Adam Dunn
Auteur van Rivers of Gold: A Novel
Werken van Adam Dunn
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richardderus | 21 andere besprekingen | Oct 1, 2022 |
richardderus | 21 andere besprekingen | Oct 1, 2022 | 
Some rather flat and stereotypical characterizations - the abused mafia underling, the remorselessly brutal, no-holds-barred cop. I get the feeling that Dunn may be - either consciously or unconsciously - rather homophobic since several of his malevolent and/or slimy characters are gay. It's sad to pick up on something like this in a contemporary (2010) novel. Other than that I have to admit that the story moves well and that there are some exciting scenes.
Deze bespreking is geschreven voor LibraryThing Vroege Recensenten.While not my first choice of subjects, I found this to be an "interesting" read. Don't get me wrong, I love crime drama. On TV. Occasionally in a well-done book. But give me Agatha Christie any day over this. I get that it's "Noir" and supposedly futuristic, but it lacks finesse. Early, classic noir was trashy but done so well you didn't seem to notice the misogyny running rampant. Those were the times, right? This, however, is not the right period. One would think we've moved past this. The graphic sexual descriptions, if one can call them those, were less than appealing and I tried my best to move past them as quickly as possible. The two worlds of cop and criminal, and the constant moving back and forth between them, was dizzying at best, confusing most of the time. I love fiction, and can usually zip through a fiction book (non-fiction takes me longer), but this was painful to read in some parts. Other parts were fine. But the graphic details left a lot to be desired. Gritty crime novels don't have have to be ugly. This left a sour taste in my mouth.… (meer)
Deze bespreking is geschreven voor LibraryThing Vroege Recensenten.When reading a novel, it can be hard to say if misogyny shown by a character is a conscious choice by the author, to show us that the character is a misogynist, or is the author just didn't realize he's casually being a misogynist. In the case of Rivers of Gold, I started wondering about this on the second page. Luckily we are given two POV characters, so I decided to wait and see if the second character, Santiago, treated women any better than Renny, our first narrator.
One of the first things Dunn wants us to know about Santiago is that, after finally standing up to his older brother's teasing and hitting him, Santiago got a blow job from an anonymous girl for the first time.
Awesome, women-and-sex as prizes. Just great. And since the author didn't bother to add any identifying characteristics, like "the girl Santiago had been trying to flirt with" or anything, we're led to believe just any blow job is what was really the point. Who *gives* it could never possibly matter.
This is reprised when Santiago buys his apartment and picks up a girl from the old neighborhood who "fucked him so hard he had bruises and friction burns... for three days afterwards." Because... she was also really excited he bought his apartment? At least this time she got a name (Anilda)!
And that's just the start of the casual misogyny (other good examples: count how many times women are called whiny; note how only men are allowed to be drug clientele in the Le Yef scene). I won't start with the racism, the lesbians who have sex with men, the way gay men are described, etc.
I was fed up with this by - well, much earlier, but enough to start writing this by page 94.
I also don't understand why this is set in 2013. Maybe it's supposed to give an immediacy to the economic collapse, but really it just seems unfeasible given that this was published in 2010.
I am also unimpressed with the lady who was described as a pest and is named Yersinia, the first half of the Latin name for the causative agent of the plague, Yersinia pestis. Is that supposed to be clever? It just screams of more misogyny to me. A lady is literally named after a killer disease. I searched and searched to see if this could be a name that is actually used and I'm just not familiar with it but Google just turns up the plague.
(Later a female state Representative is given the surname Anopheles, which is of course the Latin name for a mosquito, which spreads malaria, and another female Representative is surnamed Trichinella, a parasitic roundworm. Male politicians include Baumgarten, which means orchard in German, and Davidson. And, yes, at the end a spokeswoman for City Hall is straight-up named Tsetse Fly. Gross. So gross.)
Also, Urbank? Really? Subtle.
Nurses don't wear starched uniforms anymore, and hospital staff are not even close to the ones who are in charge of checking blood for HIV (that would be done before blood gets to the hospital) and I don't even know where to begin with what's wrong with "double-checking the time clocks on the donor organs."
Oh my god instead of the "traditional" magical negro character, there is a magical transgender woman of color. You have to be kidding me.
There is also no way an experienced sniper would be using a scope and a rifle to shoot from 46 yards, which I'm pretty sure is more of a pistol range. Plus, if a sniper IS going to be using a rifle and bring a traditional sniper, he would have a spotter with him.
Besides those areas of failure, I didn't empathize with either of the POV characters, the plot/mystery wasn't compelling, and I found the idea of a city/country in economic collapse interesting but not well-treated. I really wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.… (meer)
One of the first things Dunn wants us to know about Santiago is that, after finally standing up to his older brother's teasing and hitting him, Santiago got a blow job from an anonymous girl for the first time.
