Wireman by Billie Sue Mosiman

My beloved copy of Wireman

Released: October 1984

I found Wireman in the horror section at my local used bookstore. I read Deadly Affections by Billie Sue Mosiman a few years ago, so I was familiar with the author and couldn't resist the cover of Wireman. This novel is a brief, though satisfying read if you appreciate the horror, thriller, & suspense genres.

The boy is evil!

Ten-year-old Nick Ringer and his younger brother Daley often fend for themselves since their mother devotes her time to drinking, drugs, and "whoring" the streets of Bloomington. In summer of 1960, Nick realizes he's only having fun when he's hurting or killing frogs, rodents, and other small animals. Fast forward to Vietnam 1974, and Nick and Daley are lone American survivors in a forest near Quang Ngai. Daley finally understands his brother's true evil nature when Nick easily kills a Vietnam soldier using a garrote without batting an eye. From that point on, there's no denying Nick is dangerous and needs help.

Wireman on the loose

Two years after Nick and Daley come home from Vietnam, Nick is released from the veteran's hospital and moves in with Daley in Houston, just hours away from Bloomington. Daley focuses on earning a college degree and improving his life, while Nick stays at home taking pills and boozing it up. Shortly after Nick's arrival to town, random bodies are found slain with a garrote and decapitated, including detective Jack DeShane's 10-year-old son Willie. It's now up to Jack and Sam, a bored yet perceptive retired detective, to find the Wireman before he claims more victims.

A fun, classic thriller

Wireman has everything you could possibly want in a classic cop thriller novel: gritty cops who drink bourbon, the beautiful hooker women who take care of them, and a serial killer with mommy & daddy issues and a splash of PTSD. This novel isn't as perverted as others in its genre, but the kill scenes are great. My favorite scene is when the Wireman goes after an old, plump woman named Helen McCombie. I admire how she literally runs for her life and puts everything she has into trying to survive. Epic writing on Billie Sue Mosiman's part. That scene terrified me!

Billie Sue Mosiman is also the author of Harper's Darkness, The Grey Matter, Moon Lake, and Killing Carla.