Yes, Mr. "Our Love's In Jeopardy" is writing books. He's also a drive-time DJ, which brings to mind - What is it about 80's musicians that make them entertaining on-air personalities?

Shade of Pale is not Mr. Kihn's first novel, nor is it recent (being published in 1997) but it was the tome that leapt off the library shelf. It is a testament to my dedication (or insanity, depending on your perspective) that I grabbed this chunk of the written word on my way to the airport to pick up Kimmie. Multi-tasking at its best, I could read, work and meet the plane all at the same time!

As you might have guessed, the title is a reference to the Procol Harum tune "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and also refers to the personification of the legendary Banshee. While she is floating around the country turning men inside out (literally), a serial killer is brutally murdering women and photographing their corpses. Throw in a radical arm of the IRA, a psychologist whose sister has a knack for violent and self-destructive relationships, and a budding romance, and you've got a tale that is much less convoluted that it sounds.

My biggest complaint, of course, is the depiction of the psychologist. As if mental health professionals aren't subject to enough ridicule, the popular media continually portrays them as incompentant dysfuctional idiots. Case in point: when harboring a victim of domestic violence and the batterer comes knocking - don't open the door! Yet we see our esteemed hero attempting to reason with said enraged person and ending up knocked flat on his ass. It is the alabatross that he bears, his inability to "save" his sister - can anyone who passed Intro to Psych actually believe this?

Although the plot is entertaining, all the characters left me a bit flat. I believe the author attempted to give them depth, but they came across as predictable and uninspired. I was most impressed with the use of The Banshee in general, her role as The Avenger of Wronged Women, and her subjects' inability to recognize their own role in their destruction. Instead, the men she targetted attempted to capture her, but not for eradication, just so they could use her to achieve their own ends. It was a great sociological message that unfortunately got buried in the mediocrity of the writing.

This is not to say that Mr. Kihn is not capable of stringing together compelling sentences - he is. It's to say that Shade of Pale could've used another run through developmental editing before being sent to press. However, in the name of occupational solidarity, I'll believe that he's learned much about his craft in the years following this book's publication. If he, or his publisher, would like to send me a more recent example, I'd be more than happy to peruse its pages.