When She Was Bad
Jonathan Nasaw
Reviewed by Dave Zeltserman
WHEN SHE WAS BAD by Jonathan Nasaw is a hell of a fun read, and in part plays like a very clever riff on Natural Born Killers except in this case Mickey and Mallory are Lyssy and Lily. Or maybe they’re Max and Lilah. Or Kinch and Lilith. You see, the young lovers in this one both suffer from DID (dissociative identity disorder, or what used to be known as multiple personality disorder), and their bad personalities are bad enough that they would’ve given Mickey and Mallory a run for their money.
Lily is the core identity of Lily DeVries, a sweet, naïve girl. The shock of hearing of her grandparent’s deaths brings out the nympho, Lilah. Days later while in the midst of a gangbang, Lilith is born, and Lilith is not someone you want to mess with, as one ugly biker learns while banging away at her and having his nose bitten off and then spat out. From there Lilith is rescued by bikers, Mama Rose and Carson, until she eventually ends up at the same Oregon mental institution that’s housing Ulysses Maxwell. Maxwell’s core identity is the likeable and seemingly gentle Lyssy. His past identities include Max and Kinch, and the hope is that both of these have been banished for good, because nobody wants to see those two come back—Max, a pure psychopath who likes to take his time when he kills, and Kinch, pure fury. When Lily and Lyssy escape the institute in bloody fashion, it’s first as Lilith and Max, and then it’s a spin of a roulette wheel as to which combination of personalities are present.
Hot on their trail is Dr. Irene Cogan and ex-FBI agent, Pender, both with personal histories involving Lily and Maxwell. Pender is an especially well-drawn character. Rumpled, described as shaped like a manatee, and with a constantly running jukebox in his head of pop songs narrating his life, he is an endearing character, and a perfect one to anchor this book.
Tense, fast paced, crisply written and sprinkled with both humor and gore, WHEN SHE WAS BAD raises the ante for all future psychological thrillers. Bloody good fun and highly recommended.
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About the Reviewer:
Dave Zeltserman lives in the Boston area with his wife, Judy, where he writes crime fiction and studies martial arts. His latest noir thriller, SMALL CRIMES, has recently been published in the UK by Serpent’s Tail, and will appear later this fall in the US.
Find Dave online at www.hardluckstories.com/AboutDaveZeltserman.htm and www.smallcrimes-novel.blogspot.com.
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