Noir sans goblins and Foamfollowers... wait - that's regular noir.
Written: Aug 23 '07 (Updated Aug 23 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Something new for Donaldson, something more casual.
Cons: A little behind the times and well below the usual complexity of his other works.
The Bottom Line: A quiet introduction to a riveting series. Not too cerebral, good for assisting in digestion.
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| SpookyMonkey's Full Review: Stephen R. Donaldson - The Man Who Killed His Brot... |
"He looked vaguely more rumpled than he had the day before, but other than the he seemed pretty much the same. He gave the impression that was too obsessed with and exhausted by his work to get dressed in the morning without help. No matter what Dr. Sandoval said about him, he belonged on the list. He looked like a moral wreck.
There aren't very many people in the world so good that they wouldn't sell their own mothers into slavery - if you get them tired enough and desperate enough. Especially if they needed the money for some good reason."
If there was an inheritor to the fantasy throne in absence of Tolkien (and assuming Orson Scott Card was too busy), Donaldson would be nestling his bony butt-cheeks upon it. The still-expanding multiverse of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever shows the scape and scope that Donaldson can create when putting pen to paper or pointy finger to keyboard. Like my previous review, this explores an author's step outside of his typical genre.
Did you just make fun of Orson Scott Card? Are you begging for a face-stomping?
No, no. I like Card. But he's a Mormon, I think. Don't they have some rule against sitting on thrones during Lent?
No, that's the Jews.
What? Aren't they the ones who can't eat cats on Saturday?
I think you'd better get on with the review.
Right. The Man who Killed his Partner is a gritty police drama. Grit everywhere, there is. Mick Axbrewder is a man who's guilty of a multitude of personal sins and flaws - most obviously, shooting a cop who happened to be his brother. The ramifications of such an act lead to the typical behavior of Axbrewder looking for the solution to overcoming such a heinous accident in the bottom of every alcohol bottle within reach.
You ever smell a drunk cop? It's horrible.
I'm not in the habit of doing so. I doubt cops would be in the habit of letting me do it either. But Axbrewder isn't a cop anyway - he's a retired private investigator who serves mainly as a bulky accessory to his former partner, Ginny Fistoulari.
Axbrewder is forced to unretire himself (read: get his crap together in a hurry) when his brother's daughter turns up missing. Ginny and Mick soon realize that the event is just one in a growing epidemic - a serial killer at work.
You know, I think I've read this before. Donaldson stole this from Reed Stephens!
Actually, Stephen Donaldson wrote this book under the pseudonym Reed Stephens in 1980. So yeah, he totally stole the idea from himself and then sued himself for plagiarism. I also heard he didn't pay up.
What a scumbag.
Totally.
Wait, did you say 1980? Why review this now?
It was re-released in print recently under his real name. But this also brings up a few issues with the book for the contemporary reader. Given that this was written in 1980, it is immediately dated by the environment and several of the details present. I used the word 'noir' in the title out of lack of a better word for 'crap that happened before I was born but probably not before you were born'. I also don't think that anything that happened in the 1980's deserves its own word. Maybe funeral. Or crapitude. Most things created in the 80's should be forgotten about and never brought up again.
Rage much?
Maybe. But details like the lack of any accessible computer data and all the legwork required by all parties involved slows down the process, adds a sense of urgency and allows Donaldson to tell you exactly how scummy, dry and dirty the world is. There's no google in Puerto Del Sol. There isn't even a Starbucks. Everything returns to the basics - intuitive detection and investigative harassment.
But Donaldson can write, period. He shows no fear in delving into Axbrewder's head and the constant throttling his brain receives under alcohol withdrawal, the incessant cravings and his inability to function on the most basic level without booze in his system. He is also quick to point out the public reaction to a such a character.
Does this compare well to Donaldson's other stuff?
I think Donaldson probably had a lot of fun writing this - and this is also proven by the three sequels that followed it. The plot isn't overly complicated, but it is intense. I wouldn't call it the best book in the series, but it piques the interest enough to continue.
Are there any silly hats in this story?
That depends what you're wearing right now.
Who is this going to appeal to?
No matter how he spins it, this is typical Donaldson. His characters are repulsive and charming, often at the same time. They are flawed and obsessive. The novel feels like something L.A Confidential's Guy Pierce would have had if he took up boozing a little more. This book is the perfect bathroom reader.
Some of us are civilized beyond reading on the can.
Some of us don't have mothers that wear combat boots.
Recommended:
Yes
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SpookyMonkey
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Location: Gulf Shores, AL
Reviews written: 138
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Spookymonkey - Occam's Gillette Mach 3 Turbo.
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