Black Mountain

In Laird Barron's Black Mountain, the 2nd installment in the Isaiah Coleridge crime thriller series, this noir novel would give you goosebumps on your skin. For Isaiah Coleridge, he's a former mob enforcer who's about to retire from the hit man business. But when he's tasked on his assignment to protect a mafia don's daughter and her fiancé from a stalker, he had thought it would be an easy task in Hudson Valley. But when he learned about Harold Lee was the second criminal to turn up dead recently, Coleridge decides to start his investigation to learn about Lee and his connection to Morris Oestryke, a former criminal who was supposedly dead and had strange ties to the mafia. When Ray Anderson's name popped out of the woodwork, he connected the dots that led to interview other unsavory characters about the real criminal known as the Croatoan and his former crime sprees. In this pursuit, he chases Nic Royal, a potential link to the case and possible copycat, when he learns about who really was Oestryke under his presumed identity. In the end, it's a do-and-die situation on a battle royale between Isaiah and Oestryke's hardened demise.

This was an intriguing and compelling crime thriller that deals with the mafia and how dark and deep things can get. I did care for Isaiah who seems to be a family man and wants to have a new normal for his life. He had lived a hard life and wants to pay his dues. I did care for Lionel and Curtis who both wanted to exact revenge and call it even. I did like the Hudson Valley area for the locations and the darkened settings to set the mood for the scenes. This would send you chills through your spine with non-stop action, plenty of drama, suspense and a scoop of mystery told from Isaiah's POV.

Will you pay a visit to Black Mountain tonight?