Having committed to uping my reading ante of this not very helpful genre: "crime fiction," I stumbled upon reviews of Patrick Quinlan on Goodreads. Browsed through the quite mixed reviews of his stable of books and decided to dip my toes in with "The Hit."
The book centres on two mismatched and Hollywoodised (I wonder if Quinlan wrote this in the hopes that a bored screenwriter would pick this up and think "Cha-Ching!"), bounty-hunters: Gordo who is fat, white and broke and Jonah who is black, fit and broke. The search for their bounty: a sick twisted rapist and murderer (who incidentally also happens to be in the top quintile for IQ) Forester, leads them to uncover a highly unbelievable plot involving a Vietnam Vet with what I can only say are "issues" and his determination to launch a domestic terrorist attack on a small caribbean island with a highly virulent form of Cholera. Too much, Patrick, WAY TOO MUCH.
To be kind, I would say that the context of the book: economic malaise in America, disconnected realities and a society which is unkind to drifters is very prescient and relatable. Quinlan writes in the here and now and not in some abstract time and period which readers might not relate to. His pace is also quite good, even though the more I read through it, the more ludicrous the plot became (including an impromptu romance between Jonah and the bored abused wife of the architect of the terrorist attack), I did enjoy the action.
Quinlan has written this for a very specific audience: Hollywood studios. Any studio could pick this up and turn it into a passable action movie. And therein is the let down. Readers want to be able to imagine: we don't necessarily want it all laid out on a plate for us. Give us some mystery for crying out loud, not everything needs an explanation. Quinlan spends far too much time explaining the background to the main characters than dealing with tightening up his plot and some of the intricacies. Elmore Leonard this ain't, it's just not "noir" enough to really justify some of the more generous reviews The Hit has garnered.
The book centres on two mismatched and Hollywoodised (I wonder if Quinlan wrote this in the hopes that a bored screenwriter would pick this up and think "Cha-Ching!"), bounty-hunters: Gordo who is fat, white and broke and Jonah who is black, fit and broke. The search for their bounty: a sick twisted rapist and murderer (who incidentally also happens to be in the top quintile for IQ) Forester, leads them to uncover a highly unbelievable plot involving a Vietnam Vet with what I can only say are "issues" and his determination to launch a domestic terrorist attack on a small caribbean island with a highly virulent form of Cholera. Too much, Patrick, WAY TOO MUCH.
To be kind, I would say that the context of the book: economic malaise in America, disconnected realities and a society which is unkind to drifters is very prescient and relatable. Quinlan writes in the here and now and not in some abstract time and period which readers might not relate to. His pace is also quite good, even though the more I read through it, the more ludicrous the plot became (including an impromptu romance between Jonah and the bored abused wife of the architect of the terrorist attack), I did enjoy the action.
Quinlan has written this for a very specific audience: Hollywood studios. Any studio could pick this up and turn it into a passable action movie. And therein is the let down. Readers want to be able to imagine: we don't necessarily want it all laid out on a plate for us. Give us some mystery for crying out loud, not everything needs an explanation. Quinlan spends far too much time explaining the background to the main characters than dealing with tightening up his plot and some of the intricacies. Elmore Leonard this ain't, it's just not "noir" enough to really justify some of the more generous reviews The Hit has garnered. Ok for a lazy read.
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