[.ca] The Dream of the Broken Horses (ISBN 1416573704)

From Amazon.com:
Penzler Pick, March 2002: Among William Bayer's remarkable novels, many involve the sense of sight--the way in which we see things. Under the pseudonym David Hunt, for example, he wrote The Magician's Tale and Trick of Light, both of which feature a colorblind photographer. Now again using his own name, Bayer delves once more into the realm of the senses. David Weiss, like his creator, is a talented courtroom sketch artist. David has returned to his hometown in the Midwest to cover the trial of a performance artist accused of killing her rock-star lover. The national media are there and soon David becomes involved with the female reporter for CNN. As fascinated as he is with the trial and with his new romance, it is an earlier murder in this town that he obsesses about. When David was a boy, the socialite mother of one of his school friends was gunned down in a motel room with her lover. Barbara Fulraine already had known tragedy when her daughter was abducted and murdered several years before. In addition, the young lover gunned down with her was David's tennis teacher. It is the stuff of young boys' fantasies. But David has an even closer connection: His father, a therapist, was treating Barbara Fulraine for her depression when she was murdered. David's father felt he could help Mrs. Fulraine if only he could unlock her recurring nightmare, a dream about broken horses. But Barbara died before he could do it and, soon afterwards, David's father committed suicide. The gunman, although glimpsed by several people, was never identified. As an adult, David realizes that he saw all these events through an impressionable boy's eyes. Now he wants to reexamine that case through his adult eyes and discover who gunned down that couple in the motel room. Using his father's notes and taking time out from the trial to interview people who lived in the town at the time, David sketches the memories he digs up until a picture begins to emerge, a picture that may well put David's life in danger if the murderer is still living in the town. Bayer's talent as a writer and a storyteller is extraordinary. He manages to convey the media circus surrounding the current trial (which has a surprising outcome) with the quiet stillness of a story that has remained buried just beneath the surface of the town's history for many years. --Otto Penzler

Wonderful characters:
This is- no way around the word- a lovely read. Bayer has a style of character developement that is elegant and fluid. Try his two books under the pen name "David Hunt".

William Bayer still has it, buy this book:
Typical of Mr. Bayer's books, it takes a dozen pages or so to really get into the story and then you are hooked. I have read every book that he has written, in both names, and I have never been disapointed, he is a master. The story just builds on itself and he has just the right amount of violence, sex and mystery. Not rauncy sex but a part of the story. To tell more would give plot away. Try it you love it.

Unexpected plot twists and excellent tension.:
Several decades have passed since a wealthy socialite and her young lover/teacher were gunned down in the Midwest: now forensic sketch artist David finds himself returning to the scene of their crime, investigating other murders and discovering a new circle of intrigue and danger. Bayer's is a strong suspense story which moves at a different pace and provides unexpected twists of plot and excellent tension.

Hard to put down:
Since his childhood, forensic artist David Weiss has been obsessed with a society double-murder that implicated his father and drove the man to suicide. Now, Weiss is back in his childhood home of Calista (a mythical midwestern town) and intends to use his time to discover the truth. The murder may be decades old but Weiss is certain that the easy explanations are wrong--that something more profound remains to be found. Weiss's investigations lead him to stories of sexual obsession, child pornography, and blackmail. There are plenty of motives for murder--and even after all the years that have passed, some still living are willing to take action to stop the investigation and protect their secrets. With the help of a case writeup by his father and one of the victim's intimate diary, Weiss learns a great deal about the people who were killed, but nothing points a certain finger at the actual killer. Author William Bayer's strong writing makes THE DREAM OF THE BROKEN HORSES something special and something far stronger than the story that underlies it. In some ways, the actual story is frustrating and important loose ends remain. Bayer's use of diary to develop character and reveal clues would normally be a cheat. Somehow, however, Bayer pulls it off. The powerful character of Barbara Fulraine (one of the victims) dominates the novel and the lives of many of the survivors. Her dream of broken horses may have been a psychiatrist's wish fulfilment, but it is also a sad reflection of the painful life Barbara endured. THE DREAM OF THE BROKEN HORSES is a hard book to put down. Although most of the action takes place in back story, Bayer's writing is so compelling that I found myself reading on compulsively. Very fine.

Dreams do come true ...:
I received "The Dream of the Broken Horses" as a birthday present. When I first started out I wasn't quite sure where it was going ... about 100 pages in I realized that it had crept up on me and I was "caught up" ... I mean I was enraptured ... I couldn't stop reading ... I read till 3AM. The next day I couldn't wait to get home ... the characters haunted me ... I was "in and in for the whole ride" and I rode that "horse" all night and enjoyed every minute of it. If there was one fault ... It was the fact that there is no city in the midwest this "cool" ... beleive me I know ... I'm from the midwest.