I read this one in two days. It was that good, I just couldn't put it down. In very direct prose David Levien (screenwriter of movies like Rounders) tells the story about Paul and his wife whose son is missing and of ex-cop Frank Behr. The plot doesn't offer any real surprises or isn't very original. After all we've read many PI-tales about missing children and seen many tough, divorced ex-cops with traumatized pasts like Frank Behr.
However, the pain of losing a child is described incredibly well without overdoing the drama. Read it and you will soon enough feel with Paul and his wife, the emotions and situations feeling very real.
Frank may not be an original but the spare prose of David really brings him alive.
The strength of this novel is in the characters and the hardboiled writing style.
If David would bring this one to the screen however I'm sure it would give movie-versions of Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone a run for its money.
I too read this book in under two days and found it haunting. It's stayed with me for more than a year.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the author's direct style, use of language and flow. Great book!