"Why" in Scrublands

As I read Scrublands by Chris Hammer I thought about why I was so caught up in the plot. I realized it was because the plot is focused on a favourite theme of mine in crime fiction. Scrublands is about “why”.

As set out in the opening to my review of the book in my last post Martin, who has come to Riversend to write a year after follow up on the murders by the local priest Byron Swift, finds himself in the midst of a different story. Mandalay (Mandy) Blonde cannot understand why Swift killed five men outside his church Sunday morning.

There is no “who” or “how” to be determined in Scrublands. Those questions at the heart of many mysteries are resolved before the end of the second page. But there is not a bit of “why” to the murders for even for those who lived in Riversend.

A year later Mandy is still haunted by “why”. She is not alone in being troubled by the lack of “why”. It is as an irresistible question for me as it is for Martin.

Through my life “why” has fascinated me. I expect I plagued my parents as a boy with constant questions of “why”.

I know that as a sports columnist it is my favourite question. Why was a certain play called? Why did a play succeed or fail? Why was a player in or out of the lineup?

As a lawyer when a client, whether facing a criminal charge or a civil suit, comes to the office I want to know the “why” of the facts told to me.

Thus in reading crime fiction I am invariably intrigued when “why” is at the heart of a novel.

When I spoke at the book launch of Volume 3 of A Literary History of Saskatchewan about my essay on crime fiction I told the gathering that one of the reasons I love crime fiction is because so many fine works in the genre delve into the “why” of the murder.

There is good reason, in fiction and in real life, to doubt someone has commited murder without a reason to kill.

Even as Martin learns more and more facts about Swift and the residents of Riversend the “why” of the killings is frustratingly elusive.

You would think it should be obvious. Police, except for the local officer, were content with the explanation that Swift killed for a reason related to his alleged molestation of children. Yet “why” would he kill to protect himself from wrathful parents or outraged community members when he could simply have left town,

Were it one or two killed the “why” may have related to unknown personal conflicts but there were five.

Potentially more promising was Swift’s mysterious past but “why” would problems in his life before Riversend, whatever they might be, have caused him to kill five local men.

I appreciate not everyone wants to know “why”. I have seen readers and bloggers express disinterest, even disdain, for the “why” of a murderer, especially a serial killer.

Some years ago I read an absorbing book, Explaining Hitler by Ron Rosenbaum. In that book he explored 20 people who had sought to explain the “why” of Hitler’s decisions. Some explored “why” the innocent baby Hitler, as shown on the cover photo of the book in this post, had grown up to be one of history’s worst mass murderers.

Among the those covered in the book were two who took starkly different positions on “why”.

Claude Lanzmann, the creator of the acclaimed documentary Shoah, fiercely asserted there should no attempt to explain Hitler. He dogmatically states it is obscenity to try to understand:

“…. Why are the Jews being killed? Because there is no answer to the question of why.” Because, in other words, any answer begins inevitably to legitimize, to make “understandable” that process.

Lanzmann refers often to a remark by an Auschwitz guard – “Here there is no why”. He objects to even discussing “why”.

Auschwitz survivor Dr. Louis Micheels, the subject of a thinly veiled attack by Lanzmann, simply and eloquently argues in favour of “why”:

He explains the remark was accurate in Auschwitz, a world so “different and so foreign …. another planet, light-years away. It was inhabited by creatures that had little if anything in common with what we consider human beings …”

Micheels continues:

“However, in the civilized world to which so few of us, including Primo Levi, returned, there should be – da soll ein warum sein. Without an attempt, no matter how difficult and complex, at understanding, that very world, where truth is most important, could be lost again.”

“Da soll ein warum sein”: There must be a why.

On “why” with regard to murders, whether singular or serial or mass, I will always wants to know “why”.

I was glad there was a “why” in Scrublands. As to the “why” revealed I was satisfied.

