Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were a reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.

Joe McKinney was a homicide detective when this story came out but was already an author in the horror and science fiction genres. According to his site he is now working in San Fransisco’s 911 dispatch, but still making novels. (He even had one going on his site as of this review.) He supposedly brings his experience of police procedure into his stories so I assume this Phantom tale will be no different, but what else will he bring? Let’s flip through the pages and find out.

A Man Of His Word

by Joe McKinney

Kit hides among the crew of a sugar transport that he knows will be attacked by the man who kidnapped a nun bearing the Good Mark. The man wishes to discredit the Phantom, but there is more to his objectives. What follows is a good, and in couple of spots graphic, tale of how the Phantom rescues the crew and the nun.

The Phantom is clever in how he hides his rings and how he sets up the bad guys to be able to rescue everyone, except for the captain but I’ll get to that in a moment. McKinney gives details about how the Phantom works as well as how the bad guys operate and some important backstory, all without boring the reader or putting in details just to put them in. Even the aforementioned graphic moments, the way the captain dies and the sphincter-clenching explanation of how the villain plans to slowly kill the crew to reveal the Phantom in their midst, felt like part of the story rather than something put in there to shock the reader. (Not that I personally wouldn’t have missed that imagery, mind you, but that’s personal taste.) McKinney is interested in procedure and he does it well here.

So while this isn’t one of my favorite stories it is still a good one, and I like the Phantom’s line on the end on how he doesn’t kill, but he doesn’t do mercy but seeks justice. So far nothing in here says do not get this book and there are still a few stories left to go.

Next Time: “Justice Delayed” by Ed Gorman & Richard Dean Starr

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