I began reading LOCKED DOORS at 10:00 p.m. on a Monday evening, and kept reading until I was too tired to hold the book properly. Crouch quite simply is a marvel. He changes perspective, points of view, and tense at whim, challenging you to hang on and ride with him. And it's easy to do. He's so good you'll want to hug him because you love him or smack him because you're jealous; sometimes you want to do both, simultaneously.
I'll give you an example. LOCKED DOORS involves, among other things, a gentleman named Luther Kite who is as dangerous and fearsome as anyone you could meet. One of the best passages in the book concerns a visit Kite pays to a Waffle House, where he orders pancakes. You know that either it'll turn out okay or he'll be painting the walls, but you're not sure which. I guarantee you though that if you read LOCKED DOORS you'll visit a Waffle House, just once, to see if Luther Kite is there. You won't be able to resist; Crouch's descriptive powers are that finely honed. Then there's another scene, darn near perfect, where Kite goes into a Wal-Mart...
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