****

Hammer, Chris - (2018) - Scrublands

Scrublands by Chris Hammer

(38. – 968.) Scrublands by Chris Hammer – What an opening. As journalist Martin Scarsden visits with lovely young bookstore owner, Mandalay “Mandy” Blonde she seeks to convince him that local priest, Byron Swift, did not kill five people outside his Church on a Sunday morning because he had been a pedophile. She is certain because he cared:

     Martin doesn’t know what to say.   

     He sees the passion on her face, 

     hears the fervor in her voice. But a 

     mass murderer who cared?

Martin is in Riversend, a small town in Australia, suffering from prolonged drought. As in The Dry by Jane Harper the Australian heat dominates the setting of Scrublands.

It is a year after the killing and his editor has assigned him to write a follow up story on how the town is coping.

Martin is 40 years old, acutely conscious of the physical signs of middle age in face and hands, and haunted by the memories of being almost killed in the Gaza Strip where he spent 3 days in the trunk of a car.

In a town uninterested in talking to any journalist he is gifted a Page One story. In his first interview on the killings the local police officer, Robbie Haus-Jones, tells Martin about rushing to the Church after the shooting and confronting the priest and killing him when he raises his rifle and fires at Haus-Jones.

Seeking local colour on the town a year after the shooting he interviews a shabby Harley Snouch, drinking cheap port in a boarded up wine saloon. Such saloons were drinking places for men who were WW I veterans:

They were all over the place, these wine saloons, in the bush and in the cities. Every country town had one. It was different in those days. No Medibank, no Medicare, no cheap medicine. They self-medicated. It weren’t no table wine they served in wine saloons, it was plonk: flagon port and cooking sherry and home-stilled spirits. Nasty, cheap, and effective. This is where they came, the walking ghosts who weren’t welcome in the Commercial fucken Hotel.

Ready to leave Martin is drawn into the life of the community by stepping up to assist community members in a pair of emergencies.

The second involves a bush fire in the Scrublands, an area of wasteland near Riversend. In one of the most compelling scenes I have read in a long time he is caught, with two other men, in a house as the fire sweeps up to and into the house. It is terrifying.

Gradually he learns why the police are being so forthcoming to a journalist.

Swift’s penchants for shooting, drinking, telling dirty jokes and smoking marijuana are incompatible with his position as an Anglican priest. Gradually Martin learns Swift’s pre-Riversend personal history is far more complicated than he had anticipated.

The police, the journalists and the residents are battered by the revelations unleashed when Martin strives to find the answer to the “why” of Swift’s actions. My next post will explore “why”.

When more bodies are found he is at the forefront of a story riveting the nation of Australia. He is riding the crest of a journalist sensation that can return him to fame and even possibly fortune. Yet what will be the costs to personal relationships he has established in Riversend. For his help in two emergencies he has become trusted by the residents.

As information comes his way Martin becomes challenged by ethics. What is ethical as an investigative reporter comes into conflict on what is ethical in personal relationships. Should a journalist play God in telling but some of the truths of a story?

Hammer writes of journalists with such feel for them and the details of their reporting that I knew he had been a journalist before reading of his personal history.

The shifts in the story throughout the book are not so much twists or surprises. They are the unfolding of an intricate, clever and absorbing plot. I was reminded of the complex driving plot being revealed as I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Hammer's skill drew me deeply into the community and people he created. It takes great talent to provide such drama with, what seems, a casual ease.

Scrublands is a strong contender for my Bill’s Best Fiction of 2018. 

Already a great success in Australia I forecast Scrublands is about to sweep onto the bestseller lists of North America. After it is published in Canada and the U.S. in January Hammer had best be ready for a torrent of attention is about to descend upon him.

Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein

I am behind in writing posts so decided to post a review of Killer Heat from a decade ago before I started writing the blog.

It was the first of two books I have read by Linda Fairstein featuring Manhattan Assistant District Attorney, Alexandra Cooper. The second was Terminal City which I reviewed in 2015. Below the review I have some further comments. 

