You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.06 AVERAGE
3.06 AVERAGE
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Animal death, Sexual assault
Best I can say is it was a quick read. Felt like a first draft of a high school creative writing assignment, where the author spends much too long on details that don't matter and not enough time developing her protagonist. I found him both unlikeable and impenetrable, and as a result the ending felt senseless in its horror but not climactic or personally touching.
Unreliable Thomas Martin. I don’t know whether I should believe him or not. I don’t know whether I should feel sorry for him or otherwise. A Good Man takes on a journey of a man who had good intentions and all what he ever wanted was to create and maintain a good loving family. But does something happen along the way living this dream.. Or everything that has happened was a collateral damage for his built up negativity and anger? Sometime’s it takes us years to realize what we have been enduring.. and then SNAP!
This novel was dark on a different level. The writing was astonishing. Katz truly captivated that mental struggle that Thomas went through in a way I feel that he had split personalities? I couldn’t even prefer one character because they all seemed distant and twisted… And the end was just mind-blowing.
This novel was dark on a different level. The writing was astonishing. Katz truly captivated that mental struggle that Thomas went through in a way I feel that he had split personalities? I couldn’t even prefer one character because they all seemed distant and twisted… And the end was just mind-blowing.
Points given to the author for making you feel incredibly unsettled for the entire story.
I think Thomas was almost TOO unreliable of a narrator. You can guess some stuff that may have happened but without actual confirmation, it’s difficult to place things and put them into definitive context.
The ending is extremely dark, even for someone like myself who reads up on true crime and reads Swedish mysteries.
Also a dog dies and I actually gasped out loud when I read it
I think Thomas was almost TOO unreliable of a narrator. You can guess some stuff that may have happened but without actual confirmation, it’s difficult to place things and put them into definitive context.
The ending is extremely dark, even for someone like myself who reads up on true crime and reads Swedish mysteries.
Also a dog dies and I actually gasped out loud when I read it
An over stylized and oppressive narrative from a pretentious and unreliable narrator. I struggled to get into this book and forced myself through it as I was given an advanced copy to review. The narrator believes he is a good man, as the title suggests, by 'protecting' all the women in his life. In actuality *SPOILER*, he's just a piece of shit. I am racking my brain trying to find something I enjoyed about this book and there is simply nothing. Unbelievable and unlikable characters; the narrator's obvious hypocrisy; inconsistencies in writing style. I give props to Katz for writing a male perspective that sounds like it actually came from a horrible man. Otherwise meh.
2.5 stars. Quick overly simplified synopsis: Thomas Martin was a man with a good job who always tried to take good care of the women in his life; his wife, daughter, mother, and sisters. When an event happens that rocks his ego, he turns into a monster.
What is interesting about this novel is that it is written in 1st person after the event as Thomas looks back at his life attempting to see where things went wrong. He is obviously an unreliable narrator, and the reader can see his grip on reality slowly unraveling.
Warning: This is an dark, dark novel with just about every trigger warning you can imagine.
Pros:
- Katz does a remarkable job instilling a sense of dread. I felt incredibly uncomfortable this entire novel.
- This novel is more literary than most in its genre. Several interesting devices are employed.
- I found Thomas’s twin sisters extremely interesting and wish their role had been even more developed.
Cons:
- While literary in nature, the pieces of this novel just don’t come together. Thomas’s childhood is discussed quite a bit, but none of the many pieces really tie up.
- The ending felt extremely heavy-handed. I read a ton of Scandinavian crime fiction, so I typically have no problem with dark novels.
- Katz uses Thomas’s love for opera to show how he views himself. This is a pro and con. It’s an interesting literary device. Unfortunately, since I am not an opera fan this was less meaningful to me.
This novel is a firm 2.5 for me. While I appreciate the attempts here, I just tossed it down in the end, thinking “Really, that’s it?”
-
What is interesting about this novel is that it is written in 1st person after the event as Thomas looks back at his life attempting to see where things went wrong. He is obviously an unreliable narrator, and the reader can see his grip on reality slowly unraveling.
Warning: This is an dark, dark novel with just about every trigger warning you can imagine.
Pros:
- Katz does a remarkable job instilling a sense of dread. I felt incredibly uncomfortable this entire novel.
- This novel is more literary than most in its genre. Several interesting devices are employed.
- I found Thomas’s twin sisters extremely interesting and wish their role had been even more developed.
Cons:
- While literary in nature, the pieces of this novel just don’t come together. Thomas’s childhood is discussed quite a bit, but none of the many pieces really tie up.
- The ending felt extremely heavy-handed. I read a ton of Scandinavian crime fiction, so I typically have no problem with dark novels.
- Katz uses Thomas’s love for opera to show how he views himself. This is a pro and con. It’s an interesting literary device. Unfortunately, since I am not an opera fan this was less meaningful to me.
This novel is a firm 2.5 for me. While I appreciate the attempts here, I just tossed it down in the end, thinking “Really, that’s it?”
-
