On, Off: A Novel by Colleen McCullough. A serial killer terrorizes Connecticut in the turbulent 1960's.

Colleen McCullough is the celebrated author of The Thorn Birds (Modern Classics), a trained neurophysiologist, a native Australian, and a current sufferer of macular degeneration; she wrote a crime novel, published in the U.S. in 2006, called On, Off that incorporates many elements of her life experiences. Macular degeneration is a disease that can lead to blindness, and it plays an important role in this novel, as does neurophysiology. Unfortunately, in spite of my hopeful approach to this story, I can't recommend On, Off without deep reservations.

Overall, On, Off is mostly well crafted, though there are too many side-stories, some of which tantalize and then go nowhere; in some cases, these appear to be vestigial plot fragments from early manuscripts rather than "legitimate" red herrings (take the opening sequence with Jimmy, for example). Could it be that that such an international star of popular fiction has become immune or impervious (or indifferent) to good editing?

The storyline takes place during the height of racial unrest in the 1960s, and the physical setting is the State of Connecticut. The major location is a small University town and the neurophysiology institute, known by all as "The Hug", that is attached to the local medical school. There is plenty of technical detail about brain research to satisfy the curious, though how germane this is to the final outcome is debatable.

We are in serial killer territory here, so one shouldn't expect a pleasant ride. However, there are many appealing aspects to the story, particularly the personality of local police lieutenant Carmine Delmonico and his struggle, aided by a at least one clever team member, to catch a killer first dubbed "The Connecticut Monster" but later called "The Ghost" because of an uncanny ability to leave no physical evidence at any of the crime scenes. Delmonico is not a stereotypical 60's cop figure for typical crime fiction: he is open-minded, cultured, incorruptible, has a respect for civil rights, is not racially prejudiced, and likes his women with brains. So far, so good (and then some!).

However, we are treated to a fairly stock set of academic characters associated with The Hug, and though these characters come to life now and again, they also blend together to some extent as the story progresses. They exemplify academic administration, wealthy donors, and different branches of neurophysiology, from clinical to pure research. Together, the characters operate in a volatile, hot-house environment where jealousy, ambition, egos and resentment are all cultivated in an unhealthy way. So far, OK.

The most serious problem I have with this book is the nature of the crimes themselves. It is not, apparently, enough that beautiful 16-year old girls of upstanding character and mixed racial origins are abducted, raped, tortured, murdered, decapitated and otherwise chopped to pieces (the order of these acts is not always as stated). This would leave us in a highly unpleasant realm, but would not be out of the ordinary for hard-boiled crime fiction. However, I found that the crimes themselves went far beyond terrible, and really exceeded what I could stomach. The violence, sadism and torture that we learn of, mainly through autopsies, is unnecessarily graphic even in a pathology report and far surpasses what is needed to depict "merely" brutal crimes.

So, while there are elements of suspense for a reader to enjoy, and while there are elements of interest when Carmine attempts to match wits with the Ghost (or is it the Ghosts?), I found it completely impossible to derive any pleasure from reading this book whenever the crimes themselves. or their memory, intruded on the story. I would have to say that the level of sadism and sociopathic behavior far exceed that of, say, Hannibal Lector.

If you can handle reading about these terrible crimes against children and are willing to overlook some gaping holes and cul de sacs in the plot, you might enjoy On, Off. Some of book rises above these shortcomings, but not enough for me. I recommend that you give this one a pass and simply move on. Read Gary Disher, Cara Black, Michael Connelly, Henning Mankell, Ian Rankin and many others from the range of detective fiction and fiction noir who better balance the scales of evil or depravity against opposition, if not necessarily opposites, offered by police and private detectives . These authors also take better care crafting their plots than the esteemed Ms. McCullough did for On, Off.

Lost comments recovered (reverse chronological order):

• James Bashkin

Thanks, Patricia. I feel I can handle books that are realistic and dark as long as everything works together as part of the story, but when exploitation is involved, when the violence is too severe and unnecessary, I find it troublesome. It isn't that I want to censor the work, I just wish I hadn't read it. And it was a shame because there was a better story waiting to be told using some of the great characters that did appear, but this story didn't turn out great at all. Far from it. I almost never write negative reviews, but I made an exception here. I appreciate your taking the time to read and offer feedback. Best wishes, Jim

• Patricia - Spiritual

Thanks for sharing this. It definitely isn't my kind of book. I don't like graphic. We don't need to feed into the violence of the world by what we read or write.

Technorati Tags:crime fiction, Australian, The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCullough, on off, Cara Black, Henning Mankell, Michael Connelly, serial killer, murder mystery, rural Connecticut, neurophysiology, macular degeneration, blindness, sociopath, crimes against children

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Nightlife, thrilling crime fiction by Thomas Perry– a Review

Nightlife: A Novel

I have enjoyed a number of Thomas Perry’s books, especially the early books in the Jane Whitefield series, a set of books about a Native American woman whose special gifts allow her to help people disappear from the face of the earth, assume new identities, and escape the evil that men would do.

