JASON HALF : writer
  • Home
  • Full-length Plays
    • The Community Play
    • Kate and Comet
    • Sundial
    • Tulip Brothers
  • Short Plays
    • Among the Oats
    • Holly and Mr. Ivy
    • Locked Room Misery
  • Screenplays
    • The Ballad of Faith Divine
    • My Advice
    • Finders
  • Fiction
  • Blog

Book Review: GRAND MASTER (1939) by Stephen Hockaby

9/30/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Synopsis: For John Stephen-Michael de la Naye, his education into the cruel and sobering realities of the world begins early. While just a boy traveling to Jerusalem on a religious pilgrimage, his galley is attacked by Moslem pirates, his mother is killed, and John becomes a prisoner and slave to serve a sultan in Constantinople. Under the kind mentorship of Mourad Bashik, a soldier and factotum of the sultan, John begins to learn about palace life within the walls of the seraglio, with its endless intrigues and its frequent execution of concubines and others who have fallen out of favor. But Mourad, acting as father to the orphaned boy, always treats John compassionately and fairly, and it is for this reason that John chooses to make his escape only after the kind soldier has died, so recriminations could not fall on him. With a fellow prisoner named Pablo, John bravely descends into the well where the executed bodies are tossed, assuming that the current carries all that enter it to the Bosphorus.

After hiding for months in a forgotten, underground aqueduct – and with the help of Mourad's brother Ahmed – John leaves the city on a merchant ship bound for Crete. Knowing that the Order of the Knights Hospitaller is stationed on the island of Rhodes, John leaps into the Mediterranean Sea as soon as he spots land, hoping to swim ashore. There he wins the confidence of the assembled knights, a collection of men representing various countries in the defense of Christianity during the Crusades. Indeed, the Turks soon attack the fortress of Rhodes, led by the fearsome Ottoman leader Suleiman. John is among the surviving defenders who must leave the island upon defeat. It is a gracious gesture by Suleiman not to kill the surrendered knights, although he will have cause to regret his decision years later, when the Siege of Malta lasts, miraculously, for months despite a vastly outnumbered Christian force.

Between those two amazing battles – the latter will carry the pious and ascetic John de la Naye to the position of Grand Master of the Order – John meets Francesca, introduced to him in Venice by his lusty friend Paolo. But it is Paolo who becomes the father of Francesca's child, and years later John sees the soul and spirit of his long-dead friend when the boy, now a young man, fights alongside him in Malta. The year-long siege on the high fort is brutal, taking its toll both in lives (on both sides) and in moral ambiguity (whose God would champion barbarism and death to others on such a massive, man-made scale?). Ultimately, John passes from his life with an understanding that the Infidel, while still the enemy, should be offered respect, as the best among them are as worthy as our own.

Review: A challenging, sober, and ambitious historical novel, Grand Master stands as one of author Gladys Mitchell's greatest literary achievements. It is meticulously researched, from the larger events which form the anchors of John de la Naye's adventurous life to the hundreds of convincing details that are found throughout this book. Mitchell's other adult adventure stories written under the name Stephen Hockaby are all worthy to be read and rediscovered, but this title in particular feels like an apex in the series, as she delivers an epic story set in an evocative and often violent world, and succeeds in unifying tone, actions, character, and theme.

Interestingly, for as much admiration as I have of Grand Master's challenges and victories as a work of detailed historical fiction, it is a story (with a very ascetic and tight-lipped protagonist at its center) that feels cool and removed. Whereas the excellent Seven Stars and Orion focused on a farming family in the Middle Ages whose characters were multi-dimensional, passionate, and appealingly human, there is a sense of cool observation and detachment from the world's baser motives that John de la Naye fosters here. It is in keeping with his destined path of becoming a high-ranking Christian soldier and leader, but it also renders him slightly unknowable and, in a sense, sainted before he should be. Almost certainly, Mitchell based her fictional protagonist on the real Grand Master at the time of the Siege of Malta, Jean Parisot de la Valette, whose status and heroic reputation she acknowledges in an author's note. And while he is indeed a worthy subject for a historical adventure, the conscious connection with such a venerable figure may have encouraged the author to present de la Valette's fictional counterpart as a model of piety.

