{"id":11270,"date":"2022-09-22T12:05:23","date_gmt":"2022-09-22T16:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/?p=11270"},"modified":"2022-09-22T15:14:43","modified_gmt":"2022-09-22T19:14:43","slug":"book-review-ill-will","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2022\/09\/book-review-ill-will\/","title":{"rendered":"Book review: Ill Will"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently read Dan Chaon’s 2017 thriller, Ill Will. This is my first book by this author, which reinforces my resolve to ignore online reviews. Can it be that they’re all fake?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These days I’ve replaced my Kindle Oasis with a Kobo Libre 2. I reviewed the Kindle<\/a> and I’ll provide a review of the Kobo for those interested in e-readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/span>In the Studio Oct. 14 2012<\/span><\/a><\/div>

The novel is told in the voices of several protagonists. The central figure is a psychologist working in Cleveland. One reason I got the book is that it is set in locations familiar to me. At the outset of the novel Dustin, the psychologist, begins working with a Cleveland cop who is on extended leave. The cop is convinced that a series of seemingly unrelated drownings in Ohio are connected. The victims are all college-age men of good health whose bodies are found sometime after they disappear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we follow this thread, we learn that Dustin’s parents and aunt and uncle were murdered in their home when Dustin was 13. Dustin’s adopted older brother was convicted of the crime. Soon after the novel opens, Dustin learns that the convicted killer has been exonerated and released from prison after 29 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/span>Stephen Pentak at Bonfoey<\/span><\/a><\/div>

While these two threads are spun, we learn that the cop selected Dustin as his psychologist because of his experience as a 13-year old. The cop believes that horrific experience equips Dustin to help him sift fact from fiction regarding the drownings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that is the heart of the novel–sifting fact from fiction; fantasy from reality. The author attempts to weave a tapestry of two timelines, two crimes, and several voices into a seamless whole without much success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/span>Cleveland Museum of Art Staff Exhibition<\/span><\/a><\/div>

Chaon is a competent, professional writer. This isn’t another Kindle Unlimited author learning the craft on the job. He’s capable of tense and taunt passages heightened with original observations. He convincingly sets the psychological stage where the protagonists’ truths differ widely from one anothers. As the author wants us to, we begin to question whose version of events is accurate. What really happened? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And to give the author his due, I was surprised by the ending. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/span>In the Studio—10\/28\/12<\/span><\/a><\/div>

While there are things to admire here, the negatives far outweigh the positives. First, the author experiments with simultaneous narratives, sometime two or even three parallel columns on the same page. Chaon’s normal readers won’t be able to grasp multiple voices without repeated whippings? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, this novel lacks a moral compass. In a world where only random violence is real, there is no agency and without agency there is no motive. As with Perdido Street Station<\/a>, the author substitutes scene setting and mood evoking for plot. We get an unwavering mood of despair, gloom, and revulsion. No character development whatsoever. In fact, this novel reminds me of Roman Polanski’s study of depression and decay, Repulsion<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/span>Hurricane Sandy<\/span><\/a><\/div>

Based on this novel, Chaon is on my avoid list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dan Chaon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently read Dan Chaon’s 2017 thriller, Ill Will. This is my first book by this author, which reinforces my resolve to ignore online reviews. Can it be that they’re all fake? These days I’ve replaced my Kindle Oasis with a Kobo Libre 2. I reviewed the Kindle and I’ll provide a review of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":11276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[108,10,332,46,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-cleveland","category-grumpy-review","category-reviews","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/ill-will.jpg?fit=500%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10844,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2022\/08\/book-review-lord-fouls-bane\/","url_meta":{"origin":11270,"position":0},"title":"Book review: Lord Foul’s Bane","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"August 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I am in the midst of another fiction-consuming binge. When I tire of listening to podcasts I fire up an audio book. Between listening to books and reading them with my Kobo e-Reader, I go through a lot of books. The fantasy novel Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen Donaldson is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/lfb.jpg?fit=778%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/lfb.jpg?fit=778%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/lfb.jpg?fit=778%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/lfb.jpg?fit=778%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3091,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2014\/02\/cleveland-gallery-reviews\/","url_meta":{"origin":11270,"position":1},"title":"Cleveland Gallery Reviews","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"February 17, 2014","format":"status","excerpt":"Frequent readers might have noticed the dwindling number of reviews of Cleveland galleries. I've been exploring the Cleveland art scene--such as it is--for two years and my early sense of discovery has long since dissipated. The NE Ohio galleries, like most of those outside the major art markets, are dedicated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cleveland"","block_context":{"text":"Cleveland","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/cleveland\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9548,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2021\/05\/grumpy-review-kindles\/","url_meta":{"origin":11270,"position":2},"title":"Grumpy review: Kindles","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"May 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I've used my Kindle Oasis for several years and thought I'd share my impressions with you. Let's start with the negatives. Cons Goodreads. Amazon embeds Goodreads in the Kindle. You cannot turn it off, even if you do not have or want a Goodreads account. I almost returned my Kindle\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/kindle2.jpg?fit=474%2C315&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2574,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2013\/09\/review-augusto-bordelois-at-csu\/","url_meta":{"origin":11270,"position":3},"title":"Review: Augusto Bordelois at CSU","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"September 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Cuban-born, Cleveland-based artist Augusto Bordelois is showing some striking works at Cleveland State U. The exhibition, titled \"Based on a True Story,\" is filled with large-format paintings full of bold colors and simple shapes that burst their frames and overflow the shallow space, as in the accompanying photo. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Artists"","block_context":{"text":"Artists","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/artists\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/bordelois1.jpg?fit=600%2C465&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/bordelois1.jpg?fit=600%2C465&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/bordelois1.jpg?fit=600%2C465&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5087,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2015\/05\/book-review-the-war-of-art\/","url_meta":{"origin":11270,"position":4},"title":"Book review: the War of Art","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"May 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Steven Pressfield's the War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles \u00a0offers pop psychology advice to struggling writers and artists.\u00a0Pressfield is most known for his novel and film \u00a0The Legend of Bagger Vance.\u00a0Before reading this book on my Kindle, I'd read nothing by the author.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1583,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2013\/04\/non-reviews\/","url_meta":{"origin":11270,"position":5},"title":"Non Reviews","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"April 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I was going to title this post \u2018negative reviews\u2019 referring to non-reviews\u2014shows I\u2019ve visited that did not speak to me, and so no reviews were forthcoming. Silence as a review, so to speak. But, of course, readers have no way of knowing what exhibitions I attend and pass by without\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bio"","block_context":{"text":"Bio","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/bio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Gw6F-2VM","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11270"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11285,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11270\/revisions\/11285"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}