Shattered by Richard Neely is a classic Noir mystery.
Intriguing, complex, and with a dynamite twist that had me literally sit up and drop the book. Even after I had already read this when it was first published by Black Lizard/Vintage Crime back in 1991.
I forgot! and what a pleasure to revisit it with the haze of failed recollection 30 years later.
Dan Marriott wakes up in a hospital room with complete amnesia. His bandaged face a mass of stitches and plastic surgery after a horrific car accident, he has been in critical condition for months. His wife Judith was in the car as well, but was luckily thrown free. She is caring and attentive as he returns home, oddly so after he learns they had separate rooms and were on the verge of divorce - perhaps this is a chance for them to begin again. He is supported by his business partner Jeb (they are stockbrokers) and Jeb's wife Ginnie, who shows a hidden desire under her mousy exterior. Slowly he learns adultery is the cause for the divorce, and that maybe Judith is still in contact with her lover Ridge Standish... His suspicions become clearer with the help of a private detective and photographic evidence. Dan begins to realize he had no accident - that Judith and Ridge planned it to kill him off for the insurance money - a plan still in effect unless he can expose them in time!
This was published in 1969 under the title The Plastic Nightmare, and it is, a classic noir nightmare. Dan's memory is slow to return and it's through the help of the police and the private eye that he can discern his past. Dan was also an adulterer, cold to his wife. Why do they both display such fire for each other now? And why did Jeb's wife seduce him into sex on the kitchen floor? Ridge has been sending telegrams from Mexico, but it seems he is returning to San Francisco. Will Dan unravel his past in time to prevent the couple from attempting to kill him again?
Twisted and mysterious, it doesn't get better than this psychological thriller. Neely keeps us in the dark until a finale that is so shocking and so satisfying.
If you love a good pulp mystery - this is the one you want.
This was made into a film in 1991 by Wolfgang Peterson, starring Tom Berenger and Grata Scacci.
1969 / Tradeback / 245 pages
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