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3.1 AVERAGE
3.1 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Suicide
This rating is a shame as I enjoyed the majority of the book but the final 50 (and particularly 10) pages were not well executed in my eyes and it sort of throws the whole book astray.
The initial enjoyment from this book was primarily from its writing, which just has a certain 'spark' to it. The way Cross describes things, quite accurately and succinctly, impressed me greatly. The setting is always obvious and well-explained without laying it on thick. The book in general is a super quick read, 300 pages but the majority of it is dialogue - probably a 4 hour job at most. Despite this it sets out what it's trying to do very quickly. The descriptions help to do this, the domestic quality to the novel comes out in the way ordinary things are described in interesting, immediately understandable ways.
The blurb on my copy of the book was far more vague than the summary on Goodreads, merely suggesting something horrible had happened to the son Jamie - a parent's worst nightmare - and that the father Sam has to reforge their relationship in light of it. So it sounded like the topic at hand could be very dark. Actually the thing in question is bullying, so a far more domestic tone, and the primary focus is the cast of character's lives and in particular the father-son relationship.
All good. The ending, then, completely threw me off balance. Some mild spoilers ahead, I will spoiler tag the major ones.
I liked Sam's characterisation in the book. He is, really, quite pathetic - in a very human and realistic way and that fits with the domestic tone of the book. For example, his reaction to finding out Jamie is being bullied is rash and over-involved. Then he meets with the bully's Dad. This is a fairly civil conversation but he afterwards says to his sister Mel that 'he thought he was going to die' (DRAMA QUEEN!). Then he gets punched in the face in the toilets by the bully after which the Dad comes in and laughs at him. He cries on the floor for a bit. To his sister again - 'there were just too many of them' to fight back (it was you versus one teenage boy to begin with, you wetwipe). The bully's family drunkenly mess around in Sam's garden, he can't possibly call the police as they won't do anything with the family being as popular in town as they are (is Hackney under some sort of Mugabe esque dictatorship? I'm sure they would have come) and fears they're going to burst the door down. Even small things like thinking the staff at a bed shop will think he is a sex pervert for going two days in a row, or everyone at work is judging him for occasionally being late, permeates the pages of the book with paranoia. None of this is an insult to the book or to its detriment, rather it was clearly on purpose to show the realism of the setting, and also to set up Sam's 'fall', however...
I just couldn't really get on board with the idea he would sanction this act, or that it was really in keeping with the theme of the book. Again I understand why it was done, to show the extent of a father's rage, and we had purposefully been set up to dislike Sam up to this point, but it was all just too fluffy up to this change. Plus, I wasn't really sold on Jamie's suffering in the book - in so far as we don't hear much about the bullying itself, just that he is supposedly being bulled and (so his friend says) it has something to do with this guy. Yet Sam just goes ape mode straight away, and decides to pursue the assassination route before I don't know... sending his son to another school?
All of this I was cynical about, AND THEN THE CHILD DIES ! In the last ten pages. Another surprising turn. The bluntness was effective in so far as it *was* surprising - and tragic - but because the story had already taken a weird turn, it didn't have the effect it could have. We must believe we have read a tragic tale of a father's revengeful, but well-meaning, act to protect his son ultimately leading to the son's suicide as a result of the shame of the act. But I did not believe the father would've done it, the act did not make sense, and the son's suicide was not justified within the book itself.
I've ripped into things a bit here, I'm not angry at the book though. It was decent until the end, and like so many novels (too many!) the ending just completely lets it down. Which is a shame. The writing was so enjoyable though, that I am hopeful there will be other books by this author that hit the mark. In fact that was the issue here really - the author has a very grandiose style and wants to take the plot in a grand, explosive place, but the setting was too domestic. I'm hopeful, then, that he has written something more dramatic to make use of his writing gift.
The initial enjoyment from this book was primarily from its writing, which just has a certain 'spark' to it. The way Cross describes things, quite accurately and succinctly, impressed me greatly. The setting is always obvious and well-explained without laying it on thick. The book in general is a super quick read, 300 pages but the majority of it is dialogue - probably a 4 hour job at most. Despite this it sets out what it's trying to do very quickly. The descriptions help to do this, the domestic quality to the novel comes out in the way ordinary things are described in interesting, immediately understandable ways.
The blurb on my copy of the book was far more vague than the summary on Goodreads, merely suggesting something horrible had happened to the son Jamie - a parent's worst nightmare - and that the father Sam has to reforge their relationship in light of it. So it sounded like the topic at hand could be very dark. Actually the thing in question is bullying, so a far more domestic tone, and the primary focus is the cast of character's lives and in particular the father-son relationship.
All good. The ending, then, completely threw me off balance. Some mild spoilers ahead, I will spoiler tag the major ones.
