Scan barcode
A review by labunnywtf
Ill Will by Dan Chaon
2.0
Received via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and balanced review.
Dammit to hell. This book has such promise. Such promise. It's the story of a gruesome murder committed in 1983, and a series of seemingly unrelated deaths in the present day. A psychologist, his family, and one of his patients are the main players. And you spend the entire book waiting for the other shoe to fall.
This book is in intense need of a good edit. And I'm not just talking about our main character, Dustin, and his half finished sentences and casual drifting off. The confusion and disjointedness actually works brilliantly for him, because his mind is clearly not all there.
But this confusion and lack of a simple bloody outline follows every single chapter, from the twin sisters to the son, Aaron.
I wanted very badly to follow along. I figured out immediately where the serial killer angle was going. I suspected the ending to the family story, but fell for a few red herrings along the way. The family storyline was more compelling, even if it was the D plot of the book. Much easier to follow along than the serial killer plot.
Which is also a damn shame, because this is an untapped idea. The falseness of the belief in Satanic cults has been touched upon in other books, and in much better ways. But a serial killer taking out drunk frat boys? It's absolutely perfect. Comparisons could be made to how prostitutes are the most common serial killer victims, because no one looks too closely at "high risk victims".
Such a massive playground to work with, and this is what came of it.
I am so disappointed.
Dammit to hell. This book has such promise. Such promise. It's the story of a gruesome murder committed in 1983, and a series of seemingly unrelated deaths in the present day. A psychologist, his family, and one of his patients are the main players. And you spend the entire book waiting for the other shoe to fall.
This book is in intense need of a good edit. And I'm not just talking about our main character, Dustin, and his half finished sentences and casual drifting off. The confusion and disjointedness actually works brilliantly for him, because his mind is clearly not all there.
But this confusion and lack of a simple bloody outline follows every single chapter, from the twin sisters to the son, Aaron.
I wanted very badly to follow along. I figured out immediately where the serial killer angle was going. I suspected the ending to the family story, but fell for a few red herrings along the way. The family storyline was more compelling, even if it was the D plot of the book. Much easier to follow along than the serial killer plot.
Which is also a damn shame, because this is an untapped idea. The falseness of the belief in Satanic cults has been touched upon in other books, and in much better ways. But a serial killer taking out drunk frat boys? It's absolutely perfect. Comparisons could be made to how prostitutes are the most common serial killer victims, because no one looks too closely at "high risk victims".
Such a massive playground to work with, and this is what came of it.
I am so disappointed.