Double Image - Hardcover

Morrell, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0446519634 ISBN 13: 9780446519632

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 1998

Synopsis

After a harrowing experience in Bosnia, war photographer Mitch Coltrane makes a vow. From now on, he will only take those pictures that celebrate life; that document hope instead of despair. Still, wartorn images continue to haunt him. He learns to shield himself by fixating on a beautiful woman in an old photograph. But slowly he grows obsessed. Who is she? He must know. And as Coltrane searches for answers, he falls hopelessly in love, forgetting that the past can sometimes intrude on the present, with terrifying consequences.

About this title

About the Author

David Morell was a professor of American literature at the University of Iowa.

From the Back Cover

After a harrowing experience in Bosnia, war photographer Mitch Coltrane makes a vow. From now on, he will take only those pictures that celebrate life and document hope instead of despair. Then the horrors of his previous assignment return to threaten him, and Coltrane must seek refuge from the present in the past. Having uncovered an old, uncaptioned photograph of a hauntingly beautiful woman, Coltrane sets out to discover who the woman was, and why her photo was hidden in the vault of a world-famous art photographer. Soon he finds himself hopelessly obsessed with the woman in the photograph and slipping into a maze of deception and treachery. Surrounded by illusions of the past and present, Coltrane now must fight for his life in the world capital of make-believe: a decadent and deadly L.A....

Reviews

Morrell (Extreme Denial, 1996, etc.) slams two wildly unrelated stories together to produce this misshapen, empty, though greased-lightning thriller. Story #1. Prizewinning photographer Mitch Coltrane, back home from Bosnia, is being threatened and stalked by somebody who calls himself ``the judge''somebody who's obviously Dragan Ilkovic, the Serb commander whose heinous war crimes Mitch managed to document, at hair-raising peril, just before he left. Mitch wants to put the ugliness of his life's work behind him by shooting an updated series of photos of the opulent Hollywood homes immortalized in the work of legendary photographer Randolph Packard back in the 1930s. But Packard dies shortly after bringing Coltrane on board, and Ilkovicnot just a war criminal, but a sadistic torturer and an electronics freakkeeps getting closer, killing Coltrane's neighbor and friend, an LAPD cop on the case, and Coltrane's grandparents in Connecticut, in a race toward a showdownhalfway through the novelthat suddenly clears the ground for Story #2. This one is a tender (though equally corpse-strewn) tale of romantic intrigue that starts when Coltrane, who's purchased an old home Packard photographed and bought for himself, becomes besotted with a trove of photos of Rebecca Chance, a stunning Hollywood hopeful from the '30s, then (following the trail to another of Packard's houses) meets Natasha Adler, who looks eerily like the reincarnation of Rebecca Chance. Coltrane's loyal friend, editor, and sometime lover Jennifer Lane warns him that Tash is trouble, but does the big lug listen? Desperate to forget Ilkovic's carnage, as well as all those ugly war photos, he keeps missing the chasm that even half-wit readers, whove had the benefit of 200 pages to think it over, will see yawning beneath his feet. The first story is midgrade, unsurprising stalker stuff; the second, which ends with Coltrane becoming a stalker himself, is risible. Think Vertigo rewritten for Steven Seagal. (Book-of-the-Month Club alternate selection) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Successful photographer Mitch Coltrane is discovered shooting a covert mass burial masterminded by Bosnian henchman Dragan Ilkovic and narrowly escapes with his life. When he is back at home in the United States, the lives of Coltrane's grandparents and several friends are sacrificed before Coltrane guns down Ilkovic. Numb and edgy around girlfriend Jennifer, Coltrane finds solace in meeting an idol, photographer Randolph Packard, who dies shortly after he and Coltrane begin collaborating on a project. Coltrane thus has the opportunity to purchase one of Packard's estates, where he discovers a photographic altar to a gorgeous rising film star of the Forties named Rebecca Chase and becomes obsessed with the mystery surrounding Packard, Chase, and a young woman who is a dead ringer for her. Morrell (Extreme Denial, LJ 3/15/96) should have saved one of these plots for another novel. This overwrought effort stretches credulity, missing the perfect "angle."?Susan A. Zappia, Maricopa Cty. Lib. Dist., Phoenix
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Thrill master Morrell badly misses the mark in his latest. Apparently he couldn't decide between two good plots, so he used both. Big mistake. The first half of the book focuses on Bosnian thug Dragan Ilkovic, who hunts down photographer Mitch Coltrane to exact revenge after his photographs serve as key evidence in Ilkovic's conviction for war crimes and murder. Then the story suddenly shifts focus when Coltrane, who has a perfectly nice girlfriend, finds a photograph of the most beautiful woman he's ever seen and decides he must find her; instead, he finds her stunning but evil daughter, who leads him on a terrifying chase to the wilds of Mexico, where he discovers she's a very bad person. Not to worry. Once he figures out she's evil, he and his girlfriend get back together, and everything's turns out A-OK. It's true there's plenty of the kind of material here that action fans crave: wild sex, bloody violence, and stomach-churning suspense. Unfortunately, the plot is rambling, confusing, and barely credible. Morrell's track record as a reliable producer of action thrillers (he created Rambo) will generate demand, but even fans may lose patience with this one. Order fewer copies than usual. Emily Melton

Edition details

• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0446519634
• ISBN 13: 9780446519632
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 448