It is quite interesting to compare the themes and ideas of Grand Master with a book published a year earlier by Gladys Mitchell's friend and companion Winifred Blazey. Indian Rain (1938) – which is dedicated to "Stephen Hockaby" – is also a story about a man journeying through a hard and often brutal world, looking for a larger meaning both spiritual and physical from life. As with Grand Master, Blazey's story chronicles terrible, barbaric moments derived from the social and cultural codes in the countries and eras under observation, and does so using objective, matter-of-fact narration. Both writers also choose not to judge these cultures and actions, and Mitchell allows her protagonist to recognize both the humanity of the enemy (as with the Bashik brothers) and the un-Christian cruelty that can consume an ally. As the novels were likely written around the same time, it is curious to consider how the two women may have helped each other shape and deliver their stories of young men who try to find spiritual purpose and personal meaning in dark and dangerous times.

This review is also posted at www.gladysmitchell.com, my tribute site to the great mystery author, where you can find original summaries and reviews of more than 80 of her books, including all 66 titles of her Mrs. Bradley mystery series. 

0 Comments

Book Review: CONTINENTAL CRIMES (2017) edited by Martin Edwards

9/16/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Martin Edwards has already earned the title of Invaluable Curator of Golden Age Detective Fiction, and every anthology volume he edits and introduces for the British Library Crime Classics series (made available here in the U.S. through Poisoned Pen Press) is delightful confirmation. I have previously reviewed two collections in the series, Serpents in Eden and Crimson Snow, and the recently released Continental Crimes offers the same satisfaction for classic mystery fans: an assortment of stories by authors familiar and unknown, this time focusing on plotlines that cast a wider net and venture beyond comfortable old England.

France is especially well-represented here, and the setting likely appealed to the largely U.K.-based writers because of its proximity and its glamorous and romantic southern coastal towns. Marie Belloc Lowndes, E. Phillips Oppenheim, and F. Tennyson Jesse each deliver intrigue and deception among the aristocrats – or those just pretending to be – in stories set on the French Riviera. Oppenheim tells a tale of international espionage among the tony hotels in "The Secret of the Magnifique". Jesse lets her protagonist, Solange Fontaine, observe a lovers' triangle with the objective air of a psychoanalyst in "The Lover of St. Lys". And Lowndes, whose detective Hercules Popeau (a creation that appeared before Agatha Christie's similarly named Belgian detective, Edwards informs us) eavesdrops shamelessly on the conversations of hotel guests in "Popeau Intervenes", manages to outwit both the suspicious Russian Countess Filenska and the sinister-sounding Doctor Scorpion!

Some of the most recognized names in crime fiction are also represented here, and the choices are sound ones. While Arthur Conan Doyle's Italy-set "The New Catacomb" suffers from being both similar to Edgar Allan Poe's unforgettable "The Cask of Amontillado" and three times longer than that compact story, G.K. Chesterton's entry "The Secret Garden" has everything that I adore about his best Father Brown tales: a bizarre murder (here the beheading of a victim in an enclosed garden), a moment of utter bafflement for the reader, and the blinking, unremarkable Father Brown ready to demystify with an explanation that grounds the bizarre tableau once more in reality.

And the most recognized name of all is included, albeit with a lesser-known detective and story. Agatha Christie's Parker Pyne helps a woman on a train bound for Istanbul in "Have You Got Everything You Want?" After some encouragement from professional problem-solver and fellow passenger Pyne, the woman confides that she's worried about what might happen to her on the trip, based on a scrap of writing she saw on her husband's blotting paper: "Just before Venice would be the best time." While I am hardly the Christie acolyte that so many other GAD readers understandably have become, there is something admirable and clever in the way the Queen of Crime spins a story with three characters (not counting Pyne) and a hook and effortlessly manages to engage the reader and keep the actions moving forward with the efficiency of a European express train. It's a minor tale, but it's masterfully done.

