Canister X – A.P. Fuchs

L.A. Stalker
by David L. Kilpatrick
4 out of 5

Pandora Collins, one of Hollywood’s most famous movie stars, has a stalker. To eliminate the threat, she hires a hitman to pop the guy. Quickly, all goes awry as the hitman delves into plans of his own, betrays Pandora, and slips away without a trace every time he strikes. Add a romantic subplot between Pandora and Jerry Leger, the detective assigned to her case, and you’ve got yourself a compelling read.

Kilpatrick has succeeded where only the best authors do: he tells the story to you straight and not once are you thinking, “Hey, wait a sec. What happened here?” and you’re forced to reread the last paragraph or two or, sometimes, even chapters. But the most important aspect of his storytelling is his ability to make you believe he knows what he’s talking about and that every word you read is truth.

I’m a huge fan of the small press and of self-published titles. I’ve said it many times, but these “lesser known” books are far more engaging and far more authentic than so much of what comes out from large publishing houses these days. Kilpatrick has written one heck of a novel and the fact he went independent with it instead of selling out to some big name publisher (which he could easily have done), speaks of his desire to keep things simple and give you, the reader, a superb tale, an engrossing story, and an honest-to-God page-turner.

Being an author myself, it’s easy for me to pick apart someone’s work (I’m not saying I’m perfect, but after writing a few books, you develop an eye for “near-perfection”), and with Kilpatrick’s novel, that is extraordinarily difficult to do. This story is one worth reading several times over and one that gives you a sense of comprehension of how those who have been hurt in the past grow into the adults they become, whether for good or ill.

Read.