Crime fiction meets soap opera - heavy-handed, ridiculously gratuitous & full of awful cliches!
After being underwhelmed by my first read of a Jack Jordan novel with Before Her Eyes I was more prepared for a second outing and primed to suspend disbelief and expect some ridiculously gratuitous violence for the sake of a solid thriller. Sadly, Night by Night is no more convincing and the many implausibilities make for an eye-rolling soap opera full of troubled characters all displaying melodramatic emotions. Obviously a passion piece by Jack Jordan, the main theme of the novel surrounds institutionalised homophobia in the police force and the stigmatisation of gay men by society in general and this theme is glaringly unsubtle.
Struggling to maintain the facade of loving wife of eleven years to husband, Christian, and attentive mother of eight-year-old twins, Lily and Violet, thirty-five-year-old artist protagonist, Rose Shaw, loses everything in one fell swoop when a split-second lapse of concentration induced by her exhausted state has fatal consequences. Ostracised by her family, shunned by her former friends, estranged from her father she tortures herself daily and endures a reclusive lifestyle contained within one room of the family home. Rose is initially a sympathetic and compelling character and her battle with decade long chronic insomnia makes for emotive reading. After four-years in a mire of grief, laden with guilt and increasingly alienated from her husband, a fleeting expedition into town under cover of darkness sees Rose bump into a running man in full flight who drops a book in his hurry.
The book turns out to be Finn Matthew’s journal and is obviously written in the first-person and opens when he starts a new job as assistant editor at the local Evening Herald newspaper. Ambitious, capable and committed to his making a fresh start in a new town he also has difficulty saying no but the idea that he is without even a single contact or distant relation to call on for support or has anywhere to turn is pretty unbelievable. Likewise his swift collapse to a broken man coincides with Rose’s rise to vocal, fearless warrior for equality. Finn’s story is punctuated by a handful of other young males and their abandonment by unsupportive families due to their homosexuality and has allowed all of them to fall into the clutches of a twisted and manipulative sadist.
I was initially drawn into Rose’s plight and her battle with insomnia and when she reads the terrifying story it resurrects her memories of her younger brother, Jay, and the trauma of his suicide after the family’s refusal to acknowledge and accept his sexuality. When she discovers that Finn has been the victim of a controlling abuser and the story is no work of fiction she instigates a mission to seek him out and ensure his safety. But as Rose’s quest for answers hits disinterest and brick walls preventing her discovering the truth she is obstructed by the local police who refuse to investigate his disappearance and she is therefore forced to do her own detective work.
When Rose takes out a full page advert in the local paper she is quickly contacted by a host of families all seeking news of their missing loved ones. Discovering that the common link between them all is the neighbourhood of Rearwood and their attraction to the same gender she seeks to uncover the hidden darkness within Rearwood. The idea that she has given up on her marriage and accepted his daughters scorn and anger so easily and yet overnight becomes a tenacious investigator and crusader for justice feels like a real stretch. I soon found her behaviour rash, nonsensical and wilfully destructive as she single-handedly attempts to raise awareness and obtain justice for the missing men, none of which rings trues given her fragile confidence and reclusive lifestyle. Husband, Christian, never emerges as a fully realised individual and aside from Finn, whom readers get to know through his journal, the rest of cast are pretty unremarkable.
The idea that the Rearwood police force is staffed wholesale by bigoted, bullying and vehemently passionate homophobes willing to stifle crime reports relating to gay men is rather a blanket judgment and disappointing simplistic. Likewise for a contemporary story I felt the portrayal of societies acceptance and hostility towards homosexuals seemed rather outdated. It is also the second out of two of Jordan’s novels reliant on corrupt coppers abusing their power and for an author who seems to rail against stereotypes, Jack Jordan certainly employs his fair share!
I found the novel incredibly drawn-out and felt that the violent and gory denouement became progressively more unrealistic and limped to a finish. Convincing and suspenseful crime fiction for me equates to a storyline which is in the realm of fantasy and with characters who bear some resemblance to real people. Jordan characterisation is as subtle as a sledgehammer to the head and the poor characterisation of the perpetrator and their behaviour and attitude throughout the storyline left me with totally bemused. The very idea that this individual would instigate a sustained campaign of targeting and abusing men time and again and yet no one in the provincial town of Rearwood would have any clue about their sexual presence (despite chatting up men in pubs), is totally inconsistent with the persuasive predator lying in wait persona.
