cover image Two Way Toll: A Matt Jacob Novel of Suspense

Two Way Toll: A Matt Jacob Novel of Suspense

Zachary Klein. HarperCollins Publishers, $20 (275pp) ISBN 978-0-06-016420-1

Klein ( Still Among the Living ) returns with another tale featuring Matt Jacob, whose perennial angst and incessant drug use make simple acts into complex feats. While Matt is working mall security, he reencounters Emil ``Blackhead'' Porter, whom he had tried to help 20 years ago when he was a social worker in a Boston slum called The End. Emil wants to hire Matt to find the person who sent him a letter about the death of Peter Knight, whose drowning occurred during Matt's time at The End. Reluctantly Matt agrees, although he's not sure he wants to relive the memories of his first marriage as well as the poverty and dejection of the people in the slum. He visits the community organization headquarters, now called Hope House, where he talks to Melanie, Peter's sister, and to the director of Hope House, who adopted Melanie after her brother's death. Although suspense about whether Peter committed suicide is nonexistent, Matt's journey into the past and his misgivings about his life to date make a taut, compelling story. (Oct.)