"[Uncharles] was used to providing very high levels of service coupled with a very low, albeit non-zero level of murder.""[Uncharles] was used to providing very high levels of service coupled with a very low, albeit non-zero level of murder."...more
An innovative book in which the devil is a beguiling figure whose presence and voice grow increasingly strange and assertive with each passing chapterAn innovative book in which the devil is a beguiling figure whose presence and voice grow increasingly strange and assertive with each passing chapter.
"You cannot stand for the horrific and the beautiful to touch, cannot fathom a system in which one person benefits from the suffering of another. But it is so."*
Two-Step Devil explores the carnal and the divine in daily life through the story of a seventy-year-old man called the Prophet, who transforms his prophetic visions into art pieces, and a teen girl named Michael, who the Prophet first sees trapped in a car with her wrists zip tied. He believes she's a messenger sent by God to take his visionary warnings of the coming end-times to the White House, so he contrives to rescue her.
Thus begins a story of an unlikely friendship between two strangers who live on the margins of society. While the Prophet’s backstory is unveiled, Michael’s future unfolds. Meanwhile, the devil emerges from the shadows to taunt the Prophet, and eventually, the reader.
I applaud Jamie Quatro for taking risks in this book. The structure is playful and roguish. The story is complex and gritty. The writing is sinuous and alluring. I never quite knew where Quatro was taking me, but curiosity compelled me forward.
Highly recommend if you're in the mood for an unusual and surprising read.
My heartfelt thanks to the generous folks at Grove Atlantic for sending me an early copy of this surprising book.
*Note: quote taken from an uncorrected proof and is subject to change in the final printing.
"The prison psychiatrist maintains that it is unhealthy to eavesdrop on one's ex following a breakup."
The Vixen Amber Halloway is aOooh this was good!
"The prison psychiatrist maintains that it is unhealthy to eavesdrop on one's ex following a breakup."
The Vixen Amber Halloway is a revenge thriller with an eloquent, unreliable narrator named Ophelia Fairweather. After she learns that her husband is cheating, Ophelia does something that results in her being incarcerated. The story of what happened is delivered as a prison confession.
The story is a combination of Ophelia's therapeutic sessions with a prison psychiatrist in preparation for her meeting with the parole board and a confession (directed to her husband) about everything that transpired to land her in prison.
Ophelia is a woman in her forties who finds love late in life, but once she does, she falls hard. She works as a college professor (a scholar of Dante), and her eloquent way of speaking exudes her intelligence.
At a young age, Ophelia's mother walked out the door and never looked back, leaving Ophelia with deep emotional wounds. Her husband's infidelity is exacerbated by the lingering pain of her mother's absence. Throughout the book, Ophelia attempts to work through her abandonment issues while recounting how Andy's sudden departure in pursuit of the young and attractive Amber propelled her toward a mental break.
While Ophelia's narrative voice is clearly defined throughout the book, her dialogue is less convincing. This is especially true during the book's climax; it's possible Ophelia's dialogue is too stilted and mechanical during this scene or it could be that our unreliable narrator is trying to shape our opinion of her (perhaps portraying herself as "cool" in the way that only an awkward person with a personality disorder would).
Overall, I found this to be a fascinating examination of society's proclivity to blame women for men's bad behavior. In a just world, the book would have been titled The Cheater Andy Fairweather, but society would have us blame the woman, and Ophelia tragically succumbs to this way of thinking.
Let it be a lesson to all: If a woman takes a cheating man off your hands, send her flowers and a thank you card because she just saved you from wasting your time and energy on a man who doesn't deserve you.
Faintly reminiscent of Alias Grace, The Vixen Amber Halloway is a tense yet sorrowful story of mental illness, deep-seeded childhood pain, and a broken heart manifesting in terrifying ways.
My heartfelt thanks to the very generous people at Regal House Publishing for sending me a finished copy of this highly anticipated read.
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