My favorite discoveries in Continental Crimes include "Petit-Jean" by First World War soldier and playwright Ian Hay (Major General John Hay Beith), a lively and wryly comic story about a British military unit stationed in France and its relationship with a pair of native lads, Jean and Henri (or 'Nrri', as Captain Crombie refers to him in his labored lingua franca). It's an uncommon scenario, and Hay's deft tone and narrative sweep provided a satisfying story.

Equally enjoyable were "The Room in the Tower" by J. Jefferson Farjeon, a short and effective ghost story about familial defenestration in an imposing German castle tower, and Michael Gilbert's "Villa Almirante", which combines assured writing with the specter of Percy Shelley's death when a poet is found drowned off the Italian coast.

With fourteen tales in this collection – additional authors include H.C. Bailey, Josephine Bell, Arnold Bennett, Stacy Aumonier, and Henry de Vere Stacpoole – Continental Crimes is a great companion to bring along on international travel … or for enjoying in as sedentary a setting as your favorite armchair. I received an eBook reading copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

0 Comments

Book Review: A GUIDE FOR MURDERED CHILDREN (2018) by Sarah Sparrow

9/9/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
For the first time since I can recall, I chose a book based on the title alone. Author, storyline, plot summary, genre, even cover art: I knew nothing about this book beyond its provocative title, A Guide for Murdered Children. As such, I had no expectations and no preconceptions, which is how I greatly prefer to approach new works. When the title became available through NetGalley, the wonderful service that introduces readers to new and upcoming books in exchange for a review, I was curious enough to take a chance.

What followed was a reading experience both rewarding and frustrating, as Sarah Sparrow is without doubt a strong and evocative writer. Because the prose and ideas in the book were so fresh and engaging, it was especially noticeable when the narrative occasionally faltered or the moments felt misdirected. This Guide concerns a burned-out, once corrupt ex-cop named Willow Wylde, who is just trying to keep his life together. After a series of hallucinatory dreams he meets Annie Balladine, a kind-hearted woman who seems to be leading a recovery group for troubled souls in the basement of a Detroit church.

The people at the meeting, however, need a special kind of guidance. Annie is a Porter, a person who first connects with her troubled clients in dreams, where they are child passengers on a metaphysical train. Each child is paired with a newly-dead-yet-living vessel (referred to in the Guide as a "landlord") to share a body, and together they work to find a "moment of balance": avenging the murdered child's death. Willow, understandably, has some reservations about becoming involved, but Annie is dying, the process is starting to go "haywire", and the group will soon need a new Porter.

There's a great deal to like here, and readers who enjoy dark fantasy and literal soul-searching storylines will find A Guide – which revolves principally around the unsolved murders of siblings Maya and Troy Rummer, and allows the victims to mount their own investigation – very satisfying. Author Sarah Sparrow's sentences flow with a grace and ease that is admirable, and she uses details to build the world of the characters and their inner lives that often provide a touch of poetry during both gritty and divine moments in the book.

That nimble, introspective writing, though, sometimes has a way of stalling the story, especially when it turns into telling the reader about characters instead of showing them through actions and dialogue. The first section of the novel was the most patience-testing, for two reasons. First, there are a lot of characters inhabiting the landscape, and a lot of threads to hold on to, and with so much presented in a flurry of events (including police shootings, child abductions, a death on a hiking trail, and other moments occurring in differing eras) I wasn't sure what to track beyond Willow Wylde's downward spiral.

