Review: The Night Men

The Night Men
Keith Snyder
Class/Genre: Mystery Humorous
Series: Jason Keltner # 4

OK first I have to say that it's a bit of a surreal experience to read a book on
the train when the author's sitting in the next seat over. Never mind that Tom
Savage was sitting across the aisle from me reading SJ Rozan's upcoming book
while sitting next to....SJ.

But surrealness (is that a word??) aside, I can say without reservation that Keith has managed to blow TROUBLE COMES BACK out of the water. Which is really something since that book was one of my favorites of the '99 batch.

THE NIGHT MEN's divided up into three parts--the present day, when Jason helps out his friend Zeb whose store has just been vandalized and it may just be a hate crime, fifteen years earlier when Jason, Robert and Martin are in high school and become friends through a similiar experience, and excerpts from the pulp crime novel that the trio loved as teens, which also happens to be called THE NIGHT MEN. Although I had to adjust a little bit between the switching from present to past at first, just because there weren't any obvious differences like italics or headers or whatever, after the first switch it really became seamless, and I never got confused because the tones were distinct enough.

The pulp sections, especially, were dead-on. I haven't read EARLY AUTUMN which I think was the inspiration but at least I had enough Parker and the classics to get the homage and parody-like feel to it. It was great, great stuff.

My favorite parts were really the high school flashbacks, because Keith captured the high school experience in a way that, I think, few writers really have, in the confusion of wondering why the friends you had before slowly, suddenly, don't consider you "cool enough" anymore, and when you don't feel like you fit into any of the social groups, be it jocks or the geeks or whatever, and are vaguely pissed off but really not sure what to do about it. And although it's a hate crime that brings Jason and Robert and Martin together, it's really not about that, but about what makes bonds of friendship stronger than familial ones, and when the family is broken and there's no real way to fix it, how one can figure out how to deal with it and go on from there.

THE NIGHT MEN is not a crime novel. It may involve crime and there is a bit of a mystery to be solved but it's not the focus. But there were times when it came pretty close to making me cry and much of the time I just wanted to give the guys, most especially Jason and Robert, a big hug and try to tell them that it's going to work out okay for them, even though it might not be totally true and it might not work out to be okay right away or in the way they really want it to.

I don't know if this review really comes close to saying just how much I appreciated and loved the book, but I'm going to do what I can to get it in people's hands, especially since I'm probably preaching to many converted around here. But if not, well, you gotta read it. And it stands alone from the series more than any of the books, and because of the flashbacks are a great way to meet up with the trio and then see how they are when they grow up.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Sarah - RAM

Book Review: The Night Men