The cover description and first chapter of Dead and Alive lead you to expect a murder mystery. The protagonist Will comes home to find an unknown man dead on this couch. The dead man's hands are purple, his face is white with a bruise on his forehead, and there is a glass of whiskey on the coffee table in front of him.
But Dead and Alive is not a murder mystery. Whole chapters go by without any mention of the dead man. Will repairs his relationship with his girlfriend, goes sailing on San Francisco Bay, and goes to work as a "quant" at a trading firm. The real mystery is not who killed the man but rather who exactly is Will. Will's motivations are a mystery even to himself. We see him struggle to understand why he feels the way he does and wonder if he should be doing things differently. Dodging the persistent detective and researching the dead man's life are just part of it.
I found the character study far more engaging than a simple murder mystery would have been.
But Dead and Alive is not a murder mystery. Whole chapters go by without any mention of the dead man. Will repairs his relationship with his girlfriend, goes sailing on San Francisco Bay, and goes to work as a "quant" at a trading firm. The real mystery is not who killed the man but rather who exactly is Will. Will's motivations are a mystery even to himself. We see him struggle to understand why he feels the way he does and wonder if he should be doing things differently. Dodging the persistent detective and researching the dead man's life are just part of it.
I found the character study far more engaging than a simple murder mystery would have been.
No comments:
Post a Comment