Second, the actual throughline of the plot – the major dramatic question where the reader knows what the characters' goals will be – happens only about 80 pages in, when the purpose of the meetings, the Landlords, and the Porters are revealed. Until then, there's a lot of reflective writing about characters, which, even though well-written, soon wears out its welcome, as with this passage measuring Willow Wylde's resolve:

The imbalance was… himself. He was his own cold case and didn't have clue one. He wondered if the solution to the crime of Mr. Wylde lay in the idea that hope itself hadn't died – yet – and laughed at the brilliant idiocy of that new notion.
It feels like a draft brimming with too many moments, and with the focus misplaced or stretched in a couple of spots that reminds the reader how close to an amazing reading experience this could be with some streamlining and sober-eyed structural editing. One example that comes to mind is a multi-page monologue offered a murderer as he tortures a victim. Yes, the villain is loquacious and egotistical, but the spotlight is an odd choice when who the reader really cares about (and from whose point of view we should experience this heartbreaking moment) is the helpless person dying in front of him. What the killer has to say about his philosophy or methods at this point is moot, yet it goes on for pages.

Sparrow touches on some interesting themes, exploring by story's end the relationship between vengeance and forgiveness. The body- and soul-sharing, and the attendant rules both mystical and corporeal, call on a reader's suspension of belief, and I don't think it is too difficult to go with the karmic flow. (It helps that American pop culture, with entries from Here Comes Mr. Jordan to The Lovely Bones, has paved the way for such premises.) A Guide for Murdered Children reads like a First Novel from an ambitious new author, with all of the strengths and weaknesses that would accompany a story from someone with a lot to say but not always the experiential discipline to effectively say it.

Available March 20, 2018 through Blue Rider Press. I received an advance reading copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

0 Comments

    BLOG

    Lots of book reviews and discussion of classic and contemporary mystery fiction. I welcome comments and continuing conversation.

    Subscribe below to receive updates!

    Subscribe

    Categories

    All
    19th Century Novels
    Andrew Garve
    Anne Morice
    Anthologies
    Anthony Boucher
    Appalachian Authors
    Bill James
    Book Review
    Catherine Dilts
    C. Daly King
    Craig Rice
    David Goodis
    E.C.R. Lorac / Carol Carnac
    Erle Stanley Gardner
    E.R. Punshon
    Freeman Wills Crofts
    French Authors
    George Bellairs
    George Milner
    Gladys Mitchell
    Golden Age Mystery
    Gregory McDonald
    Hardboiled Detectives
    Helen McCloy
    Henry Wade
    Herbert Adams
    Hugh Austin
    James Corbett
    J. Jefferson Farjeon
    John Bude
    John Rhode/Miles Burton
    Leo Bruce
    Maj Sjowall / Per Wahloo
    Margery Allingham
    Martin Edwards
    Michael Gilbert
    Michael Innes
    Mignon G. Eberhart
    Milward Kennedy
    Mitchell Mystery Reading Group
    New Fiction
    New Mystery
    Nicholas Blake
    Nicolas Freeling
    Noir
    Philip MacDonald
    Play Review
    Q. Patrick / Patrick Quentin
    Rex Stout
    Richard Hull
    Ross MacDonald
    Russian Authors
    Science Fiction
    Vernon Loder
    Vladimir Nabokov
    William L. DeAndrea
    Winifred Blazey
    Writing

    Mystery Fiction Sites
    -- all recommended ! --
    Ahsweetmysteryblog
    Beneath the Stains of Time
    Bitter Tea and Mystery
    Catherine Dilts - author
    Countdown John's Christie Journal
    Classic Mysteries
    Clothes in Books
    ​A Crime is Afoot
    Crossexaminingcrime
    Gladys Mitchell Tribute
    Grandest Game in the World
    In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel
    The Invisible Event
    Martin Edwards' Crime Writing Blog
    Mysteries Ahoy!
    Noirish
    The Passing Tramp
    Past Offences
    Pretty Sinister Books
    Tipping My Fedora
    

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015

    RSS Feed

Unless otherwise stated, all text content on this site is
​copyright Jason Half, 2023.