I liked Sam's characterisation in the book. He is, really, quite pathetic - in a very human and realistic way and that fits with the domestic tone of the book. For example, his reaction to finding out Jamie is being bullied is rash and over-involved. Then he meets with the bully's Dad. This is a fairly civil conversation but he afterwards says to his sister Mel that 'he thought he was going to die' (DRAMA QUEEN!). Then he gets punched in the face in the toilets by the bully after which the Dad comes in and laughs at him. He cries on the floor for a bit. To his sister again - 'there were just too many of them' to fight back (it was you versus one teenage boy to begin with, you wetwipe). The bully's family drunkenly mess around in Sam's garden, he can't possibly call the police as they won't do anything with the family being as popular in town as they are (is Hackney under some sort of Mugabe esque dictatorship? I'm sure they would have come) and fears they're going to burst the door down. Even small things like thinking the staff at a bed shop will think he is a sex pervert for going two days in a row, or everyone at work is judging him for occasionally being late, permeates the pages of the book with paranoia. None of this is an insult to the book or to its detriment, rather it was clearly on purpose to show the realism of the setting, and also to set up Sam's 'fall', however...
Spoiler
For me the book fundamentally failed at what it was trying to do - showing how dangerously a father's revengeful desire to protect his son can manifest - as Sam was *too* pathetic a character, and the setting was just *too* domestically drab to believe what then happened. First of all he STABS A DOG TO DEATH! This is unhinged behaviour. I could believe Sam is a slightly unhinged character and has flares of anger, but it just goes 0 to 100 in a minute. Actually I think a dog that mauls a child would've been put down pretty quickly, but sure... the dog is just left to it, so he has to stab it to death. Then... he hires, effectively, an assassin?! After his sister gets some prank calls and people make up rumours about them having an incestuous relationship (& it is implied this rumour is incredibly dangerous for them, despite it being based off absolutely nothing). At this point I'm going :o while reading, completely surprised at the turn the tale has taken. Sam observes completely unmoved as the bully's DAD (who really hasn't done all to much to him), is beaten to death. Mercifully he stops the beating before anyone dies. The torture and death is treated as a fairly run-of-the-mill affair. Sam is a nurse who is afraid of people in a bed shop thinking he is a pervert for going in twice in two days.I just couldn't really get on board with the idea he would sanction this act, or that it was really in keeping with the theme of the book. Again I understand why it was done, to show the extent of a father's rage, and we had purposefully been set up to dislike Sam up to this point, but it was all just too fluffy up to this change. Plus, I wasn't really sold on Jamie's suffering in the book - in so far as we don't hear much about the bullying itself, just that he is supposedly being bulled and (so his friend says) it has something to do with this guy. Yet Sam just goes ape mode straight away, and decides to pursue the assassination route before I don't know... sending his son to another school?
All of this I was cynical about, AND THEN THE CHILD DIES ! In the last ten pages. Another surprising turn. The bluntness was effective in so far as it *was* surprising - and tragic - but because the story had already taken a weird turn, it didn't have the effect it could have. We must believe we have read a tragic tale of a father's revengeful, but well-meaning, act to protect his son ultimately leading to the son's suicide as a result of the shame of the act. But I did not believe the father would've done it, the act did not make sense, and the son's suicide was not justified within the book itself.
I've ripped into things a bit here, I'm not angry at the book though. It was decent until the end, and like so many novels (too many!) the ending just completely lets it down. Which is a shame. The writing was so enjoyable though, that I am hopeful there will be other books by this author that hit the mark. In fact that was the issue here really - the author has a very grandiose style and wants to take the plot in a grand, explosive place, but the setting was too domestic. I'm hopeful, then, that he has written something more dramatic to make use of his writing gift.
Probably more a 3.5. Started well, but went way over the top.
I became interested in reading this author because I love the TV series Luther and Neil Cross writes it. This is the second book I’ve read by him now, the first being quite religious and unexpected. This one started out quite slowly and I struggled to get inti it, there was almost too much background. Once Jamie started school things picked up, and really is about how far a parent will go when they find their child is being bullied. I didn’t agree with some of Sams decisions and the story did get far fetched at times but the ending was a bit od a shock and a let down, it really felt a bit rushed. Will persevere though and try another book.
I've never felt so sad and sick and down when finishing a book before. I'm not sure if the big impact is a sign of a good book or not? As a parent this was a little depressing.
After the recent death of his wife, Sam returns to his hometown. Things have been tough lately, but he hopes in time things will get better. Sam's only child, thirteen year old Jamie has also struggled since he lost his mother.
Bringing up a teenage son on his own was never going to be easy, but Sam is shocked when he finds out that Jamie is being bullied at school. Wanting to protect Jamie is one thing, but Sam must try and find out who and why he is being bullied before it gets too out of hand.
For some reason I didn't think I was going to enjoy this book, but I was pleasantly surprised. An enjoyable story and at times heart wrenching tale. Recommended.
Bringing up a teenage son on his own was never going to be easy, but Sam is shocked when he finds out that Jamie is being bullied at school. Wanting to protect Jamie is one thing, but Sam must try and find out who and why he is being bullied before it gets too out of hand.
For some reason I didn't think I was going to enjoy this book, but I was pleasantly surprised. An enjoyable story and at times heart wrenching tale. Recommended.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No