****

23. - 433.) Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein – Manhattan Assistant District Attorney, Alexandra Cooper, is wrapping up the prosecution of a serial rapist who is being retried 30 years after a hung jury in his first trial. Suddenly she is called to a building on the waterfront where a part-time hooker specializing in SM has been found. Circumstances get more serious when a second young woman is found dead. Both have been sexually assaulted and tortured. Alex is intimately involved with her favourite police detectives in the investigation. They look at a stereotypical Irish pub owning family, the Dylans (essentially portrayed as a caricature) and their relationships with the women. A third murder and they are searching for a serial killer. Information leads them to the historic military islands around New York City. (There are interesting historical tidbits.) A plausible surprise tip breaks the case. It was hard for me to believe ADA’s get so directly involved in police investigations. Overall it was well plotted but I found the heroic portrayals of police and prosecutors overdone. There is no recognition of any flaws. It is too hard for a defence counsel to accept the righteous tone. Alright. Paperback. (June 7/08)

****

I think Fairstein is a good writer but I wish Ms. Cooper acted more like a lawyer than a police investigator. In both books she is far more involved in the actual investigations than is credible.

The two books do feature aspects of New York City that are little known to non-residents. In Killer Heat islands that were / are military bases are important. Terminal City refers to the sprawling Grand Central Terminal which has, among its many quirks, parked in a tunnel an armoured train used by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

If I can get by in my mind Cooper being more police officer than lawyer I may read more in the series. 

****

Fairstein, Linda – (2008) - Killer Heat; (2015) - Terminal City and The Mystery of FDR's Armored Train and Grand Central Terminal; Paperback

Naked Truth by Rick Pullen

(37. – 967.) Naked Truth by Rick Pullen – Chief Justice of the United States Nino Castiglia is a vigorous 78 years old on the opening page. Having enjoyed sex with a beautiful young woman he is dead before the end of the page.

Castiglia had been deep in the heart of Texas for an intimate gathering of the rich and powerful.

The next morning investigative reporter, Beck Rikki, is impatiently waiting for Castiglia to arrive for a breakfast meeting. The owner of the resort takes him to the room of the Chief Justice where they find him dead.

While alone with the body for a short time Beck takes with him a sample of the water from the tank in Castiglia’s CPAP machine. Having used a CPAP machine for several years because of my own sleep apnea I am very familiar with the CPAP machines. I would never have thought of them as a potential murder weapon. Such is the mind of the crime fiction writer.

I was reminded of Gail Bowen finding inspiration in another container of water to start writing her Joanne Kilbourn mystery series. Bowen had seen a carafe of water sitting on a flatbed trailer for the real life Premier of Saskatchewan at a political event. She thought it nice she lived in a country where the Premier’s water could be left unattended and then she thought what if it was poisoned and a crime fiction career began.

Back to Naked Truth, a short time later in a surreal scene, Cinderella Rivera (what an amazing name), local justice of the peace, after hearing the comments of the County Sheriff, pronounces Castiglia dead of natural causes.

Beck, with the inherent suspicion of an investigative reporter, has no evidence to think there was murder but why had the Chief Justice’s voice been stilled hours before he was to meet with Rikki to do the interview the Chief Justice had requested.

Beck was hoping the interview would help him get a position with a newspaper or magazine. He had been terminated some months earlier from the Washington Post-Examiner for conflict of interest. He had used information for a story from his current lover / partner, Geneva. While in love with Geneva he is not ready to commit to permanence.

Geneva is another memorable character in that she eschews clothes unless out in public. With the money to have a beach retreat and a penthouse in Washington D.C. she has the freedom to be nude.

Why would the Chief Justice be killed? His vices are private. He is well liked. He is strongly conservative.

