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A review by storyman
The Posthumous Man by Jake Hinkson
5.0
I feared at the start of this book that the protagonist, Elliott’s burgeoning relationship with the nurse who saved him from his suicide attempt would have me wading through a horde of cliches. Having read some of Hinkson’s non-fiction essays online I should have known better because this is noir as dark and surprising as it gets.
Elliott is an ex-preacher with a dark secret. He gets mixed up with his nurse, Felicia, who has a side business in heists, and who works for a man called Stan. It’s Stan’s entrance which really makes the novella sing. He’s tall, ginger, and I pictured him as a deadly Stephen Merchant - tall, gangly, with intense eyes, and a nihilistic view of religion. I’d say the key set-piece is the scene where Elliott and Stan discuss salvation, and Stan’s viewpoint is as terrifying as the incident which follows.
The heist involves stealing drugs from a hospital, but that’s secondary to the salvation the newly atheist Elliott seeks in his desire to protect Felicia the nurse, and later Arnold, the girl he helps towards the end.
It’s noir, it’s brutal, and the ending is devastating. A fantastic piece of work.
Elliott is an ex-preacher with a dark secret. He gets mixed up with his nurse, Felicia, who has a side business in heists, and who works for a man called Stan. It’s Stan’s entrance which really makes the novella sing. He’s tall, ginger, and I pictured him as a deadly Stephen Merchant - tall, gangly, with intense eyes, and a nihilistic view of religion. I’d say the key set-piece is the scene where Elliott and Stan discuss salvation, and Stan’s viewpoint is as terrifying as the incident which follows.
The heist involves stealing drugs from a hospital, but that’s secondary to the salvation the newly atheist Elliott seeks in his desire to protect Felicia the nurse, and later Arnold, the girl he helps towards the end.
It’s noir, it’s brutal, and the ending is devastating. A fantastic piece of work.