Acts of Violence
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Review
'Dark, compelling and powerful; this is a book of real substance. Ryan David Jahn is a rare and fine talent.'
--R. J. Ellory
'Acts of Violence offers atmospheric insights into our way of life and our refusal to take responsibility.'
--Waterstones Books Quarterly
'This terrific debut was inspired by the true story of Kitty Genovese; her murder in 1964 outside her home in New York was witnessed by neighbours whose alleged lack of response prompted investigation into the phenomenon of "Bystander effect". . .Acts of Violence us a wonderfully visual book - the effect is of watching, unseen, through a dozen different windows as Jahn switches from one scenario to the next. Powerful, compassionate and authentic, it works both as a mystery and as a snapshot of America in the early 1960s.'
--Guardian
'Acts of Violence is a shocking and powerful literary thriller and without doubt, the most outstanding novel I have read this year.'
--It's A Crime!
'Excellent, a superb series of fictional stories.'
--The Times
'A thought-provoking and terrifying tour-de-force from an innovative thriller writer, which stayed with me for days after finishing the final haunting sentence.'
--9/10 Peterborough Evening Telegraph
'A gripping, thoughtful psychological thriller, which deftly interweaves the stories of the victim, her killer and the neighbours...Jahn's style creates a voyeuristic distance between reader and characters that perfectly matches his theme, the fearfulness and atomisation of urban life that encourages each man to be an island.'
--Financial Times --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
--R. J. Ellory
'Acts of Violence offers atmospheric insights into our way of life and our refusal to take responsibility.'
--Waterstones Books Quarterly
'This terrific debut was inspired by the true story of Kitty Genovese; her murder in 1964 outside her home in New York was witnessed by neighbours whose alleged lack of response prompted investigation into the phenomenon of "Bystander effect". . .Acts of Violence us a wonderfully visual book - the effect is of watching, unseen, through a dozen different windows as Jahn switches from one scenario to the next. Powerful, compassionate and authentic, it works both as a mystery and as a snapshot of America in the early 1960s.'
--Guardian
'Acts of Violence is a shocking and powerful literary thriller and without doubt, the most outstanding novel I have read this year.'
--It's A Crime!
'Excellent, a superb series of fictional stories.'
--The Times
'A thought-provoking and terrifying tour-de-force from an innovative thriller writer, which stayed with me for days after finishing the final haunting sentence.'
--9/10 Peterborough Evening Telegraph
'A gripping, thoughtful psychological thriller, which deftly interweaves the stories of the victim, her killer and the neighbours...Jahn's style creates a voyeuristic distance between reader and characters that perfectly matches his theme, the fearfulness and atomisation of urban life that encourages each man to be an island.'
--Financial Times --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Product Description
WINNER OF THE 2010 CWA JOHN CREASY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Haunting crime drama that shows humanity's worst face,
By
This review is from: Acts of Violence (Macmillan New Writing) (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
Katrina Marino works in a bar. Late one night on her way home from work she is brutally attacked outside her apartment building. Hearing her screams, her neighbours flock to their windows and look out at the assault. But they are all too busy with their own problems and quickly forget about Kat, slowly bleeding to death outside. Each assumes someone will have called the police, but no one does, leaving the seriously injured girl alone and at the mercy of her vicious attacker.This is a very powerful and disturbing book, which stayed with me long after I had finished it. The story becomes all the more horrific when you realise that it is actually based on a true crime, where 38 people allegedly witnessed a woman being murdered and did nothing. Jahn's writing is brilliant, fluid and poetic and simple. He switches perspective with each chapter, jumping from character to character as the night unfolds. The book deals with so many serious and moral issues: euthanasia, war, racism, corruption, homophobia, paedophilia, wife swapping... it seems that none of humanity's darkest facets are left untouched. And none of his characters are blameless. Anyone in the book could have saved Kat, just by picking up the phone. The chapters that take her POV are extremely moving, as she laments that she just wanted a hot bath after a long shift at work, but she is dragged away from her door by a strange man who is loitering in the night and made to suffer an appalling ordeal. The attacker is also given his own chapters, which makes his crime all the more disturbing, as we understand his desires and motivations. Whilst horrible, this novel is extremely compelling and I read it in one sitting in a couple of hours. It is thought provoking and certainly made me question what my own reaction would be to witnessing a crime of this nature. A sad indictment of human nature - read it.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
What happens when good people do nothing!,
By E. Heckingbottom "elaineheck143" (U.K.) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Acts of Violence (Macmillan New Writing) (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
Set in 1964, this is the story of a death - a particularly horrendous death and of the reactions of those who witnessed it.The initial attack on Katrina Marino was observed by many of her neighbours, brought to their windows by her screams; however, for their own reasons, nobody did anything. Although they saw the attack, safe inside their cosy homes, they all had a reason for not wanting to call the police out. Everyone thought that someone else would do something: everyone left it to someone else and, in the end, they all became complicit in the murder of a young waitress. All the characters are all well drawn out, from the sleazy, corrupt cop to the woman who is worried that she may have killed a child, and their stories are intriguing. You are left wondering what will happen to them all! An intriguing book - I can't help but hope for a sequel and will certainly be looking for other books by this author.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not one to restore your faith in humankind!,
By
This review is from: Acts of Violence (Macmillan New Writing) (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
This novel is a very powerful, well-written piece of work and pretty bleak stuff, covering as it does a range of humankind's worst aspects; on offer here we have adultery, assisted suicide, blackmail, wife-swapping, police corruption, child abuse, racism and of course rape and murder, which is what the story centres around.Most of these things take place in a development of flats in the course of one night and there are occasional glimpses of goodness in this sea of sin, the character of Frank being the prime example, together with the two men who 'find' each other and hopefully happiness. I found the optimism of Kat particularly upsetting and what happens to her is a truly horrific sequence of events, completely outside of her control. Short, punchy chapters keep you turning the pages and you really can't put this down. This novel simply a snapshot in time with no real conclusions or tidy endings, but a short way into the book you feel as if you know the characters very well and in a very intimate way. The fact it's based on a true event adds to the power and the people's actions seem very real, making you imagine how you'd react in a similar situation...
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