Grey

Interesting, but Jarring

Revisado: 05-25-14

Is there anything you would change about this book?

At the risk of spoiling a good portion of the book for those who have not read it yet, I would remove the shifts from the protagonist's perspective to that of the killer. It felt tremendously unnecessary, and the shift in language was enough to jar me out of the story. This was true both when I was listening to the narration and when reading the novel on my Kindle.

I felt that it was unnecessary - we already know that the antagonist is not a likable individual. Why accentuate with ugly, jarring language that completely removes the reader from the experiences of the protagonist?

Would you be willing to try another book from Aric Davis? Why or why not?

I'm not sure at this point. The voice of the protagonist rang authentic to me, but there were several points that I was just ripped out of the story.

Have you listened to any of Luke Daniels’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to any of Luke Daniels's other performances. That said, I felt that he did an excellent job of carrying the protagonist's voice (Mike), though I disliked his portrayal of Deb. I think I would have preferred an inflection-less reading, rather than an attempt at modulating his voice to be more feminine.

Did A Good and Useful Hurt inspire you to do anything?

No.

Any additional comments?

Aric Davis has a sort of sparse elegance to his writing, which made reading most of this novel a pleasure. I enjoyed the setting of the tattoo parlour and the inclusion of the supernatural in the story, though I felt that the changes to the antagonist's perspective were gratuitous and unnecessary. I was constantly jarred out of the cadence of the story, which might have been Mr. Davis' intention.

However, I found that less than pleasant, and the language used when making the change in perspective felt forced and unnatural. To steal a phrase from television, it felt like jumping the shark. My belief in the world that Mr. Davis was building was shaken each time it occurred, and it was actually a challenge to finish the novel. I'm not sure that I would chose to read anything else by Mr. Davis at this time.

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