Thursday 7 November 2013

JON BASSOFF - CORROSION





Synopsis/blurb..........  

A mysterious Iraq war veteran with a horribly scarred face… A disturbed young man in a strange mountain town… A masked preacher with a terrible secret… Amidst a firestorm of violence, betrayal and horror, their three worlds will eventually collide in an old mining shack buried deep in the mountains. Corrosion, the shattering debut novel by Jon Bassoff, is equal parts Jim Thompson, Flannery O’Connor and William Faulkner, and an unforgettable journey into the underbelly of crime and passion. Drawn from the darkest corners of the human experience, it is sure to haunt readers for years to come.

Praise.......

 “Like some unholy spawn of Cormac McCarthy’s Child of God and Donald Ray Pollock’s The Devil All the Time, Corrosion offers pungent writing, a cast of irresistibly damaged characters, and a narrative that’s as twisted and audacious as any I have read in a long while. A dark gem.” —Roger Smith, author of Dust Devils

 “Imagine Chuck Palahniuk filtered through Tarantino speak, blended with an acidic Jim Thompson and a book that cries out to be filmed by David Lynch, then you have a flavor of Corrosion. The debut novel from the unique Jon Bassoff begins a whole new genre: Corrosive Noir.”  —Ken Bruen, Shamus Award-winning author of The Guards

“Jon Bassoff gives new meaning to the phrase “Hell on earth” in his debut novel, Corrosion. It’s a harrowing page-turning tale of lost, misplaced, and mangled identity that barrels its way to breakdowns and showdowns of literal and figurative biblical proportions.” —Lynn Kostoff, author of Late Rain

“Jon Bassoff’s stream of conscious novel sports Faulkner-like as this dark tale is told in first person timelines. It will grip and engage and ultimately leave you shaken to the core. Not for the tenderhearted… not no way, not no how. Corrosion is the tale of a man on a mission from God… or is it the Devil? Dare to find out.” —Charlie Stella, author of Johnny Porno

Well if you like your crime fiction on the dark-side of the street, populated by the damaged, the ruined and the damned this offering will probably tick more than a few boxes for you.  No happy souls, happy families or happy endings. Bleak and brutal.

Family, death, war, injury, obsession, love, ruin, betrayal, sex and mental disintegration......with a sprinkling of rodents and religion.

There probably isn't an awful lot more to say. Another debut novel, opened with a little trepidation after reading some of the hype about it. (I've culled half of the plaudits I found praising it to the hilt.) I even had a random e-mail in advance of reading it, telling me to buckle up and enjoy the ride. This was from Jack Reher who has already adapted it into a screenplay.

Superb, but Jon Bassoff has given himself a problem trying to top this with his second book! Roll on Bassoff's next book and hopefully a film of this to follow at some point......oh happy days, oh happy days!

 5 from 5

Acquired from Net Galley, a site that is rapidly turning into one of my favourite go to places.
  


15 comments:

  1. This sounds like a computer generated it to combine all your favourite elements! I am very glad you enjoyed it, but I think you can guess the probability that I will ever read it... Rodents would be the final straw.

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    1. Moira......stunned, shocked, disappointed, speechless, sorry and sad (need I go on?)...my powers of persuasion haven't sold it to you. Perhaps I need to tweak my review, because I'm sensing it was a close run thing eh?

      Coming soon.......Hugo Marston......booksellers, Paris, Nazi hunter, ex US CIA op., well crafted and atmospheric - more your thing?

      How about...... JOEY’S PLACE is a novel about an unknown Las Vegas, when there was still open desert along the Strip, Frank and Dino ruled the showrooms, the casinos took care of their own problems, and the cops just picked up the pieces. If they could find them. September, 1970. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas because nobody gives a damn. Then a man with two slugs in his head is discovered in the parking lot of the resort where Elvis is filling the showroom every night. Bad for business. The case should go to the Sheriff’s elite Boulevard unit, but outcast Detective Heber Parkins mysteriously gets the call. A soft-spoken, hard-headed “Jack” Mormon, Heber usually collects the anonymous victims of the most anonymous town of them all — the waitresses and keno runners who met the wrong man and the card mechanics and grifters who weren’t important enough for a deep hole in the desert and fifty pounds of quicklime. The kind of job you get when your partners keep getting themselves killed. That’s all about to change.

      Or a depression-set tale about a mixed race albino, caught up with moonshiners?

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  3. Col - I'm very glad you enjoyed this novel so much. As you can probably guess, it's not so much my thing. Noir is find if it's done well, but I think this would be too bleak for me to get through. Thanks for sharing though.

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    1. Margot, I'm guessing this won't fall under your spotlight then! No problem, there's enough different types of books to keep us all busy and satisfied.

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  4. I like the cover though I'm not so sure about what's inside. I haven't read a really dark novel in some years now.

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    1. Maybe not the one to start with, Prashant. How's Lawrence Block going?

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    2. Col, I haven't started on any of the Blocks yet for I'm in the process of reading a couple of unfinished books and I've also started receiving review copies of new releases by Indian authors, published in India, one of which is a crime fiction in the backdrop of cricket. I'll be reviewing these on my blog ASAP perhaps along with an interview with the author(s).

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    3. A mystery with cricket as a back-drop, that sounds interesting. I haven't heard of anything like this before, though with recent match-fixing issues you would feel there is plenty of material to work with.

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    4. Well, Col, it is about match-fixing!

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    5. I'll look forward to your thoughts once you get there.

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  5. Won't touch this one but glad you enjoyed it.

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  6. Bleak and brutal does not sound like the thing for me. Who knows, though? Maybe someday.

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    1. I will keep one eye on your currently reading slot on your page!

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