3 out of 5

HCC-021

Wow, I think I’ve read low-key thrillers or noir, but there’s that, and then there’s ‘Straight Cut.’

‘Cut’ moves through a few general setups, fast-forwarding or rewinding along its plotline and applying those setups as needed.  We have Kierkegaard-obsessed film editor Tracy Bateman, who frequently quotes half-remembered pieces from the writer or tells us aspects of the man’s life and then ponders how it relates to his own mindset, or his situation.  This is a significant part of the book and nudges it, at times, into something completely internal, where Tracy discusses his dreams or thoughts or drunken imaginings and then Bell will toss out some Kierkegaard for poignancy (or irony).  Tracy isn’t stupid, and these moments are relatable enough to give one pause… but it’s tough to blend that with the crime story that’s building built at the same time, and so these sequences too often seem like padding to the text, even though a slight shift of focus could’ve allowed them to feel more relevant.  Otherwise we’re picking up snippets of some kind of dastardly deed Tracy ends up getting involved with after taking a job in Rome at the behest of his sometimes-partner Kevin.  Lastly – too briefly – when Bateman is editing a film during the first portion of the book, we get incredibly fascinating details on the process.  Tracy throws himself into the work and the dedication to his task as narrated by Bell translates to pages that just fly by.  This is also a good tactic for just landing us in the middle of the shit soon enough, as aspects of the film production start lining up in a way that seems too familiar to a man like Tracy, who has, perhaps, a questionable past…

Bell is an efficient writer in that the right things happen at the right time.  When things happen.  The problem comes when things don’t happen; Bell approaches this by moving on to the next scene and leaving us in the dark about some detail.  This is – frankly – a bullshit maneuver to build mystery when, more often than not, it had me flipping back through pages to see if Madison was doing this on purpose or if I just hadn’t been paying attention.  It also underlines how little actually ends up happening in the story, as, when that piece of info you were waiting on is finally dropped, it doesn’t really affect things all that much.  But that being said, Tracy is one of a handful of real human beings you’ll find in a genre book, the same being true for the other main characters.  Bell makes them breathe, which adds legitimacy to those more existential passages.

‘Straight Cut’ seems like a side novel from an author who is probably established in the genre, something that doesn’t exactly fit the crime mold but was picked up by HCC.  It’s a good experiment, blending an at times stunningly interesting psychological study of two friends with an international crime tale, the former half respectfully written by Bell and the latter half effective when its not playing hide-the-plot-point.  Unfortunately, things are kept too even-keeled and balanced to ever really get swinging.