Low Life
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Review
'Inventive, existential take on the psychological thriller by a rising LA-based talent.' --Daily Mirror
'If it's gritty noir and psychological drama that you are craving, then be sure that you check out Low Life . . . a gripping, adrenalin-filled page-turner.' --Sunday Herald
'This twisting psychological mystery is a smarter-than-average crime thriller that seeks to challenge the reader at every turn.' --Waterstone's Book Quarterly
'Fancy a thiller? Acts of Violence and Low Life will keep you turning the pages through complex but rewarding plots.' --Sunday Post
'Fans of tales of paranoia by the likes of Gil Brewer and David Goodis will enjoy the Kafkaesque twists and doom-laden tone.' --Irish Times
'If it's gritty noir and psychological drama that you are craving, then be sure that you check out Low Life . . . a gripping, adrenalin-filled page-turner.' --Sunday Herald
'This twisting psychological mystery is a smarter-than-average crime thriller that seeks to challenge the reader at every turn.' --Waterstone's Book Quarterly
'Fancy a thiller? Acts of Violence and Low Life will keep you turning the pages through complex but rewarding plots.' --Sunday Post
'Fans of tales of paranoia by the likes of Gil Brewer and David Goodis will enjoy the Kafkaesque twists and doom-laden tone.' --Irish Times
Product Description
Everyone has their own low life
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
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
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
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
A harrowing and twisted psychological mystery. Following the complete mental breakdown of a person society would classify as a 'nobody'. This 'nobody' is Simon Johnson, who becomes conviced he has murdered someone physically identical to himself when they break in. This mind-bending event in itself is typical of the whole book, as the book hurtles through a world imploding. It will leave you reeling in a mess of your own knowledge and understanding of what is right and wrong. Are you really the sane person? So clever, it will make your head hurt.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Low Life is one weird novel. It's a pacy, well written novel which has the reader eager to turn the pages - sadly it means the novel slips through the fingers all too fast.
We meet Simon, a bit of a loner who has crummy job, lives in a crummy apartment and a coupe of friends who don't like him. He comes home one night and finds an intruder in his apartment who seems hell bent on killing him. For someone whose life is as sad as Simon's, the temptation would have been to go along with the plan and allow himself to be put out of his misery. Instead, though, Simon kills the intruder and sets about finding out who he was and why he wanted to kill Simon.
This all starts out in a pretty straightforward fashion, but things get progressively weirder. It would spoil things to reveal exactly how the weirdness happens, but the reward for rolling with it is a clever little twist. Whether it will satisfy readers of the grittily realistic Acts Of Violence (Jahn's first novel) remains to be seen. Perhaps it is just a little bit too short; a little bit too gimmicky for its own good.
We meet Simon, a bit of a loner who has crummy job, lives in a crummy apartment and a coupe of friends who don't like him. He comes home one night and finds an intruder in his apartment who seems hell bent on killing him. For someone whose life is as sad as Simon's, the temptation would have been to go along with the plan and allow himself to be put out of his misery. Instead, though, Simon kills the intruder and sets about finding out who he was and why he wanted to kill Simon.
This all starts out in a pretty straightforward fashion, but things get progressively weirder. It would spoil things to reveal exactly how the weirdness happens, but the reward for rolling with it is a clever little twist. Whether it will satisfy readers of the grittily realistic Acts Of Violence (Jahn's first novel) remains to be seen. Perhaps it is just a little bit too short; a little bit too gimmicky for its own good.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A bit different
Simon comes home to his apartment to an intruder who wants to kill him. Instead, Simon kills him and sets about finding out why. Simon as a character isn't very likeable. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Gemma
Low Interest
Low life Simon, is attacked in his home but kills the intruder, and on noting some physical similarities, decides to take over the dead man's life. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Kartowidjojo
Don't read if you've seen the machinist
This is more than a reasonable enough thriller. It's no understatement to say that the process of reading it was vastly more rewarding than the time I attempted to organise the... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Wayne Redhart
A twist of Hitchcock
Following the success of the mesmerising 'Acts of Violence' , Jahn's attempt at that tricky second novel does not disappoint. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Raven
A brilliant an original thriller
This novel seems to be the literary equivalent of Marmite - reviewers seem to love it or hate it in equal measure. Read more
Published 19 months ago by R. Shear
excellent thriller
This book reminded me of the Twilight Zone stories, or the Outer Limits. A real page turner ( groan). It had me guessing right to the startling end. Read more
Published 19 months ago by 70s
Great writing but the plot twist is too predictable
Simon Johnson leads a dull life. He works as a number cruncher for an LA payroll company, has an uneasy friendship with two work colleagues but other socialises little, lives... Read more
Published 19 months ago by quippe
How low can you go..?
This is a captivating and imaginative thriller that messes with your mind but telegraphs the 'twist' ending almost from the start. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Captain Pugwash
Different, enjoyable, but kind of "Oh... is that it?"
I'll be breif, because although I would recommend reading it, by discussing it too much would far too easily spoil it to someone reading it new: But to show a little plot without... Read more
Published 20 months ago by AnimaSola
Recommended read
Well written and easy to read. A compelling story with good characterisation and page turning prose. I found this hard to put down. A recommended read.
Published 20 months ago by dali
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