"The Window Washer" by Eric Rill-The Furtive Player

While tales of extraordinary adventures consistently give us an urge to break the mold and seek out excitement, most of us realize that in real life, stability and security are the way to go, at least for a majority of people.

We strive to achieve that perfect balance in life, one where we feel safe and fulfilled... and most of us do, but there always comes a day when some outside force tries to knock it all down. Moments like those are defining for many of us, as they certainly are for Nick Grant in Eric Rill's The Window Washer.

Straight away, the book begins with the utter shattering of Grant's idyllic world: his house burns down, his wife is found dead, his son is in critical condition, and on top of everything, a mysterious body turned up in the basement.

In response to this extraordinary change of pace in his life, Grant decides to move away to the infamous “The Bottoms”, a slum in Columbus, Ohio where the underworld reigns supreme. Falling down a path of drugs and alcohol, Grant's fate becomes ever-more twisted as he makes the acquaintance of Angela, a woman with a duplicitous secret of her own.

Rather quickly, Grant gets sucked into that dangerous game played by the forces of good and evil, becoming an unwitting key player in unravelling a far-reaching net of corruption, greed, deceit and blood.

The first thing that jumps to the eyes when reading The Window Washer is the pace at which everything advances. There are no nonsense expositions or dragging of the feet; Rill takes the bull by the horns and never stops, only dedicating his writing to the moments that advance the story.

In turn, this makes into a book with a rather quick pace, one that doesn't leave all that much room for character development... though that is not to say it's absent completely.

Certain moments are indeed focused on molding the characters and advancing their arcs, at the end giving us a good overall idea of who they are internally, how they think and what really drives them. The cast of characters is quite extensive with some memorable appearances, all of them being easily distinguishable by their striking characteristics.

There are certainly many unexplored nooks and crannies in their psyche, but on the whole they would have added little, if anything at all, to a story that is more about actions and events.

The writing itself is straightforward, something which contributes rather well to setting the atmosphere; most of the story takes place in a low-income and criminal slum, one where we would be hard-pressed to find true eloquence and high levels of education (not saying it doesn't exist, but certain tendencies are indeed prevalent). The simple, straight-to-the-point language really helps to mimic that razor-sharp and brutal world Grant and Angela find themselves in.

The main plot itself is absolutely fantastic at developing both the mystery and action threads at the same time. On one hand, there is a large, looming conspiracy with a whole host of participants that we are trying to unmask, while on the other the everlasting and violent fight against crime continues.

The story developments are logical and interesting, answering some questions but always raising others, eventually bringing the tension to unbearable levels until the climax.

All things considered, The Window Washer is truly an excellent action-packed thriller that never relents, making you care for the characters and the harrowing meat grinder they are being put through.

Anyone who enjoys crime thrillers with an undercover element will definitely love this novel.

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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.