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…
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…
Rating? 3 Stars
Would I add this to my bookshelf?
No
**Originally
published on Books & Pals blog (http://booksandpals.blogspot.co.uk/).
May have received free review copy**
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