Nevertheless Jordan’s story shines a light on the horror of insomnia and may raise awareness and sympathy for the condition throughout modern day society. Eye-opening and groundbreaking for those who have been living in a time warp but decidedly run of the mill for readers after an involving, credible and gritty thriller reflective of twenty-first century society.
With thanks to Readers First who provided me with a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.
Struggling to maintain the facade of loving wife of eleven years to husband, Christian, and attentive mother of eight-year-old twins, Lily and Violet, thirty-five-year-old artist protagonist, Rose Shaw, loses everything in one fell swoop when a split-second lapse of concentration induced by her exhausted state has fatal consequences. Ostracised by her family, shunned by her former friends, estranged from her father she tortures herself daily and endures a reclusive lifestyle contained within one room of the family home. Rose is initially a sympathetic and compelling character and her battle with decade long chronic insomnia makes for emotive reading. After four-years in a mire of grief, laden with guilt and increasingly alienated from her husband, a fleeting expedition into town under cover of darkness sees Rose bump into a running man in full flight who drops a book in his hurry.
The book turns out to be Finn Matthew’s journal and is obviously written in the first-person and opens when he starts a new job as assistant editor at the local Evening Herald newspaper. Ambitious, capable and committed to his making a fresh start in a new town he also has difficulty saying no but the idea that he is without even a single contact or distant relation to call on for support or has anywhere to turn is pretty unbelievable. Likewise his swift collapse to a broken man coincides with Rose’s rise to vocal, fearless warrior for equality. Finn’s story is punctuated by a handful of other young males and their abandonment by unsupportive families due to their homosexuality and has allowed all of them to fall into the clutches of a twisted and manipulative sadist.
I was initially drawn into Rose’s plight and her battle with insomnia and when she reads the terrifying story it resurrects her memories of her younger brother, Jay, and the trauma of his suicide after the family’s refusal to acknowledge and accept his sexuality. When she discovers that Finn has been the victim of a controlling abuser and the story is no work of fiction she instigates a mission to seek him out and ensure his safety. But as Rose’s quest for answers hits disinterest and brick walls preventing her discovering the truth she is obstructed by the local police who refuse to investigate his disappearance and she is therefore forced to do her own detective work.
When Rose takes out a full page advert in the local paper she is quickly contacted by a host of families all seeking news of their missing loved ones. Discovering that the common link between them all is the neighbourhood of Rearwood and their attraction to the same gender she seeks to uncover the hidden darkness within Rearwood. The idea that she has given up on her marriage and accepted his daughters scorn and anger so easily and yet overnight becomes a tenacious investigator and crusader for justice feels like a real stretch. I soon found her behaviour rash, nonsensical and wilfully destructive as she single-handedly attempts to raise awareness and obtain justice for the missing men, none of which rings trues given her fragile confidence and reclusive lifestyle. Husband, Christian, never emerges as a fully realised individual and aside from Finn, whom readers get to know through his journal, the rest of cast are pretty unremarkable.
The idea that the Rearwood police force is staffed wholesale by bigoted, bullying and vehemently passionate homophobes willing to stifle crime reports relating to gay men is rather a blanket judgment and disappointing simplistic. Likewise for a contemporary story I felt the portrayal of societies acceptance and hostility towards homosexuals seemed rather outdated. It is also the second out of two of Jordan’s novels reliant on corrupt coppers abusing their power and for an author who seems to rail against stereotypes, Jack Jordan certainly employs his fair share!
I found the novel incredibly drawn-out and felt that the violent and gory denouement became progressively more unrealistic and limped to a finish. Convincing and suspenseful crime fiction for me equates to a storyline which is in the realm of fantasy and with characters who bear some resemblance to real people. Jordan characterisation is as subtle as a sledgehammer to the head and the poor characterisation of the perpetrator and their behaviour and attitude throughout the storyline left me with totally bemused. The very idea that this individual would instigate a sustained campaign of targeting and abusing men time and again and yet no one in the provincial town of Rearwood would have any clue about their sexual presence (despite chatting up men in pubs), is totally inconsistent with the persuasive predator lying in wait persona.
Nevertheless Jordan’s story shines a light on the horror of insomnia and may raise awareness and sympathy for the condition throughout modern day society. Eye-opening and groundbreaking for those who have been living in a time warp but decidedly run of the mill for readers after an involving, credible and gritty thriller reflective of twenty-first century society.
With thanks to Readers First who provided me with a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.