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A Single Shot (2011)

by Matthew F. Jones(Favorite Author)

3.65 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0316196703 (ISBN13: 9780316196703)

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

publisher

Mulholland Books

review 1: A Single Shot is a powerful, backwoods story that clips along and allows the reader to ponder and ask the proverbial, 'What would I do in that situation?' The book has received very mixed reviews, which is fine, fiction is a subjective thing. However, those dismissing A Single Shot as a story that simply rides the coat tails of works by the great Larry Brown, William Gay or Daniel Woodrell (who, incidentally gave a glowing review for the reprint of this novel) might want to have a second read. The plot is simple and fairly linear, and yes, we have all read stories where one pull of a trigger sends life into a tailspin. Where Jones differentiates, and succeeds admirably is in his thoughtful and clever portrayal of the protagonist's (John Moon) unraveling and near obsessive ... morethoughts about how to undo the tragedy that he caused in a split second. Jones deftly handles Moon's guilt, fear and his self-doubt, and sense of impending doom, while keeping the story fluid and in full colour. A great book that gives a different treatment, shines a different light, on the country noir.
review 2: Starts out great, gets a little lazy at times padding the place with overly technical descriptions of every plant and animal in the outdoors to give the reader a stock photo to go with the stock characters. Also has some embarrassing attempts at emulating Cormac McCarthy's inimitable brand of simile that only prove the man writing is a mechanic what wants to be a poet. The sex scenes seem to be written by a colorblind adolescent who watches porn and reads anatomy: boys have big thingies and girls have bright red areolas and vulvas. Then there's the self conscious attempts at weird that work for me when it's the protagonist and the corpse but not anywhere else. It's compelling if a little silly and the second half is slower than the first but it has a surprise ending that was worth the wait. Clearly written to be made into a movie. less

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