Book Review : Joe Clifford - Lamentation (2014)
(also reviewed)
Order WAKE THE UNDERTAKER here
According to the paper, drug use had become ''a blight and a sourge on the community.'' That may've been an hyperbole, but it didn't take much to put the fear of God into God-fearing people.
It's often difficult for me to review novels that I really love, because it's hard to explain why a certain novel is fantastic while another one is just enjoyable. Sometimes, the difference is entirely emotional. Sometimes it's the smallest details that make a novel hit the right wavelength.
Joe Clifford's upcoming novel LAMENTATION is a great book. Not an above-average crime drama, not a tightly-plotted mystery, it's a great novel in the literary sense of the word. A novel that pushed my buttons and kept me viscerally involved. Joe Clifford's name is going to be on everybody's lips after the release of LAMENTATION, on October 7. Get on the bandwagon while it's still cool.
Normal life is a challenge to Jay Porter . It's been that way since his parents died in a car accident, back when he was a child. His older brother Chris developed a powerful drug habit and their relationship has pretty much dictated Jay's life since then. It sabotaged his relationship to Jenny, the mother of his child, and affected his capacity and desire to get a decent job. Chris is a regular of local sheriff Pat Sumner's holding cells, but when he gets picked up for interrogation in the disappearance case of his junkie business partner, everybody's life gets a little more complicated. Torn between his desire to move on and his deeply rooted love for his brother, Jay will take one last swan dive into his brother's problem, hoping to clear his family's name.
I read a lot of crime novels. One recurring issue that always bugs me is that it always portrays the same crummy bars, cheap motel rooms and war torn urban landscapes. I've got this theory that the recurring settings breed the same character over and over again. One of the aspects where LAMENTATION hits a home run is the striking originality and the lifelike realism of its setting. I was probably better disposed than some others to enjoy the setting of LAMENTATION because I come from similar town than Ashton, New Hampshire: an isolated, bucolic mountain town with a lingering sense of pride. The level of detail Joe Clifford puts into describing the timeless atmosphere of small towns and the all-consuming winter is nothing short of awe-inspiring. The powerful setting of LAMENTATION helps shaping characters who are devoured by a unique melancholy that will ring true to any reader.
''Sure, sometimes we have a look around. What's the big deal? They're throwing things away. What are you getting so pissed off for?''
''Because people are trusting you to do a job. I know that word doesn't mean anything to you. But it's how the rest of the world operates. And you are taking advantage of them. Identity theft? That's what you're into these days, Chris?''
You'd have to be an idiot to drop off your computer to my brother and his junkie pals.
If I had to compare LAMENTATION to an existing novel, I would not hesitate and compare it to Dennis Lehane's MYSTIC RIVER. It's not a copycat novel or anything like that, but Joe Clifford, like Lehane, is not afraid to slow down the tempo and build atmosphere using details and a character's inner life to paint what seems to be a rather straightforward mystery into a powerful and original portrait. Clifford takes this objective, borderline banal headline of a junkie's disappearance and transforms it into a gut wrenching saga of two brothers using Jay Porter's soulful and melancholic voice. That's how the alchemy of great fiction operates: an objective issue seen through the eyes of a fascinating character. Not only Joe Clifford understand and applies this principle in LAMENTATION, but he also illustrates its power clearly.
Every time I review a fantastic novel, it's the same story: I feel like I've failed to explain how good it really is, because there is something about literary greatness that transcends words. Let me tell you what I think is going to happen upon the release of LAMENTATION, then: it's going to get amazing reviews, national publications are going to show interest, it's going to sell an obscene amount of copies, maybe become a movie and turn Joe Clifford into a rock star. That's how good I think the novel is and that's how high I am on Joe Clifford 's skills after reading LAMENTATION. I'm a good audience in general, but I don't go bonkers over a novel that often. It's a remarkable book. You should hit the pre-order button without thinking twice. You can thank me later.
BADASS
