Skip to main content

SAFER - Review

I think I have mentioned the extremely high regard I hold Mr. Doolittle's fiction. I would put him as one for the finest writers to emerge in the last 5 to 6 years in Crime Fiction and specifically in the Neo Noir writing of the new millennium.

THE CLEANUP was his previous release and I foolishly waited until this year to read it. Definitely one of the better reads from this year and likely the best non 2009 release I am going to get. If you want to laugh and have your stomach turned within a few pages THE CLEANUP is the book for you.

SAFER moves out of the Pulp Noir urban landscape and into the Suburban Noir neighborhood. I found the book very reminiscent of the film CONSENTING ADULTS. That Kevin Kline and Kevin Spacey film dealt with the suburban malaise of the upper middle class who find their lives empty of any real meaning. You shouldn't remember this film because it is not very good, but it is a guilty pleasure of mine. SAFER is plugging into the same zeitgeist of suburban malaise, only the book does not end with Kevin Spacey trying kill everyone with a machine gun.

SAFER is told as a mixture of current events with flashbacks to fill out the story of how a young couple runs afoul with the neighborhood watch. The malaise that is the crux of the book should actually be refined to read 'male' suburban malaise. This male malaise here is personified by Paul Callaway. On the surface you can't help feel for the guy. Paul Callaway and his wife have moved for her job, and it is apparent from almost the first moment that Paul is unhappy. She has the career and the respect, he is the neutered Adjunct professor teaching shiftless college students. Paul is the one falsely accused of sexual harassment of a minor. Paul is the innocent one who the cops don't believe. Paul is the one who stands up to the persecution of the Neighborhood Patrol Captain. Paul is a courageous guy.

Paul is also the guy who has is own head well and truly up his own ass. Paul is among a generation of men who think that the world owes them respect just because they showed up. Paul defines the kind of jerk that has been given everything in life without doing any of the hard work the rest of us have to do. Paul is a jackass, and the best part of this book is watching him get his comeuppance. Deserved or not, watching Paul's world crumble is the most satisfy part of the book.

Paul's rival is the Neighborhood Patrol Captain, Roger Mallory. Roger is the villain here, but as SAFER plays out my sympathies certainly started out with him. As a character Roger has had real hardship, the kidnapping and murder of his son. What has Paul struggled against? Having to teach three classes a semester rather than two? Early on the actions of Roger can be viewed as an earnest, if a bit misguided, interest in the protection people of his neighborhood. Eventually his actions turn and damn him. I would be interested in Mr. Doolittle's own take on Roger Mallory. Even in the end the Mr. Doolittle was able to illicit sympathy for Roger. The corruption of his soul is much sadder. The real weight of the book is in those moments. Paul's corruption is just pathetic, a stinging rebuke of a selfish, irresponsible generation of men. Mr. Doolittle eschews much of the comedic elements that made THE CLEANUP a real winner, but the emotional impact of SAFER stretches far greater into the distance.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Very Best of Mr. Dennis Lehane

I thought this post would appear in October. Ya, know when SHUTTER ISLAND: THE MOVIE was supposed to be released. And then it wasn't. Something about Leo not being able to do 'press' for the movie. Doesn't really matter the reason, a February release date has one of those fancy Hollywood meanings: Not Good. Look I'll be honest, I didn't connect with SHUTTER ISLAND. I loved the fifties setting, the haunted house atmosphere, and impending doom of the Hurricane. Even the set-up of the story was intriguing but how it played out just didn't work for me. Some interesting characters, a bunch of great set pieces, but the ending announces itself with an expected, thud that went nowhere. Am I still going to the movie? Its Lehane, Scorsese, Leo, and Ruffalo of course I am. Anyway the list. 8. Prayers for Rain - 1999 The last Kenzie-Gennaro book follows our heroes as they investigate a guy who is terrorizing women into committing suicide. The book played like an episo...
4 comments
Read more

Small Mercies - The Return of Dennis Lehane

 A time honored tradition at The Hungry Detective HQ is to perform the twice annual, and largely ceremonial, 'Dennis Lehane New book 20XX" Google search. Nothing comes up on his long abandoned Website, except notification of the script work for his television and film projects.  Grousing aside, 2022 was a big year for Mr. Lehane. BLACK BIRD, a show he created, played on Apple+ to solid acclaim. The show's star, Paul Walter Hauser, won a Golden Globe. But despite that I have yet to watch it. Not for any other reason than I am a movie person more than a TV person. The TV I do watch is watched in an arcane order that is difficult to decipher and even more baffling to explain. Short story, I need to watch ANDOR [Editor's Note: Slow going on ANDOR despite everyone telling me it is amazing.] And then BLACK BIRD, or maybe SLOW HORSES. I'll get there...  Anyway at the dead end of 2022, I did the search. Found out he wrote a book. SMALL MERCIES . I was excited to hear it. I...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Fogotten Post: A Remembrance

[Editor's Note: Started this missive, never came back to it. Still relevant, I suppose.] I am reading MURDER IN OLD BOMBAY by Nev Marsh. This was... technically still is... on my to buy pile. In the before time... the overwhelming to be read pile time... I would have bought this and thrown it on the shelf to read in the near or more likely distant future. I hope I like it enough to buy the second in the series. Buying a book is fun, buying a book that is good is better. [Editor's Note: Abandoned this book, unfinished.] BLACKTOP WASTELAND - S.A. COSBY So glad I didn't buy this last summer. Good decision to put off buying and reading what would have certainly been one of the best books of the year. New goal for the remaining 2021 calendar. Don't be dumb. Buy Mr. Cosby's follow up and read day one! [Editor's Note: I did buy a signed copy of RAZORBLADE  TEARS, meanwhile B.W. won every award, except the Edgar where it wasn't even nominated!? Also Signed firsts of...
Post a Comment
Read more