If you like one Jack O'Connell, you will probably like them
all. All are just as dense (a compliment, not an insult) and
layered as Word Made Flesh; all deal with various aspects of
language and communication theory.
However, don't let that scare you off, all of that is wrapped
around tight, albeit sometimes surreal, plotting and
intriguing characters. As a matter of fact, it is the
all-too-human characters who anchor the books, keeping them
from spinning off and becoming expressionistic nightmares. By
making these things happen to such believable people,
inflicted by real people, it makes the horrors more
concrete.
Although there are occasional, brief mentions of characters
from other books, each stands alone. All are set in his
deeply textured Quinsigamond, much in Bangkok Park, the bad
part of town, where gangs of various ethicity are vying for
control.
When someone recently asked about who was pushing (dragging?)
hardboiled into new places, but remaining true to the essence
of the genre, O'Connell was the first name I thought
of.
Mark
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