Week of Dec.1, 2013 - Book Review of "Double Image" by David Morrell

By Joan Whetzel

 

I recently picked up this book again. I say “again” because I didn’t remember reading this one until I started reading it. It only took a few pages to remember the basic story line for “Double Image” but I realized that I couldn’t remember the details that made the book so interesting the first time around.

 

“Double Image” begins with Coltrane – a photojournalist – in Bosnia taking photos of the Bosnian President, a man  the world suspects has been murdering his own people, thought no proof has yet been produced –until Coltrane narrowly escapes Bosnia with his life and the photographic evidence of the President overseeing the mass killing and burial of his fellow Bosnians. Coltrane returns home to accolades for his highly publicized photos.

 

His photos have attracted the attention of another famed photographer who Coltrane admires. The man is dying and his last request is that Coltrane take copies of his photos for a “then and now” reproduction to see how the world has changed since he took his original photos. But before Coltrane can complete the project, he begins getting phone calls from the Bosnian President, threatening the lives of Coltrane and everyone he cares about. He starts carrying through with his threat, killing his grandparents and two of his closest friends.  Until Coltrane manages to kill him before any more damage is done.

 

Yet, if Coltrane thought his problems were over, he was sadly mistaken. He learns that his mentor/photographer had a secret love for a little known, up and coming actress in the 30s, and that he had hundreds of pictures of the woman in a secret vault. In the process of learning about the woman, Coltrane discovers that the woman had a granddaughter, who may well have been fathered by Coltrane’s mentor. The woman appears genuinely charming and unassuming – at first. But as their relationship progresses, it becomes obvious that she is using everyone around her, and pitting the men in her life against each other. Almost too late, Coltrane leans that the woman has left a long trail of bodies in her wake. Her story mimics the Bosnian Presidents in many ways, and the way that she attacks Coltrane is eerily similar to the way the Bosnian President attacked Coltrane.

 

I’m not going to tell you how the story ends, or who wins in the end. You’ll have to pick up the book to find out. I will tell you that, though David Morrell gives you a brief break in the action between the two story lines, he manages to give the two story lines for “Double Image” that sense of déjà vu that effectively connects them together.

 

Rereading this book made me remember why David Morrell is one of my favorite authors. His stories jump right into the action and keep you gripped to the story from the first page until the last. If you haven’t read this author, pick up one of his books and give him a read. You may even find yourself re-reading his books. In fact, I think I’m going to have to go back and re-read some of his other books.