Bill Kent - Street Fighter (2005)
Reviewed by David J. Montgomery
Reporters often make fine mystery writers, as Michael Connelly, Denise Hamilton and Jonathon King, among others, have shown. So, too, with Bill Kent, a writer and journalist with a fine eye for detail and insight into human behavior, skills put to good use in his new novel.
Street Fighter features a most unusual man as its main character. Shep Ladderback is a grizzled old obituary writer for the fictional Philadelphia Press. A tormented agoraphobic, he lives essentially as a hermit, his home and office filled with files, notes and clippings amassed during his lengthy career. One feels Ladderback is more comfortable with people once they're dead.
He remains capable of a human touch, though, as seen through his interaction with Andy Cosicki, the still-optimistic, intrepid reporter who might have been him decades before. The author of the newspaper's "Mr. Action" column, Ms. Cosicki presents both a warm contrast and a compelling partner to the older reporter.
Together, the team investigates the life of recently deceased political fixer and bagman Paul Smalls for a possible write-up in the newspaper. A fixture on Philadelphia's political and real estate scenes for many years, Smalls was a controversial, slightly shady figure, and the more they look into his past, the more incriminating detail they uncover.
Ladderback and Cosicki follow the trail back through Smalls' activities, which leads them to a suspicious real estate deal involving a high-rise condo building, local politicians, illegal Asian immigrants, and a local veterans' organization, an unholy marriage of competing interests held together with payoffs and graft.
The fictional South Philly setting of Westyard is another of Street Fighter's strengths, and the characters who populate it are colorful and unique. The flavors of the area, especially the old buildings and restaurants, add a nice touch as well. Kent takes readers into the backrooms and introduces us to the people who hang out there. It all makes for interesting reading.
Eventually, Ladderback and Cosicki's investigation takes them into Philadelphia's Asian community as well. There they encounter a prominent local figure, a private banker and power broker, and his partner, a martial-arts teacher with a school of followers who seem more like thugs than students. It is in these aspects of the story that Street Fighter stumbles, as several of the scenes ring less than true.
Some of the writing comes across as rather mannered, both the narrative and dialogue. Some of the characters are like the players in a mystery novel from an earlier era, their affected nature a sharp contrast to the realism that is the contemporary standard.
These are fairly minor distractions, though. The overall thrust of the book is strong, and the story is both entertaining and interesting. It is also refreshing to see that Kent is committed to writing in his own style and not trying to copy the mainstream. Ultimately, although the book does have a few rough edges, it also has character, which is something that too many mystery novels lack.
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