“Pinnacle of Deceit” by Eric Rill – A Childhood of Guilt

The thriller genre has recently seen a brilliant addition to its already grandiose list of promising authors (promising in terms of what their future will bring, of course) when Eric Rill published his first novel, Pinnacle of Deceit.

The main premise of the story is rather simple: there are four men who grew up in an Arizona orphanage, and many years later, they now find themselves as targets of a mysterious and terrifying killer, the unstoppable doom seemingly destined to turn their lives into a living hell.

The four men are: Anthony Marshall, the owner of an international luxury hotel chain; his tortured partner, Gerald Pratt; Ricardo Sanchez, the drug lord that is number one on every most wanted list; and Harmon Baker, a man who strove to be congressman but bumbled his way into something much more precious, the position of a world leader.

The development of the plot itself is actually somewhat reminiscent of other popular thriller authors, such as Baldacci and DeMille, in the sense that there is no nonsense to wade through: everything goes straight to the point.

Yes, there is a bit of character development strewn in there, but the focus is really placed on the chase, and what a chase it is. The action is quite realistic and believable, with the scenarios developing suddenly in explosive manners that will surprise the reader, but not require them to suspend their sense of disbelief.

In other words, Eric Rill managed to construct the kind of thriller that only feels impossible to recreate in real life due to the improbability of so many twists and turns coming together at once. He makes you sit on pins and needles, knowing anything can happen at any time.

The superb quality of the writing is only complemented by the substance of the actual story itself. It moves through numerous time periods rather seamlessly, with the setting being quite interesting and varied... which shouldn't actually be surprising considering this is one of those globetrotting thrillers where we get to visit numerous capitals around the world.

The hunt for the four men is also quite fascinating to watch unfold, especially seeing as how the deeper we go into the more we see into the connection they all have in the past, and at some point we actually do start to wonder who the bad guys really is.

This isn't one of those novels where everything is clearly depicted in black and white, labeled neatly for us to know what's what. It feels to me like it gives the reader ample room for thinking.

All things taken into consideration, Pinnacle of Deceit is certainly a fantastic debut that promises only more greatness from the author, having all the elements one would expect from a good thriller: a fast pace, interesting characters, an enthralling mystery, a ruthless and mysterious killer, twists and turns at every corner, and of course, a rather surprising finale. I can do nothing but recommend the book to fans of the genre.

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Eric Rill Eric Rill is a Canadian author who, before venturing into the life of writing, held various corporate positions in the hospitality industry. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University and an MBA from the UCLA. He wrote his first novel while vacationing in the Caribbean, titled Pinnacle of Deceit, earning him enough attention and encouragement to warrant two additional novels, and who knows how many more to come.