Nino Castiglia appears to be inspired by the late American Supreme Court Justice, Antonin “Nino” Scalia who was very conservative, of Italian background, gregarious and died at a hunting retreat in Texas of a heart attack.

As Beck pursues the investigation there is mention of a circle. Is there a conspiracy behind the death of Castiglia?

As I read I thought of other murdered Supreme Court Justices. It was The Pelican Brief by John Grisham where two Justices are murdered and a Washington investigative journalist is a pivotal player in unraveling the conspiracy that committed the killings. In The Pelican Brief the motive for murder was not political but to arrange sympathetic judges before the Court hears a specific case.

Assaulted and warned to quit his investigation Beck is not deterred. He proceeds down a twisty road in his investigation including the Vice-President and the President.

I thought Naked Truth was a good book. The characters are interesting, even memorable. I did not find the conspiracy convincing. It is difficult to create good conspiracies though real life America appears consumed by conspiracies in 2018.

The conspirators turning on each other challenged the strength of the conspiracy.

There is a law firm at the heart of the conspiracy. Grisham in another book, The Firm, created a memorably crooked law firm. In the Naked Truth the structure of and relationships within the firm did not feel quite right.

The best part of the conspiracy was its unexpected purpose. I had not anticipated their goal and I doubt any reader will realize their intention before it is revealed.

The twists come fast and furious but became too many for me. I was reminded of some of the Lincoln Rhymes books of Jeffery Deaver when he just cannot stop adding twists. As the end of Naked Truth neared I was twisted into disbelief. A few less contortions and it would have been a great book. I will remember the wonderful characters and a surprising conspiratorial scheme. I did enjoy the book.

Book Launch of Vol. 3 of A Literary History of Saskatchewan

It was a lovely evening at the McNally Robinson bookstore in Saskatoon for the book launch of Volume 3 of A Literary History of Saskatchewan earlier this week. Accompanying this post is a photo of myself with Editor, Dave Carpenter, and Assistant Editor, Kelly Anne Riess.

Kelly Anne Riess was the MC for the evening. She spoke of some of the challenges of assembling the book. She mentions them in her foreword:

It was a rodeo of herding cats – very talented and hip cats. I speak as one of the cats in need of herding.

Editor, Dave Carpenter, spoke about his desire over a decade ago to document the history of Saskatchewan writing. Through the years he has put together the three volumes by searching out funding and contacting individuals to contribute essays. To hear David is to know he is a man who loves writing and authors from Saskatchewan. His knowledge of writing in Saskatchewan is remarkable in its breadth and depth.

There are essays in the book on poets, short stories, fiction and young adult writers. It is eclectic and wonderful.

Dave enlivened the evening through trivia questions on Saskatchewan writers. He brought along candy to hand out to those who knew the correct answers to such questions as Saskatchewan authors who are also ornithologists. I knew of one, Trevor Harriot, but was too late in speaking up to get candy.

A pair of contributors answered some questions from Kelly Ann about their essays.

Tracy Hamon, a poet and arts administrator, spoke about her essay Neither Here Nor There: The Saskatchewan Diaspora. She sent questionaires to four authors who have left the province

yet remain deeply connected to Saskatchewan. In her essay she states:

In my experience writers do not stand beside the wheat to see the field, they stand on the hill in the distance. Or maybe take a photo and stare at it for hours. This is possibly how the diaspora works: writers who have moved from Saskatchewan continue to yearn for their sense of community, so that at some point they feel compelled to go back by including the location of Saskatchewan in their writing. Nonetheless, the sentiments attached to writing about a location they are familiar with, have lived in and have lived through, create that evocative longing for place.

While I was not on the agenda Kelly Anne kindly added me to the program. She asked me about why I thought mystery fiction should be a part of literary history.

I said there has been a perception among some members of the literary world that crime fiction is at a lower level of literary fiction. I said I disagreed. I said there is fine fiction being written by mystery authors.

In the context of Saskatchewan I said Gail Bowen had established a national and now international reputation for her series of Joanne Kilbourn books.

