This was my first introduction to David Peace. I actually hadn't heard of the Red Riding Quartet until I saw the preview for the Red Riding Trilogy which will be released later this year (in the U.S. at least, it's already been seen in the UK I believe), limited release I'm sure. I say limited release because I can't imagine this story, or the way it's told being something to appeal to the masses. That's not to say that it's not one of the most heart-pounding, disturbing, completely engaging novels I've read in a long time.
The almost stream-of-consciousness style allows the reader to become so wholly immersed in a world, and, even more frighteningly, in the state of mind of the one person uncovering all the dirty little secrets of humanity. Well, on second thought, while they are dirty, they're not so little. They're huge and horrifying and one thing is sure, there'll be no happy ending.
There is nothing easy, and at moments, it feels like there's nothing clear about this novel, but what I do know is that by the time I got to the last 80 pages, I was cursing my own reading speed for not being fast enough. I needed to know and I needed to know now how things were going to turn out. I wanted to truth as much as Dunford, because that was all that was left.
This is not an easy read. It's graphic and violent, and if anyone has anything against what I'll call "objectionable" language, you've definitely got the wrong book. But if there are no objections, what you're in for is the literary equivalent of surviving a natural disaster, lots of bated breath, white knuckles, anxiety and exhilaration.
The almost stream-of-consciousness style allows the reader to become so wholly immersed in a world, and, even more frighteningly, in the state of mind of the one person uncovering all the dirty little secrets of humanity. Well, on second thought, while they are dirty, they're not so little. They're huge and horrifying and one thing is sure, there'll be no happy ending.
There is nothing easy, and at moments, it feels like there's nothing clear about this novel, but what I do know is that by the time I got to the last 80 pages, I was cursing my own reading speed for not being fast enough. I needed to know and I needed to know now how things were going to turn out. I wanted to truth as much as Dunford, because that was all that was left.
This is not an easy read. It's graphic and violent, and if anyone has anything against what I'll call "objectionable" language, you've definitely got the wrong book. But if there are no objections, what you're in for is the literary equivalent of surviving a natural disaster, lots of bated breath, white knuckles, anxiety and exhilaration.
4 out of 5
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