If this site had half stars I'd give Under the Skin a solid 3 1/2...it's not as tightly woven or as emotionally charged as other Blake works I've read, and frankly I felt that a few of the situations were resolved awfully conveniently, but even so anything by Blake is better than most of what's currently available on the market. This one focuses on a guy who's the main hired muscle for a pair of gangsters in 1936 Galveston, and it's great fun just reading about the past of an area I'm fairly familiar with as recreated by a talented writer. There's also some great flashback scenes of the Mexican Revolution, and some ruggedly painted scenes of what it might have been like growing up in West Texas around the turn of the last century. I wasn't just blown away by this book the way I was with Wildwood Boys, but I'd still highly recommend it as it's a quick, gritty bit of historical fiction that's fast paced and highly entertaining. As a side note, Under the Skin is by far the most filmable of the Blake books I've read to date, which works well, as he mentioned when I met him at a reading a few months back that this book is under option to be made into a movie. I for one hope it happens, because it'll make for great cinema, and I'd LOVE to see 1930s Galveston portrayed on screen (if it's picked up by a competent director!)
