Matt McAvoy Book Review

A crime tale so simple, so satisfyingly straightforward yet profoundly character and dialogue-based that it could be described as literary fiction – and it is very enjoyable indeed.  Told from the point of view of two characters obviously bound on a collision course, yet both unpicking the layers of their very different lives until the inevitable moment their paths cross.  When it comes – without wishing to spoil in any way – it is so bittersweet and abrupt that you can only really find yourself nodding in agreement: “Of course, why not?”

The plot, in some ways, is incidental.  This anecdote is rather more about the two men, and an underlying sense, particularly from the antagonist, that things are not leading anywhere but downhill.  Dave Andrae crafts and weaves this feeling of menace so subtly, yet unmistakably.  Meanwhile, life goes on for Wolf and Lenny – at least for now.  At its very core, it is really an allegory of people simply trying to live their lives encumbered by thoughts, feelings and circumstances which are doing them no favours at all.  Lenny’s path is inevitable, yet it seems that he isn’t even the one controlling it, but rather blindly following an irresistible longing.  Wolf, too, in some ways, is subconsciously leading himself toward an unavoidable course of action.  The analogy is fundamentally the lack of control individuals have over their own lives – and even their own actions.  The fact that both have either underwhelmed or outright failed in their careers is simply a metaphor for their positions at mercy of the external (or internal) factors which guide them.  It is a profound literary piece if you delve beneath its layers – which Dave skilfully urges you to do.

He is a wonderful author, whose work I have had the pleasure of reading before, and I feel this book may be slightly better.  It is crime suspense, sure, but only in the sense that a single incident years earlier, and its repercussions, are what have come to define these men and their actions – arguably, as you will see at the book’s finale, their entire personae.  It is a book best indulged with full attention; you’ll enjoy it, but do treat it with the respect it deserves.  Don’t expect action or thrills; it is thoughtful, talky, natural and hugely engaging.  You’ll find yourself rooting for one character or the other, but to some extent, it is possibly a matter of ambiguity which one.  A very well recommended read for those who enjoy intelligent, thoughtful pulp fiction.