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xterminal's review
3.0
H. L. Raven, Dial 999 (Reality Asylum Books, 2010)
Some of the reviews I've seen of Dial 999 seem to kind of miss the point. The first, and most important, thing to know about this book is that it's a mystery novel. Nothing more, nothing less, and more to the point, it doesn't try to be. This is straight-up genre fiction. If you walk into it expecting Cormac McCarthy (or Joyce Carol Oates), you're going to be disappointed. Genre fiction, by and large, is plot-driven rather than character-driven, and this distinction is writ large in mystery oftentimes; pick up any ten books published in the last decade by Five Star, Poisoned Pen, Leisure's mystery line, etc. etc., and you'll be able to level the same criticisms at them. It's like attacking Ed Lee novels for having too much gore—you can do it, but why bother? All you're doing is letting the people who are looking for gore and/or fast, plot-driven novels know that this is where they want to go for their next fix.
Set in London's burgeoning punk scene in 1977, Dial 999 is the story of Jon Hunter, an American expatriate who's fallen in with a group of ne'er-do-wells. They hold jobs during the day that give them just enough money to buy punk records and drink heavily at night while listening to them, and all is right with the world—until some of those on the fringes of the group start dying of heroin overdoses. Suspicion is immediately focused on the homeless, possibly schizophrenic dealer who supplies the harder-core folks, but when a woman who's never used drugs before is found overdosed, Jon, his girlfriend Mary, and their two closest mates decide it's time to take matters into their own hands.
The action starts off fast and gets faster as you go along; the book only knows two modes, full speed ahead and stop, and somewhere along the way it loses the brakes. This isn't a criticism by any means; if you're looking for a book that will keep you awake turning pages, look no further. I finished it in two sittings. Yes, some character dimensionality is sacrificed along the way in service to the breakneck pace, and I do wish there would have been one more clue dropped towards the beginning of the book as to the killer's identity (to be fair, there may be one I missed, but I don't recall seeing anything), but overall it's as good a mystery as you'll get from the bigger mystery-only imprints. The subtitle hints that this is the beginning of a series, as do a couple of scenes towards the end; I'm looking forward to book two. ***
Some of the reviews I've seen of Dial 999 seem to kind of miss the point. The first, and most important, thing to know about this book is that it's a mystery novel. Nothing more, nothing less, and more to the point, it doesn't try to be. This is straight-up genre fiction. If you walk into it expecting Cormac McCarthy (or Joyce Carol Oates), you're going to be disappointed. Genre fiction, by and large, is plot-driven rather than character-driven, and this distinction is writ large in mystery oftentimes; pick up any ten books published in the last decade by Five Star, Poisoned Pen, Leisure's mystery line, etc. etc., and you'll be able to level the same criticisms at them. It's like attacking Ed Lee novels for having too much gore—you can do it, but why bother? All you're doing is letting the people who are looking for gore and/or fast, plot-driven novels know that this is where they want to go for their next fix.
Set in London's burgeoning punk scene in 1977, Dial 999 is the story of Jon Hunter, an American expatriate who's fallen in with a group of ne'er-do-wells. They hold jobs during the day that give them just enough money to buy punk records and drink heavily at night while listening to them, and all is right with the world—until some of those on the fringes of the group start dying of heroin overdoses. Suspicion is immediately focused on the homeless, possibly schizophrenic dealer who supplies the harder-core folks, but when a woman who's never used drugs before is found overdosed, Jon, his girlfriend Mary, and their two closest mates decide it's time to take matters into their own hands.
The action starts off fast and gets faster as you go along; the book only knows two modes, full speed ahead and stop, and somewhere along the way it loses the brakes. This isn't a criticism by any means; if you're looking for a book that will keep you awake turning pages, look no further. I finished it in two sittings. Yes, some character dimensionality is sacrificed along the way in service to the breakneck pace, and I do wish there would have been one more clue dropped towards the beginning of the book as to the killer's identity (to be fair, there may be one I missed, but I don't recall seeing anything), but overall it's as good a mystery as you'll get from the bigger mystery-only imprints. The subtitle hints that this is the beginning of a series, as do a couple of scenes towards the end; I'm looking forward to book two. ***
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