Awesome, women-and-sex as prizes. Just great. And since the author didn't bother to add any identifying characteristics, like "the girl Santiago had been trying to flirt with" or anything, we're led to believe just any blow job is what was really the point. Who *gives* it could never possibly matter.
This is reprised when Santiago buys his apartment and picks up a girl from the old neighborhood who "fucked him so hard he had bruises and friction burns... for three days afterwards." Because... she was also really excited he bought his apartment? At least this time she got a name (Anilda)!
And that's just the start of the casual misogyny (other good examples: count how many times women are called whiny; note how only men are allowed to be drug clientele in the Le Yef scene). I won't start with the racism, the lesbians who have sex with men, the way gay men are described, etc.
I was fed up with this by - well, much earlier, but enough to start writing this by page 94.
I also don't understand why this is set in 2013. Maybe it's supposed to give an immediacy to the economic collapse, but really it just seems unfeasible given that this was published in 2010.
I am also unimpressed with the lady who was described as a pest and is named Yersinia, the first half of the Latin name for the causative agent of the plague, Yersinia pestis. Is that supposed to be clever? It just screams of more misogyny to me. A lady is literally named after a killer disease. I searched and searched to see if this could be a name that is actually used and I'm just not familiar with it but Google just turns up the plague.
(Later a female state Representative is given the surname Anopheles, which is of course the Latin name for a mosquito, which spreads malaria, and another female Representative is surnamed Trichinella, a parasitic roundworm. Male politicians include Baumgarten, which means orchard in German, and Davidson. And, yes, at the end a spokeswoman for City Hall is straight-up named Tsetse Fly. Gross. So gross.)
Also, Urbank? Really? Subtle.
Nurses don't wear starched uniforms anymore, and hospital staff are not even close to the ones who are in charge of checking blood for HIV (that would be done before blood gets to the hospital) and I don't even know where to begin with what's wrong with "double-checking the time clocks on the donor organs."
Oh my god instead of the "traditional" magical negro character, there is a magical transgender woman of color. You have to be kidding me.
There is also no way an experienced sniper would be using a scope and a rifle to shoot from 46 yards, which I'm pretty sure is more of a pistol range. Plus, if a sniper IS going to be using a rifle and bring a traditional sniper, he would have a spotter with him.
Besides those areas of failure, I didn't empathize with either of the POV characters, the plot/mystery wasn't compelling, and I found the idea of a city/country in economic collapse interesting but not well-treated. I really wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.… (meer)
1 g33kgrrl | 21 andere besprekingen | Aug 19, 2011 |
g33kgrrl | 21 andere besprekingen | Aug 19, 2011 | Statistieken
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The Publisher Says: RIVERS OF GOLD is the first in the "More" series of dystopian thrillers featuring MARSOC operator Everett "Ever" More and NYPD Detective Sixto Santiago. The series is set in the Second Great Depression. The primary locale is New York City. The economy is shattered, the government is helpless, and crime and disease run rampant. An underground party circuit has developed, wherein rival cartels use a network of taxicabs to move contraband around the city. The only remaining obstacle to complete mobocracy is an experimental NYPD unit which relies on tough undercover detectives in taxicabs who try to keep the rising tide of chaos at bay. Detective Sixto Santiago is one of these cops, who is grudgingly partnered with a newcomer named Everett More, who does not seem to be aware of any rules governing police conduct. The brutal murder of a cab driver draws them into an increasingly complex investigation that eventually gives them a lead into the gang war between the party cartels. But as the case grows seedier and more dangerous, Santiago is forced to investigate his own partner, and is shocked to discover he is part of a covert CIA operation to infiltrate the NYPD. More is no cop he is something altogether more dangerous. But he is the only one Santiago can rely upon when their case leads them to the rising stars of New York's underworld, whose connections range from immigrant cab drivers to the captains of the finance industry.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY.
My Review: At 18%, Renny (our narrator) says:
"Specials" are the narrator's other-career products: Drugs. My. How very edgy of the author, no?
Then, at 30%, Renny (our narrator) says:
And I realized how very much has changed since I downloaded this book in 2016; and how much MORE has changed since it was first written, and published by Bloomsbury, in 2008.
And I am so, so glad it has. I hate the homophobia; I hate the sexism (I excerpted the least condescending one I could I find); I hate the endlessly mindlessly habituated into lazy writers' heads use of New York City as dystopia-in-waiting. Use Birmingham, or Wichita, or Salt Lake City for a change.… (meer)