Like the Whitefield series and many of my favorite detective stories (see books by Cara Black (Cara Black's books), Linda Barnes, and many others discussed on this blog), Nightlife also has a woman protagonist: Catherine Hobbs, who is a homicide detective from Portland, Oregon. Catherine is on the trail of a murderer and possible kidnapper, or perhaps several murderers; her picture of the crimes is muddled at first by a profusion of contradictory and incomplete evidence. We, on the other hand, have the advantage of hearing the killer’s own thoughts, though they are dissociated enough from reality that it takes some time to filter them properly and obtain some semblance of the truth.

The first victim whose murder Catherine investigates is Dennis Poole. She is joined nearly from the start by a private detective and retired member of the L. A. district attorney’s office, Joe Pitt. Pitt is extremely charming and an experienced investigator, and was brought on board by Los Angeles-based crime boss Hugo Poole. Hugo and Dennis, as it turns out, were cousins. What bothers Hugo, and Catherine for that matter, is that Dennis was, in a nice way, simply “a nobody”: a nondescript computer salesman in a seemingly boring job, one that he actually loved and was good at. Dennis was not a “player”, he was just a pleasant and unadventurous fellow, highly unlikely to meet the kind of person who would do him in. Yet the murder was clearly committed by a close personal acquaintance, or, more likely, with the unwilling help of such a person. Certainly someone involved was intimate enough with Dennis to have access to his apartment while Dennis was taking a bath. Access enough to walk up to Dennis and shoot him in the head during that relaxing bath. At least he never saw it coming- his eyes were closed while he rested in the tub after a long day at work. Perhaps, Hugo worries, the killing is some kind of retaliation for one of Hugo’s criminal enterprises in L.A.

There is immediate concern about the location of Dennis’ new girlfriend, whose presence is indicated all over the apartment, but who has disappeared. Was she used by a thug to gain entrance to the apartment, is she still alive, was she a witness to the crime?

The excitement and considerable suspense of Nightlife make for an enjoyable ride. At the heart of things is a killer who is nuts (a technical term), but who has developed an extraordinary skill at identity theft, and at preying on unsuspecting victims carefully set up for the kill with detailed planning. The killer’s mental illness manifests in the way that each new personality and identity are truly inhabited, bringing to them an authenticity of performance that fools everyone.

Adding to the suspense, one never knows what the murder will look like, or what the murderer’s new name might be. However, Catherine applies insight and exhaustive detective work to track the schizophrenic killer, hoping to put a stop to the seemingly endless trail of victims who are apparently connected by nothing except their availability and ready assets. Catherine is, however, able to tease out of the matrix of assembled and possibly unrelated data a couple of threads that send her off to investigate.

With a small but significant amount of help from Joe, Catherine finally tracks the killer down, but she is off her home turf, without backup, and in serious danger before she figures out the complete story. When Catherine realizes the new identity that the killer plans to assume, she is horrified, frightened and more determined than ever to try to stop the serial killing. Who survives this final struggle? Read Nightlife to find out.

Technorati Tags:thomas perry, cara black, women detectives, murder mystery, detective story, police procedural, crime fiction, serial killer
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Mystery Novels 2

Some of the books recently added to the living list at Powell's bookstore, my own list, are given here with initial comments. The first two are by expatriate Chinese author Qiu Xiaolong:

Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong

A Loyal Character Dancer by Qiu Xiaolong

These two books are remarkable. Written by a scholar who moved from China to St. Louis, they gave me the first detailed pictures of many previously opaque aspects of the newest economy and the tragic Cultural Revolution, including its effect on families, villages, cities and individuals. The Cultural Revolution is shown through reminiscences of various characters in the stories. The police protagonist, Inspector Chen, is cultured, clever, principled, sometimes naive, and has the small worries and insecurities that help him come to life as a great character. He isn't the only detective who writes poetry or likes books, but his academic and artistic abilities are not forced into the stories, and his quotes from Chinese poetry or literature are infrequent enough that they add to the depth rather than detract from the flow of the story. The sideline of translating American fiction into Chinese gives the inspector some extra income- it also adds to his human qualities, but perhaps more important is how examples like this create a complex and believable Chinese world. We are given a range of insights into current and recently-past society, in a wide range of Chinese settings from rural to urban to aristocratic. Never did I feel that any of this information was forced- everything is wrapped up organically into exciting and suspenseful mysteries that accelerate toward the finish. There are political perils at local and National levels to deal with, and department politics to negotiate, all forming additional barriers to solving the crimes. The ancillary characters add much to the enjoyment of these books- their concerns may be about pay, career advancement or Party status, but they all ring true. I could not put these books down. The writer lives in St. Louis, as do I, and we have taught at the same University, but I do not know him.

More on the rest later, but these are all highly recommended:

Death of an Englishman (Soho Crime) by Magdalen Nabb ISBN: 9781569472545

Murder in the Sentier by Cara Black ISBN: 9781569473313

Murder in the Marais (Aimee Leduc Investigation) by Cara Black ISBN: 9781569472125

Murder in the Bastille (Aimee Leduc Investigation) by Cara Black ISBN: 9781569473641

Beat Not the Bones by Charlotte Jay ISBN: 9781299768628 or 9781299768628 or 9781569470473

The Woman Who Married a Bear (Soho Crime) by John Straley ISBN: 9781569474013

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