Tying Up a Loose End: A Review of The Black Stiletto by Raymond Benson

A while back, I believe it was in May, I started to talk a little about the Black Stiletto by Raymond Benson. The book was leaving me feeling a little flat while I was reading it, however, I really loved the originality of the idea behind the book's story.

I love the idea of finding out your seventy eight year old mother, the woman who barely knows who you are much less who she is, was a super hero. (see rest of first review here)

To sum up the story: We meet Martin Talbot in his mundane world, dealing with a multitude of mundane issues. Judy Talbots, his mother, is a is a seventy-two year old Alzheimer patient in a nursing home. Martin is her only child and thereby the only person who can take care of her and her affairs. Martin also has a teenage daughter with whom he does not have a close relationship. Martin biggest problem, however, is the fact that he does not command any respect. His ex-wife always sides with their daughter, especially about her decision to major in theater and not something practical like business or accounting like her father did. His daughter thinks he does not understand her, therefore does not deserve to be included in her life plans. His boss feels Martin's time away from work to take care of family matters shows he is not a team player and does not feel Martin's track record and his years of seniority are enough to warrant respect when the rumors of layoffs comes to fruition.

To top everything else off, Martin finds out his mother is not who he thought she was. His mother's lawyer and only close friend gives Martin a box upon the instructions of his mother. Inside this box are a letter and instructions on how to find a hidden room in Judy's home. Inside this room, he finds several articles of clothing and diary's that inform him of his mother's secret identity as a super hero from the late fifties and early sixties.As Martin reds the first diary he learns mother's past and how she became the Black Stiletto. While Martin is coming to grips with this revelation, someone from his mother's past is trying to find her in order to avenge their brother's death.

I had issues with this book early on but I have since finished reading it. While it was not my cup o'tea, I would recommend it to people who like the super hero genre. As I said before, I really love the idea that a super hero's secret identity is discovered by her son after she is placed in a nursing home for Alzheimer patients. The originality more than makes up for my lack of connection with the characters and what I perceived as a general lack of suspense in the plot. I think Mr. Benson did a good job of placing the super hero solidly in the mundane world.