markgilchrist

Half way through this book I was listening to a radio programme and heard the phrase "murder your darlings". This applies perfectly to this novel. The basic premise is fine, and shows the author's obvious love of 1940/50s Private I stories. The internal dialogue often proves this. There are, however, a few typos/spelling errors and even wrong words (I would except, instead of I would expect).

But my main gripe concerns the aforementioned "darlings". The tale is anchored in place by reports of the outbreak of the Korean war, as well as sporting highlights. These take up far more space than is necessary for the story, and are easily skipped without losing the plot. The same goes for the "erotic" content. Much of this could be hinted at, rather than taking pages of detail. It even "retells" the scenes from a book the main protagonist is reading.

As a story there is plenty going for it.
As a book; time to prune out the deadwood and gain more stars.

Would I read another? Probably not unless heavy editing had taken place.