Genre:
Crime/Thriller
Pages:
224
Format:
Paperback, Hardcover
Publisher: Soho Crime
Year of publication: 2017
RATING: ✰✰✰✰1/4 (4.25/5)
Synopsis:
The protagonist is an ordinary university student: not
too sociable, a little withdrawn yet having relationships with multiple girls
and a few close friends. His life takes a turn when he suddenly discovers a gun
from a crime scene. Keeping the gun in his custody, his mindset slowly changes,
and he attaches himself a little too much with that lethal weapon. Slowly this
possession starts to affect his mental state and emotional well being to an
extent that it takes over his relationships, behaviour, friendships, way of
looking at the world and above all; his morality and conscience. But keeping
the gun and looking at it constantly won’t quench his thirst, and so he finally
gives in to firing it. But will he able to refrain from such a hideous act? Or
will his own intelligence be his deadliest enemy?
[ Read the book to find out yourself]
REVIEW: **Disclaimer !! The book is an adult read**
Title ✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ (10/10)
the title of the novel is in sync with its
content. The entire book is based upon
the gun that the protagonist finds and how it becomes an inseparable part of
his existence. We find how an inanimate object can slowly eat its way into our
well-guarded mind and then influence it day after day. It made me someway
realize that the protagonist was not the guy after all; it was the gun all the
way. The protagonist eventually becomes a puppet to the murderous ways of the
gun and this lethal weapon slowly takes over him to a point when he is saying
(quoted): “I’m not the one using the gun, I thought. The gun is using me--I
was nothing more than a part of the system that activated the gun.”
Writing style:✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ (8/10)
The author has in general, a lucid way of describing
the course of events and surroundings. But his real skill lies in portrayal of
the complex emotions of the protagonist, where he takes a considerable amount
of time to properly explore each and every aspect of the emotion, leaving no
stone unturned. Each dilemma and judgmental crisis that can come up in the mind
of the character in such an emotional state is expressed vividly. The author
has tried his best to show all the transitory shades between white and black
sides of the protagonist. I could relate to many of the impulsive actions taken
by the character as well to the thoughts that came up both prior and post the
action. The author has truly made a genuine effort to make the readers
empathize with the character and see him from a neutral perspective.
Plot pace and character development:✰✰✰✰✰✰ (6/10)
This is where I was a bit dissatisfied. The book was
not what I call completely gripping, and often the endless descriptions of what
the protagonist was feeling and thinking were monotonous. I felt that the
author sometimes got overboard in the portrayal of his emotions—not quality
wise, but in the number of pages he utilized in doing so. There was nothing
ground-breaking about the plot, but because of that, whatever happened within
the book felt very natural and like a slice of life itself. The sequence of
events was very well arranged and nothing felt absurd and improbable. But there
ought to have been more character development of the side-characters, and for
some reason they felt very vague and uninteresting. One explanation might be
that the entire book is written in the light of what the protagonist sees and
experiences and the people around him never really left an impact on him
anyway. He might have just seen them as momentary companions, disappearing like
a wisp of smoke as quickly as they had appeared. Therefore, crucial personality
traits of those characters haven’t been put up, mainly because the protagonist
didn’t pay attention to it. Another thing that I liked about the plot
development was that the author skipped mundane details about everyday life,
and only focused on areas which would directly or indirectly support the main
plotline. Nevertheless, the protagonist is no exception to the Japanese
university student stereotype, which has been created by similar male
characters penned down by other contemporary authors. In addition to this, in
this book the protagonist has been portrayed as a vulnerable guy—easily
affected by incidents around him, and a vicious overthinker, often succumbing
to his own tangled web of thoughts. There could have been something a bit more
exciting regarding him, so that the readers can remember not only the book as a
whole, but also the character as a separate entity.
My opinions and recommendations:
I’m not rating this book 5 stars because it sometimes
failed to hold back my interest. Its definitely a good thriller, but it does
not have the quality of keeping the readers glued to the book. I must say that
the book has been fantastically executed overall, but there could have been
something more to it.
I’ll definitely recommend this book to readers who
love the crime genre. But essentially it is to be read by a mature audience, as
some concepts in the book may not be suitable to someone very young. I will
somewhat label it as an adult read. If you are someone who is very much
interested in criminal psychology or human emotions, you will love this book.
➦Want to grab a copy ? buy the book here
➦Check out my Goodreads review of the book : goodreads
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