4 out of 5 stars
On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads
How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.
In a Nutshell: Human drama exploring many psychological issues of the current day.
At Penn Station, New York, a man called Sam sees what he believes to be a young man wearing a suicide vest, about to blow the place sky high. Out of nowhere, Sam finds the courage to stop this from happening by wrestling the younger man, Xander, into submission, in a far more brutal fashion than was perhaps necessary.
The aftermath of these events forms the basis of the story, with stark illustration of how the actions of one can affect many.
The first thing that struck me about this book was how totally screwed up, self-absorbed and self-indulgent the characters are - I couldn't say I liked any of them. Audrey came across as cold and selfish, Sam as rather sweet, childlike, almost, but alarmingly superficial, and poor Holly as an emotional mess, for good reason. Maybe it's simply the world we live in these days. This is not, incidentally, a criticism; the author portrayed all the characters so well, and I don't need to like a character to want to read about them. I was particularly impressed by a minor player called Ainsley, who fancies himself as a Shaman - I loved the scene that comprised him, Sam and Sam's friend Gelb. Excellent piece of writing.
The story is engaging and unusual, and I couldn't work out how it might develop. Evan Klonsky is a jolly good writer, and this is a highly competent first novel in which he captures so well this current age. I was a little disappointed by how the plot simmered down towards the end; I was expecting more 'events', but it's nothing if not realistic, and other readers may love the last ten per cent for this reason alone.
I'm sure this author has an interesting future ahead!
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