NOT BORN OF WOMAN
Paradise Investigations, Book 1
By Teel James Glenn
Macabre Ink
211 pgs
As strange as it may sound, Mary Shelley’s classic character, the Frankenstein monster, has been utilized as the hero in quite a few series. What comes to mind is the recent comic book series wherein Joe Frankenstein is a mobster. Then we have Dean Koontz’s memorable paperback series, which features a creature battling its creator in modern times, as the doctor is the true villain, wishing to rule mankind. Thus, when picking up Teel James Glenn’s latest offering and discovering the monster as a private eye in 1930s New York, we were both surprised and delighted.
Glenn’s hero, now calling himself Adam Paradise, is the same patchwork human we discovered in Shelley’s book. He has survived a few hundred years in the cold of the Arctic, realizing he is somewhat immortal. Returning to civilization, and New York City specifically, his goal is to discover his own purpose for being while studying the ways of humanity.
In this first of what is obviously intended to be series, Paradise is hired by a young woman from a Romani family, i.e. of the gypsy culture, to retrieve a lost necklace of importance to her clan. The woman’s older brother sold the item to a pawnbroker to pay off gambling debts. When confronting the buyer, Paradise finds himself crossing paths with a local Mob Boss and the police. His pal, detective Tommy Shane, is dealing with a serial killer who targets young women and a Catholic priest receiving death threats. If that stew plot wasn’t complicated enough, Paradise then discovers German Bundist promoting their Nazis philosophy are also after the same necklace.
With “Not Born of Woman,” Glenn weaves a fast-paced narrative as told by his protagonist. The supporting characters are pulp colorful, but what fascinated this reviewer was Paradise’s philosophical musings on life, death, good, and evil. There is a depth to this thriller not often found in such stories. Highly recommended. This is one of the writer’s best.
