Acts of Violence by Ryan David Jahn
Dec. 15th, 2009 10:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
This is the story of Katrina Marino’s last night.
It is also the story of Katrina’s neighbours, those who witnessed her murder, those who did nothing: the anxious Vietnam draftee; the former soldier planning suicide; the woman who thinks she’s killed a child, and her husband who will risk everything for her. And others, too, whose lives are touched by the crime: the elderly teacher whose past is catching up with him; the naive blackmailer who’s about to find out just what sort of people he’s been threatening; and the corrupt cop who follows his own brutal law.
Debut novelist Ryan David Jahn has drawn upon the real life murder of a woman, an event witnesses by plenty of people, none of whom stepped in to help. Despite an unfortunately lurid cover, this is a character piece, aimed at drawing out the individual stories of the people who witness the murder of Katrina Marino to explain why none did anything to help.
Set in the mid-60s, the tightly written plot jumps between a number of points of view, including: Katrina herself who’s forced to confront her own end; her murderer – a man driven by terrible needs; Peter Adams, a young office worker who together with his wife is engaging in an evening of swinging with his next-door-neighbours; Frank Riva, a black man with a white wife who thinks that she may have run over a child; Alan Kees, a corrupt police officer who’ll do anything to keep his wrong-doings private; Patrick Donaldson, a teenage boy with a terminally ill mother who’s just received his draft papers for the Vietnam War; and Thomas Marlowe, a man contemplating suicide.
Although each point of view is well depicted, there are simply too many of them, preventing the reader from really engaging with any of the characters, with the result that all (with the exception of Katrina) lack depth and feel superficial. It is not helped by the fact that the way in which some of the storylines interact – notably that of Alan and Frank – are predictable while others – such as Patrick and his mother – whiff of soap opera.
This is a shame because there is some excellent writing here. The depiction of Katrina’s murder is chilling without ever being overblown, Frank’s back story is told economically in a way that evokes sympathy and Jahn does well in conveying the seediness of Peter’s swinging experience and his confusion about his marriage.
Jahn is a talent to watch with a flair for the dark. I look forward to reading his next work.
The Verdict:
Over-ambition spoils this dark character story that draws on a real life crime. Nevertheless, there is some fine writing here, enough to make me keen to see what Jahn will do next.
It is also the story of Katrina’s neighbours, those who witnessed her murder, those who did nothing: the anxious Vietnam draftee; the former soldier planning suicide; the woman who thinks she’s killed a child, and her husband who will risk everything for her. And others, too, whose lives are touched by the crime: the elderly teacher whose past is catching up with him; the naive blackmailer who’s about to find out just what sort of people he’s been threatening; and the corrupt cop who follows his own brutal law.
Debut novelist Ryan David Jahn has drawn upon the real life murder of a woman, an event witnesses by plenty of people, none of whom stepped in to help. Despite an unfortunately lurid cover, this is a character piece, aimed at drawing out the individual stories of the people who witness the murder of Katrina Marino to explain why none did anything to help.
Set in the mid-60s, the tightly written plot jumps between a number of points of view, including: Katrina herself who’s forced to confront her own end; her murderer – a man driven by terrible needs; Peter Adams, a young office worker who together with his wife is engaging in an evening of swinging with his next-door-neighbours; Frank Riva, a black man with a white wife who thinks that she may have run over a child; Alan Kees, a corrupt police officer who’ll do anything to keep his wrong-doings private; Patrick Donaldson, a teenage boy with a terminally ill mother who’s just received his draft papers for the Vietnam War; and Thomas Marlowe, a man contemplating suicide.
Although each point of view is well depicted, there are simply too many of them, preventing the reader from really engaging with any of the characters, with the result that all (with the exception of Katrina) lack depth and feel superficial. It is not helped by the fact that the way in which some of the storylines interact – notably that of Alan and Frank – are predictable while others – such as Patrick and his mother – whiff of soap opera.
This is a shame because there is some excellent writing here. The depiction of Katrina’s murder is chilling without ever being overblown, Frank’s back story is told economically in a way that evokes sympathy and Jahn does well in conveying the seediness of Peter’s swinging experience and his confusion about his marriage.
Jahn is a talent to watch with a flair for the dark. I look forward to reading his next work.
The Verdict:
Over-ambition spoils this dark character story that draws on a real life crime. Nevertheless, there is some fine writing here, enough to make me keen to see what Jahn will do next.
