HOLLYWOOD—When was the last time you saw a thriller that literally had you enthralled from the first moment to the final scene? Not often, but “A Walk Among the Tombstones” may be one of the cleverest thrillers I’ve seen in years. The intensity of suspense in this movie is so explosive when it bursts it will leave audiences reeling.

Liam Neeson stars in the thriller as a man hired to search for the people responsible for the disappearance of a woman. Neeson is known for playing such roles as seen in his work in the “Taken” franchise that shot the actor to new heights as the new action-superstar. This time around he portrays former NYPD cop and private investigator Matthew Scudder, who is hired by Kenny (Dan Stevens) a drug dealer, desperate to locate his wife who was kidnapped and murdered.

Some would argue this is a movie about revenge, others would say it’s about retribution. The audience always wants to see the bad guy get what’s coming to him in the end; otherwise we’ll be left in an uproar.

The movie has tinges of the horror formula speckled throughout the narrative, but at its core it’s all about fear. This could be a testament to writer and director Scott Frank who does a stellar job at creating a sense of dread and suspense for the audience. I’m an avid lover of a suspense thriller, but I’m a bigger fan of thrillers that are literally edge of your seat and delivers clues and stunners along the way, this movie does just that.

The closer our hero gets to the truth the more danger he inevitably places himself in. It’s a cat-and mouse chase; the audience never quite knows who gets the upper hand, so the guessing game is so much fun, as the audience does its best to piece together the puzzle. The movie is based on the novel by Lawrence Block of the same name. The movie is quite gritty to say the least earning its R-rating for its level of violence, and disturbing imagery.

Neeson is perfect casting in the role, playing a character that is battling some dark demons; he copes with those demons the only way he knows how: alcohol. That seems to be a trend with most cop flicks nowadays. Director Frank presents a gloom and doom feeling to the movie that’s to the atmospheric shoots presented of NYC which is a different beast in its own world. The city ofNew York is a big character in this taut-thriller.

Don’t enter the theater under the impression that Neeson is in a “Taken” movie; that’s not the case, even though particles of “Taken” are evident in this flick. “A Walk Among the Tombstones” is a solid thriller that places a broken hero against clever killers who are always thinking one step ahead.