead has about the same degree of depth as a Warner Brothers cartoon, and an even sillier ending.

Unfortunately, the weak premise isn't redeemed by strong characters. Harry, Hess, and an American soldier (dishonorably discharged) who turns up in Munich to give Harry an assist are all caricatures, predictable personalities substituting for complex characterization. In fact, Hess and the soldier are such obvious (and offensive) stereotypes (Hess as the sadistic German, the soldier as the jive-talking, drug-dealing African American who wears pastel leisure suits, has multiple girlfriends, and orders fried chicken as soon as he returns home) that it is impossible to take the characters seriously. (Why Leonard thought it was important to emphasize the race of the African American judge who gives the soldier a "get out of jail free" card at the end of the novel is beyond me. If Leonard seriously thinks that black judges give breaks to black defendants, he needs to spend some time hanging around courthouses.)

There are promising moments in Voices of the Dead but not enough to merit a recommendation. A quick pace is the best feature of Peter Leonard's writing style. Leonard randomly omits pronouns, definite articles and other useful words from sentences in an apparent effort to achieve a punchy style. I found the incomplete sentences more annoying than punchy. An introduction by Elmore Leonard claims that Peter has found his own voice but it sounds to me like Peter is trying to find Elmore's voice. I haven't read Peter's other novels but nothing about Voices of the Dead encourages me to do so.

NOT RECOMMENDED