RDJ's first book, Acts of Violence, promised much and it was a delight to discover that his next novel, Low Life, lives up to that promise. This is a gritty, well written, occasionally bewildering and utterly compelling thriller. It wasn't quite 'unputdownable' but I had to finish it in two huge sittings, entranced by the plot twists and the unfolding, bitter mystery.
The first couple of chapters really exploits RDJ's writing prowess, establishing the core character in his seedy, literally low life existance in LA. You can almost smell the sour nylon socks and mouthwash/whisky rinse. In fact the opening, descriptive chapter is about the slowest in the whole book -- once the doppelganger appears and violent murder is committed, it all gets out of hand very quickly. And the murder itself is graphic and quite detailed. RDJ doesn't pretty it up for fiction: you get the feeling that this is how real life violent death would go down with all its gory interludes and unpleasant consequences.
RDJ is something of a stunt writer. His earlier book interweaved the threads of several lives and played with the timeline so we could see how they intersected in one awful moment. He plays a similar game with Low Life -- but even if you spot what is happening as the plot unfolds it is still extremely rewarding to follow the action through to the end. I really didn't know what the final outcome would be, although it loomed large throughout the last few chapters.
So if you enjoy fast-paced thrillers of the bleak and gory sort then you should love this. If your tastes tend more towards mainstream action-adventure romps then Low Life may be a little dark and violent for your tastes. For me, it's delightful to read such excellent writing in a 'genre' publication -- RDJ isn't doing anything particularly new, but he puts a great spin onto a subject that's as old as time.
9/10