Ben Atkins
Auteur van Drowning City
Werken van Ben Atkins
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Statistieken
- Werken
- 1
- Leden
- 5
- Populariteit
- #1,360,914
- Waardering
- 3.0
- Besprekingen
- 1
- ISBNs
- 3
Noir in styling, DROWNING CITY uses the setting, and the time period to generate what feels like spot on atmosphere. The dialogue reads as you'd expect - it's part wise-cracking, part out of the side of the mouth, staccato tough guy talk from start to finish. Combine that with a sense of place that puts you firmly in the mean streets of the big city; lurking in the dark and threatening little corners where the street lights don't shine; leaning on bars, or lounging on banquettes in the clubs and speakeasy's; meeting in rooms at the end of darkened corridors at the back of those selfsame clubs.
Fontana is an enigmatic character (as you'd expect), single-minded about the pursuit of the truth, despite the moral question over the nature of that truth. His firm belief that his cause is just and right isn't going to sit well with some readers. Needless to say his methodologies aren't that of polite society into the bargain.
The highlight of DROWNING CITY is the atmosphere and the way that this author has invoked a time, place and sensibility from the past. The downside of the book is a tendency for style to overtake substance. Whilst the pace of the action and the limited timeframe used to resolve the entire story might explain the short-changing of some aspects, somehow there was too much that felt too broad-brush, often too convenient, and ultimately unconvincing. The plot seemed frequently subsumed by the desire to set a scene, to invoke a feeling, in other words, it got drowned out by the atmosphere. Whilst this reader is going to come down on the side of homage, there's certainly the possibility that others may opt for pastiche.
Despite the misgivings, DROWNING CITY is, a brave and very interesting undertaking. Assured in some aspects, sketchy in others, it's definitely a novel that would be worth consideration by readers of noir or crime fiction in general who like to support a new author, trying their hand at a well established format.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-drowning-city-ben-atkins… (meer)