LEANN AND THE CLEAN MAN is the second novel in Jeff Shaw’s ‘Bloodline’ series of crime thrillers and moves the action to muggy, claustrophobic Singapore. Newly arrived in the country is anti-heroine LeAnn, a 21-year-old Canadian woman on the run for killing her brother (although the novel remains annoyingly vague as to why). In fact, killing is a bit of a habit for LeAnn, a sociopathic loner who can’t resist the sudden urge to murder. And her troubles aren’t over when she reaches Singapore, as she happens to be picked out for kidnapping by a human trafficking gang. Their choice of victim couldn’t be worse, as LeAnn isn’t the type to submit to the inconvenience of a mere kidnapping. In fact, most of the novel tracks her determined journey for revenge, especially on the leader of the criminal enterprise, who she nicknames ‘The Clean Man’.
Written by retired American cop Jeff Shaw, this novel has plenty of comfortingly familiar, hard-boiled archetypes—a veteran police detective with a pregnant wife, a vain crime boss and a variety of sidekick goons. LeAnn herself seems to be part of the “sociopath-who-is-gradually-growing-a-heart” trend in storytelling. The only trouble is, her sudden awakening of conscience—and subsequent journey to heroism—isn’t quite as involving as it had the potential to be. It almost feels like there needs to be a central focus for this shift, one core relationship arc that wakes LeAnn up to human connections. And there are a few options—fellow kidnap victims, the police detective, even–as a wildcard, The Clean Man himself. Yet frustratingly, the reader isn’t given any gripping, transformative relationship to get their teeth into. Instead, LeAnn coasts through the novel mostly solo, without author Shaw creating any truly compelling reasons to root for her. One issue is that her backstory is underdeveloped—killing seems to run in the family, but this isn’t fleshed out or explored. Granted, this novel is the second in a series, yet those who haven’t read the first might find themselves a little lost at times. LeAnn’s interactions with The Clean Man also fail to catch fire—they need at least a little witty banter and rapport between them (maybe even grudging respect or fascination) to keep the game of cat-and-mouse interesting.
Jeff Shaw’s LEANN AND THE CLEAN MAN, a dark crime, blood-splattered revenge thriller set in the seedier side of Singapore, shows off the author’s skill and confident command of the genre.
~Deborah Martin for IndieReader