Reviewed by: Keith Nixon
Genre: Noir
Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words
Availability
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Author:
Phillip
Frey has enjoyed a varied artistic upbringing first performing as a child on
stage in Cleveland, then onto Los Angeles and New York after graduating.
Phillip shifted into writing and directing short films before returning to Los
Angeles as a screenwriter. Latterly Phillip entered into a writing career. Dangerous Times was his first
novel.
Learn more
about Phillip Frey on his website.
Description:
Frank Moore,
hitman for gangster boss Eddie Jones, has a plan. He intends to rip Eddie off
to the tune of $5m, the trouble is he needs to find someone else to take the
fall. Enter John Kirk, an ex-soldier turned car mechanic who bears a striking
resemblance to Frank. However, things start to go wrong almost immediately.
Frank ends up with $10m in his lap, John doesn’t die quite as Frank intended,
all manner of people are after the money and then the bodies start piling up…
Appraisal:
Even
several days after finishing Dangerous
Times I’m still not sure about whether I liked it or not. Yes, it’s well
written, yes, the characters are well scoped out and yes, the dialogue is
interesting. Although I appreciate an intriguing plot that gets to the point
with a minimum of fuss and embellishment, Frey’s writing was economic to the
point of being terse. So much so it proved sometimes difficult to keep track of
what was happening, a few words missed here and there and I was soon lost and
having to re-trace my steps for confirmation.
In addition
there were several apparent methods of adding interest including switches of
character perspective within a paragraph, which just served to jar the
narrative and set the teeth slightly on edge. Also, the chapters rolled into
one another, just a line space between them.
The whole
cast of characters, from Frank’s wife and mistress, to John’s girlfriend and
mother, to Hicks the bent cop (who seemed superfluous to needs most of the
time), to Eddie and his cohorts, were particularly unpleasant and all, frankly,
entirely out for themselves. That the plan went wrong almost immediately led to
some interesting outcomes, however I found myself doubting that someone of
Frank’s apparent intelligence would have left certain elements to chance (okay,
this would have killed the story dead but then suspension of belief stretched).
And to
Frank himself. Frey on his website says his protagonist is ‘impish’ and ‘playful’.
This would not be how I would depict a sociopathic murderer with a penchant for
cutting open main arteries with a razor. The book is also described as being
darkly humourous, yet I can’t recall laughing once, it’s just not within that
genre.
So, back to
the beginning – did I like Dangerous
Times? You know, I’m still not sure…
FYI:
Infrequent
strong language.
Format/Typo Issues:
New
chapters did not start on a fresh page.
Rating: *** Three stars
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