I said Tony Bidulka had created a marvellous character in Russell Quant, his gay Saskatoon private detective.

I went on to mention some common features of Saskatchewan mystery writers I had highlighted in the essay. I said that of the five mystery authors featured in my essay all but one featured sleuths with families. I added that none of the sleuths created by those writers had ever killed anyone. Physical violence has never been the solution for Saskatchewan sleuths.

In his introduction Dave provided comments on my essay that moved me:

Melfort’s own Bill Selnes has given us an intimate report from the field of mystery writing in this province. I say “intimate” because he speaks of such writers as Gail Bowen, Suzanne North and their characters as though they were all his neighbours.

Thank you Dave for inviting me to participate in the book and the kind words in the introduction.

The Letter Writer by Dan Fesperman

(36. – 966.) The Letter Writer by Dan Fesperman – “Little Deutuschland” in New York City in the spring of 1942 is adjusting to America being at war with Nazi Germany. A few months earlier the Bund, supporters of Hitler, were proudly marching the streets in support of the Fuehrer. Now the swastikas have disappeared and fascist supporters are no longer public.

Aiding the illiterate of the area is Maximilian Danziger:

Customers come to my place of business, say what they wish to say, and then wait while I polish their words into more serviceable syntax, writing it down for them either in English or in their native tongue, depending on their needs. For those who have received mail, in whatever language, I read back to them, translating when necessary.

Fluent in five languages he charges 50 cents to read or write a concise letter. Longer letters cost more. Love letters are avoided. He averages “ten correspondences” a day. He has four different typewriters for the various alphabets needed.

He goes through life with a curious formality in speech, clothing and relationships. He is the opposite of the loud brash New Yorker.

Woodrow Cain, a former police officer in the American South, has come north to join the New York City Police Department as a Sergeant. His past is murky. There was infidelity by his wife, Clovis, that involved deaths and Cain being wounded. Clovis has gone away and Cain is parenting their daughter, Olivia. He has gained the position in New York through the assistance of his father-in-law, Harris Euston, a lawyer and financier. Euston had sought to turn Clovis away from the bright lights and the hard partying young men of New York City by sending her to college in the South. She surprised him by marrying a Southerner.

Cain’s life had been forever altered in an instant:

Three damn shots, maybe two seconds in all, and that’s how long it took to lose my best friend, my wife, my career, my reputation.

On Cain’s first day of work he is called to investigate the murder of an unidentified man found floating along the docks.

His second day of work the Police Commissioner, Lewis Valentine, secretly assigns him a 3 month assignment to ferret out corruption within Cain’s police station.

His third day of work he meets Danziger. From information in the papers Danziger thinks he knows the “floater”. He physically identifies the deceased as Werner Hansch, a German immigrant, for whom he had written and read letters from Germany. Hansch was a member of the Silver Shirts, a secretive group of Nazi supporters.

Being neither large nor loud nor aggressive nor crude Cain is an uneasy fit with his fellow officers.

Both Cain and Danziger are protective of their privacy, more accurately secretive. We gradually learn what drove Cain up to Yankee land and Danziger’s life before writing letters.

Olivia’s arrival in New York City adds a personal dimension to the book. At 13 she is adjusting to her mother gone from her life indefinitely and now living in a huge new city.

Cain’s love for Olivia and her vulnerability add tension to the book. Cain, a stubborn persistent investigator, finds himself forced to consider the personal consequences of his investigation threatening his safety as he would never want to leave Olivia alone.

The hustle and bustle of New York City are initially overwhelming for Cain and Olivia.

The war effort is a tremendous boost to New York. Money is flowing freely. Organized crime is equally benefiting. It is a great time to be a crook.

Cain is the classic incorruptible American lawman refusing to be deflected by threats and officialdom. He is interesting. Danziger is a great character. A man of great learning and mystery he acts as Cain’s guide through the turbulent underworld of New York City.

