- Hardcover
- Publisher: San Val (Jan 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1417709561
- ISBN-13: 978-1417709564
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Jason Starr's first novel Cold Caller has been published in six languages and he followed this success with brilliant second and third novels, Nothing Personal and Fake I.D. For computer-networking salesman Richard Segal, life has been tough lately. He hasn't made a sale in months, his wife might be sleeping with an old boyfriend, and he's starting to drink again. On his way home from work one evening, he spots a familiar face across Fifth Avenue -Michael Rudnick, a guy who grew up across the street from him in Brooklyn. What seems like a harmless encounter becomes anything but when Richard is haunted by a terrifying memory. As the stress in Richard's life builds, he becomes obsessed with two questions: What exactly happened in Michael Rudnick's basement twenty-two years ago? and What is he going to do about it now? In the classic tradition of Jim Thompson and Patricia Highsmith, Hard Feelings is a gripping, original novel of paranoia, obsession, and revenge.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
About the Author
Jason Starr is the author of three other novels, published by No Exit, Cold Caller, Nothing Personal and Fake I.D. Cold Caller and Nothing Personal have both been sold for filming. He lives in New York with his wife and new baby
--This text refers to the
Paperback
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A modern yet classic short novel that worth unhesitating recommendation. Writen by Jason Starr, Hard Feelings is nothing but about the life of Richard Segal, a married professional salesman and his struggles with mid-life crisis.
Unlike the guy named Leonard in Memento who's suffered from short-term memory lost, Richie oftens got flashbacks.
One day, on his way home from work, he bumped into Michael Rudnick who was once his childhood's neighbor. What seems like a harmless situation later triggered the first flashback and dramatically change his life as Richie vaguely figured out what really happened in Rudnick's basement more than twenty years ago.
A very clean and readable noir novel. Not only about crime and murderer, it is about ego and helplessness, family and work, fear and confrontation, life and death. Hard Feelings is a modern yet classic novel which I gave two thumbs up!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
14 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Gets better and better
23 Dec 2003
Format:Paperback
This is the kind of book that starts out good and keeps getting better. I started reading the book in a bookstore at my local mall and after the first few pages I was hooked. The writer, Jason Starr, has a clean, hard edged style, reminiscent of the old hardboiled crime writers, but the story line is very modern. You can't help root for Richie Segal, even as he does some of the most dispicable things imaginable, and the ending is truly Hitchcockesque. I wish I could write a novel like this. One word sums it up: wow!
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
A Modern Day Tragedy
19 Mar 2002
Format:Paperback
HARD FEELINGS is the story of Richie Segal, a thirty-something man who, on the face of things seems to be living the American dream, but in reality is slowly disintegrating into the depths of hell. He is about to lose his job, his marriage is in trouble and he is trying to control his alcoholic tendencies. In the midst of this maelstrom, Richie accidentally bumps into Michael Rudnick, a childhood friend who sexually abused him. This sends Richie into a tailspin of dark and troubled memories, bouts of drinking, a loss objectivity, and an escalating desire for retribution. Richie has convinced himself that only this will set him free and enable him to salvage his marriage as well as his career.
Although the story unfolds at a slow pace, never does your attention wane because there is such a sense of doom behind every word. The suspense builds so subtly that when Richie acts out, you are more relieved than surprised. To say that what happens is predictable would not do justice to the writing or the story telling, both of which are gripping. That is probably because Richie, himself, is such a complicated and compelling character.
I would be remiss if I didnt mention that I was a bit disappointed with the last few chapters. In these last pages, events seem to happen at a breakneck speed in sharp contrast with the rest of the book. At this point in the book, I also would have much preferred a less than expected ending. Nevertheless, I do not hesitate to recommend HARD FEELINGS. Just be prepared for a dark ride.
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Promising story from a new noir Starr.
12 Jan 2002
Format:Paperback
The first original novel ever published by Vintage Crime/Black Lizard (probably best known for reprinting Jim Thompson's books ) is this crackling noir thriller about a computer salesman with an unhappy marriage whose life starts to go down the toilet. Richie Segal's wife threatens to leave him, he might lose his job; even worse, events from his past keep haunting him. He starts to lose his grip. Finally, he decides to take decisive action to put things right. Naturally, that is when his trouble really begins.
The first two-thirds of the book, in particular, are excellent; crisp prose, interesting characters (especially the protagonist), and an excellent set-up that had me thirsting to see what happened next. Starr has a keen eye for the vagaries, quirks, and tensions of ordinary, humdrum life. The tension is all the better because we don't know what this boring salesman might do. Unfortunately, though, the pay-off was something of a let-down. The story is really rolling when the author basically cuts things off and ends the book with a surprise, not-very-satisfying climax, with essentially no resolution. It seemed as if there must be fifty pages missing from this book which develop the ending into a more meaningful conclusion.
These problems do not spoil "Hard Feelings," but they do turn it from a potentially great book into only a very good one. Jim Thompson would have taken a story like this and really put the screws to Richie Segal and his tormentors, raising the tension and suspense closer to a hardboiled ideal. I still recommend "Hard Feelings" to you, but next time out I hope that Mr. Starr gives us more.
Reviewed by David Montgomery, Mystery Ink
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