BOOK REVIEW
The Blade Itself, by Marcus Sakey, 400 pp, 2008 Penguin paperback, Available at Asia Books and leading book stores, 350 baht
BERNARD TRINK
The theme of two childhood friends from the wrong side of the tracks, one growing up to lead a life of crime and the other going straight to ultimately bring him down was prevalent on the screen during the 1930s. Virtually identical, plots varied slightly.
In this day and age authors and scriptwriters are rather more sophisticated, yet the genre has far from died out. Nary a year goes by in which it isn't tapped into. And if written and acted reasonably well, we don't tire of it. The book under review is a case in point.
Penned by midwesterner Marcus Sakey (born in Michigan, living in Illinois) The Blade Itself differs little from the cops and robbers novels of the Roaring '20s and of the Great Depression the following decade. Be that as it may, it's set in the Chicago of the 21st century.
The major characters are Irish-Americans. Not yet in their teens, the neighbourhood kids realise that honesty doesn't pay. Their parents can barely put food on the table, keep breeding, drink, fight. Five in all, they weren't a gang as such, pulling jobs on their own as well as together. As Evan had a gun he was "the man", more feared than respected. He was gutsy and Danny usually accompanied him because he thought him cool. Pawnshops and liquor stores were the easiest marks. Some breaking and entering, but the fences invariably cheated them.
In time they were caught, Evan getting a hefty sentence believing Danny ratted him out to get a light one. And Evan never forgives or forgets. By the time he's paroled, Danny is a construction labourer, Karen his (pregnant) girlfriend. Police detective Sean Nolan has no time for ex-cons. When Evan seeks Danny out, his gut feeling is that they are up to no good. The cop is on the money. Evan means to kidnap the boy Tommy, son of Danny's building contractor employer Richard, for a ransom.
If Danny doesn't help him, he threatens to kill Karen. He abducts her as well to demonstrate that he means business. In fact Evan shoots down two people to further show that he'll brook no interference. Though certain that his days are numbered, Danny refuses to confirm Nolan's suspicions.
The later chapters deal with Danny and Richard bringing the ransom, yet hoping to get the drop on Evan who has brought his own girlfriend Debbie. On his own, Nolan follows Danny without backup. There's a shootout, leaving dead and wounded.
Sakey's writing style brings to mind Elmore Leonard. But the mood is of a film noir. Chicago has been described so often in novels and shown on celluloid, there's little wonder the author doesn't tell us anything about the Windy City we didn't know before.
Detective Nolan is perhaps the most striking personae in the story. Despite his own poor background, he opted to fight crime rather than join it. If he can make the world a better place in some small way, he reckons his life is worthwhile.
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