The links between government and the criminal underworld are stronger than Cain could have anticipated. As the investigation progresses the unsavory WW II relationship between organized crime and the federal government, under the guise of national security, becomes ever more important.

The Letter Writer is an excellent book. My son recommended it and left the book with me after a recent visit. Thank you Michael.

The Movie Red Sparrow

The Red Sparrow movie is a rare prediction come true for me. After reading the book by Jason Matthews in 2013 I wrote in my review that I thought Hollywood would be interested in the movie and earlier this year the movie was released. Regrettably I find more flaws than merit in the movie.

I thought Hollywood actresses would be eager to play Dominka Egorova. Jennifer Lawrence was chosen for the role. She has the beauty described in the book. I was disappointed by her almost stoic portrayal. In the book Dominka is passionate, reckless at times. For much of the movie I found Lawrence passive.

I understand the challenge of portraying her experiences at Sparrow School. The training in sexual techniques and seductive intrigues is soul destroying. It was no surprise that the movie softened Sparrow School. It was uncomfortable to read the details of Sparrow education. The Dominka of the book and movie had to suppress emotion to survive the School.

After Sparrow School the Dominka of the book was far more vital than the Dominka of the movie. A powerfully dramatic woman was not upon the screen.

I believe Lawrence’s character development was limited by the constraints of a 2 hour 20 minute movie. The complex plot of the book, Red Sparrow, would have been better developed in a mini-series in the way John Le Carre’s book, The Night Manager, was turned into a vivid and compelling English mini-series.

The whole movie had a choppy quality. Plot lines could barely progress before it was on to the next scene.

A vital part of the book was the tension involving an existing mole America had recruited in Russian intelligence. There was no time to explore the role and importance of the mole in the movie.

As in the book Dominka and Nathaniel Nash become lovers in the movie. However, the movie format compressed the relationship. Moving from professional adversaries to lovers was so abrupt.

There is pulsing passion in the book between Dominka and Nathaniel in the book. I did not see chemistry between Lawrence and Joel Edgerton in the movie. Chemistry is unpredictable between actors and I did not feel the spark between the stars.

It would have been fascinating in the movie to see Dominka utilize her powers as a synaesthete. In the book she sees auras about the heads of everyone she meets that reflect their personalities and integrity. I am sure with modern special effects halos or auras could have been created.

I wondered if President Putin would have been a character in the movie. In the book and subsequent books of the trilogy he has been an important character. I have written of my surprise that he is named and described so negatively in the books. As Hollywood is more risk averse than book publishers Putin is not a character in Red Sparrow.

I thought the book was halfway between a thriller and a gritty espionage story. The movie is definitely a thriller.

I was surprised by the ending. It was Hollywood and better than the ending of the book.

Overall, I would not recommend spending money to watch the movie.

On whether there will be a trilogy of movies there was an interview of the director of Red Sparrow in Metro:

       Clearly Francis Lawrence is a fan of these follow-up books. 

       Because during my recent discussion with the director he

       admitted that he is interested in doing a sequel to "Red 

       Sparrow" based on either "Palace of Treason" or "The 

       Kremlin's Candidate".

As to the likelihood of more movies in the trilogy, on The Rotten Tomatoes website about half of the critics and half of the audience liked Red Sparrow. It is faint praise to be barely passing. Most important the movie cost $69 million to make and grossed about $164 million in worldwide sales.

I wish there would be a sequel just to see how Putin would be portrayed. It would be hard, though not impossible for Hollywood, to delete him from the plot of Palace of Treason.

I will be surprised if Palace of Treason becomes a movie.

****

Matthews, Jason - (2013) - Red Sparrow and Recipes and Menus in Spy Thrillers; (2015) - Palace of Treason and Vladimir Putin in Spy Fiction and Libel (Part I and Part II and Part III); (2018) - The Kremlin's Candidate