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SensualPoet · 07-24-2011, 02:21 AM

Fraser Nixon's first novel, The Man Who Killed, is set in 1926 Montreal relating the journey into hell of the protagonist and narrator, Mick, a 20-something ex-soldier late of the Great War, and more lately thrown out of medical school for unsavoury behaviour and morphine addiction using stolen McGill's supplies. Sliced any way you wish, Mick is not a nice fellow; his companion, Jack, less so and by a goodly measure. Though Mick is the son of a west coast preacher man, Mick and Jack were raised together like brothers, and it was Jack who was the favoured one though no son of the man.

Disgraced and out of luck, Mick has not yet quite quit Montreal and falls back in with Jack after a period of some years apart. In the opening pages, Mick is suddenly thrust into an illegal booze run, from Montreal to New York state, under the cover of darkness, riding shotgun in the third truck of a convoy. It ends badly, in a shoot-out, and Mick barely escapes with his life, managing to find his way back to Montreal the next morning. The descent into hell, already begun, quickens: the remainder of the tale plots in agonizing detail one failure of this man's life after another and the unpleasant impact he has on those around him as he turns from addict and petty thief to drug addled thug and killer.

This is a very dark book, and a smart book, with a relentless march to fatal destiny; but it is not without humour, both macabre and situational, usually wry. Without the stylist's craft, this corpse would be all skeleton and no meat. And wonder of wonders: there is even charm found here in the language, the evocation of Old Montreal, the detailing of the corruption of officials, both petty and high up in government, and in little honour found among the thieves. Indeed, the words conjure life into these depressingly decrepit characters, making real these lives that could not possibly be so grim. It's practically a miracle, all said and done, that the thing's such a cracking good entertainment and surprisingly satisfying when the last page is turned.

Available as a Kindle or Kobo at first run price of around $14 (the paperback will be released next year).

07-24-2011, 02:21 AM	#408
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	Fraser Nixon - The Man Who Killed Fraser Nixon's first novel, The Man Who Killed, is set in 1926 Montreal relating the journey into hell of the protagonist and narrator, Mick, a 20-something ex-soldier late of the Great War, and more lately thrown out of medical school for unsavoury behaviour and morphine addiction using stolen McGill's supplies. Sliced any way you wish, Mick is not a nice fellow; his companion, Jack, less so and by a goodly measure. Though Mick is the son of a west coast preacher man, Mick and Jack were raised together like brothers, and it was Jack who was the favoured one though no son of the man. Disgraced and out of luck, Mick has not yet quite quit Montreal and falls back in with Jack after a period of some years apart. In the opening pages, Mick is suddenly thrust into an illegal booze run, from Montreal to New York state, under the cover of darkness, riding shotgun in the third truck of a convoy. It ends badly, in a shoot-out, and Mick barely escapes with his life, managing to find his way back to Montreal the next morning. The descent into hell, already begun, quickens: the remainder of the tale plots in agonizing detail one failure of this man's life after another and the unpleasant impact he has on those around him as he turns from addict and petty thief to drug addled thug and killer. This is a very dark book, and a smart book, with a relentless march to fatal destiny; but it is not without humour, both macabre and situational, usually wry. Without the stylist's craft, this corpse would be all skeleton and no meat. And wonder of wonders: there is even charm found here in the language, the evocation of Old Montreal, the detailing of the corruption of officials, both petty and high up in government, and in little honour found among the thieves. Indeed, the words conjure life into these depressingly decrepit characters, making real these lives that could not possibly be so grim. It's practically a miracle, all said and done, that the thing's such a cracking good entertainment and surprisingly satisfying when the last page is turned. Available as a Kindle or Kobo at first run price of around $14 (the paperback will be released next year).