Vendetta Stone
by Tom Wood
Official disclaimer: For the past 12 months the author and I have participated in a critique group where I had the opportunity to read portions of this novel while it was a work in progress. This is my first reading of his edited finished product.
The novel is uniquely written as a fictional true crime novel. Think of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, but with the major difference being Mr. Capote’s work is based on an actual crime and interviews with real people. Vendetta Stone has the same style and tone but is fiction.
The novel takes place over a 6-day period from August 13, 2010 to August 19, 2010, in the city of Nashville, TN, and is told through the eyes of fictional newspaper reporter, Gerry Hilliard. Readers familiar with Nashville will delight at the references to various city spots, from Rotier’s restaurant to seedy Dickerson Pike, from Percy Priest Lake to Percy Warner Park, gated Brentwood communities to East Nashville, the Tennessee Titans to the Parthenon.
This is a well-written novel with a minimum of very mild profanity, and one where several murders are committed without gory descriptions. While I referred to this as a fictional true crime novel it is more appropriately in the thriller genre.
The Principle Characters
Gerry Hilliard – newspaper reporter and story narrator
Angela Stone – the victim
Jackson Stone – Angela’s husband
Patrick Stone – Jackson brother
Sheila Stone – Patrick’s wife
Sarah Fletcher – Angela’s guilt ridden best friend
Herb Fletcher – Sarah’s husband
Delmore Remus Wolfe – psychopathic serial killer
Chief Wilson King – Nashville’s Chief of Police
Sargent Mike Whitfield – lead investigator
Dan Clarkston – television news reporter
Pastor Robert Armstrong – Jackson Stone’s minister
Dr. Erica Karnoff – psychologist
The Story
The fictional Author’s Note provides background information on the beautiful and talented Angela Stone. From there the reader jumps into a news conference that takes place after her battered body is discovered. A distraught, zombie-like, Jackson Stone takes the podium and public announces his intentions to personally find his wife’s killer, no matter the consequences. The city, and soon the nation, is quickly divided between those who want to see vigilante justice and those seeking the order of law.
Mr. Wood weaves us through a tapestry of mania where careers can be made or broken on the outcome of Jackson’s personal tragedy. It seems everyone connected to the investigation has an opportunity for personal gain. The reader also sees the dynamic behind the scenes interplay of today’s media (print, talk-radio, television, and social media) as it chases a headline-making story.
Jackson Stone’s only method of finding Angela’s killer rests with making himself bait for a trap. The novel’s climax ultimately comes to the only intersection possible, a showdown between Jackson Stone and Angela’s psychopathic killer, Delmore Remus Wolfe.
If you enjoy thrillers, you will enjoy this novel.
Very insightful review of Vendetta Stone, and an excellent interview.
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