By Any Means

Chris Culver’s By Any Means was a book that I found myself unable to turn away from. It had all of the great elements that I love in a detective story as well as an anti-hero story. You find yourself both hating and loving both the villain and the hero in turn. 

 

Ash, after having served as a homicide investigator, is now heading to classrooms to teach kids and their parents to say no to drugs and not to talk to strangers. One day while commuting home Ash comes across a car crash where he finds two dead bodies, dead not as a result of the crash. He’s on his way home but must follow protocol. Before he knows it he’s pulled back into the Homicide game when he’s forced to take control of the crime scene. When he discovers a woman has been abducted from the scene of the crime he must work hard and fast to save her and bring the kidnapper to justice. It won’t be easy. 

 

Kostya Bukoholov is a businessman who loves his estranged daughter. He is legitimate but he’s also deep in the underworld and has quickly become a man, like Ash, who has interest in this particular case. Instead of following any sort of protocol Kostya plans to uncover truths behinds the case at all costs, no matter the collateral damage he leaves in his wake. 

 

It was an absolutely fascinating ride following both the good and the bad guy as they find their way around this case. Both are great case studies in morality and give great meaning to the books title. 

 

It was great following Ash as he tried to go by the book in getting his case squared up but even more interesting watching him fall apart at times and pushing boundaries. You also wish for cops to do that in movies and in the literal world it’s ten times more potent with a good execution, and Culver delivers. 

 

The story finale was an interesting read which is far from a tie-up or even a happy ending. Culver keeps it real, plays it in real time, and offers u complex and interesting characters that keep the stories blood pumping throughout. There were hardly any slow spots and everything is detailed so that I imagined almost every scene and got caught up in the emotional drive of the book. Good stuff. Definitely worth checking out.