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| Saturday, October 18, 2008 07:13 PM |
| Book Report - Crooked Little Vein |
 by Fëanor |
Frequent readers of my blog will know of my dedication to Warren Ellis. I read all his comics and I follow his blog, so it was only natural that, when he wrote a novel, I would read it, as well. That novel is Crooked Little Vein and it's actually quite excellent.
The book is sort of a twisted combination of science fiction, romance, a hard-boiled detective story, a road trip, and political and social commentary. The main character, and first-person narrator, is Michael McGill, a private eye who's having a pretty bad life due to the fact that he has a strange curse: he's literally a shit magnet. Wherever he goes (and, in fact, even when he just sits still), he's always stumbling upon the most freakish, weird, and perverse people and events that you can imagine. It's because he has this ability that the corrupt and possibly insane White House Chief of Staff comes to him with a secret mission: find and bring back to him the second, secret Constitution of the United States. The Chief of Staff believes that America has lost its way, that its people have become perverted and disgusting, and that the only way to save the nation is to find this secret book and expose people to it. Just opening the book near people has the ability to change their minds, to bring them back to a more conservative world-view. Richard Nixon traded the book to a whore years ago, and since then it's passed from hand to hand, becoming a kind of precious currency among the freakish underground cults of America.
Michael reluctantly accepts his mission (and, less reluctantly, the large chunk of cash that comes along with it) and heads out to follow the cold trail of the book. His first random stop is at a club for people who like giant lizard porn, where he meets the woman who will become his partner in crime, Trix, an open-minded college student writing a thesis on sexual fetishes. Joining him on his quest will give her great research material, and she'll help guide him in the right direction. Plus, they both develop an instant attraction for each other.
What follows is a surreal road trip into the freakish underbelly of America. It's a tradition in film noir for the detective to have to sink into a sleazy underworld to find his man, but Ellis takes this idea to its extreme limits, unearthing the oddest collection of men and women imaginable, the most unlikely and hideous fetishes, and the most horrendous violent crimes. Most of the book is darkly funny, even when it's also being gross and horrible, although it does occasionally get so creepy and disturbing I almost wanted to put the book down and walk away. But it's always clever and interesting enough to keep you reading.
Mike's narration is constantly foreshadowing doom and gloom, but (and this is a bit of a spoiler) the ending of the book is actually a surprisingly happy one. An even almost unbelievably happy one - I mean, now that they've screwed him over, wouldn't the Chief of Staff come after them with all his secret powers and resources? But I was willing to swallow the unlikeliness of it, because I really wanted a happy ending, and because Ellis does at least color the happy ending with a little unhappiness in that final, funny, epilogue-type chapter where Mike's curse asserts itself again.
I mentioned that the book also contains some political and social commentary. In fact, in a way it's about the secret conflict between the norms and the freaks of American society. The Chief of Staff represents an extreme example of the norms: an insanely reactionary conservative who wants to put everything back to the way it was about 300 years ago. Mike is a liberal norm who is constantly walking on the edge of the freakish, and Trix is a freak who's willing to put up with the normal. Together they kind of bridge the gap and find a peaceful medium - although it's not clear until the very end whose side Mike is going to land on.
So if you feel up for a quick detective adventure, and don't mind reading about some truly twisted acts of perversity, this book is for you! |
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Jim Genzano's books on Goodreads
