Customer Reviews

Occupational Hazards: A Novel

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Reporter Bernard Cockburn works the crime beat for the Omaha Weekly News-Telegraph; though in his late twenties, Bernard is already burned out with only alcohol and some questionable drugs enabling him to walk the mean streets of Omaha. His lover pregnant Allison demands he grow up by giving up the booze and drugs for the sake of their unborn, but so far that haze is the only thing that keeps him obstinately working; he detests her nagging and prefers she rid them of the fetus especially in light of all the sh*t they have used.

His current interest beyond the latest foolishness of Police Detective Dick, an apropos name if their ever was one, is a strange downtown land deal that smells of city kickbacks. His efforts to learn why LLC is buying decaying property meet roadblocks and official bureaucratic stalling; he struggles to even identify the group members. However everything turns dark when LLC board members die after he interrogates them; soon Bernard links their homicides to a vigilante neighborhood watch cleansing the streets brutally and lethally of drug and sex traffickers.

Bernard is not likeable; in fact he is reprehensible with his irresponsible and uncaring nature. However, in spite of his only desire being the next hazy high, readers will appreciate this antihero whose asides are poignant from a negative outlook. His dissertation on motive is on target as befitting a depraved cynic who feels there is nothing a person will not do. The inquiry is fun to follow as Bernard stays in character with his dirty purple haze outlooks throughout while walking the streets of Omaha and while fighting with Alison over the rug rat growing inside her. Not for everyone, purebred urban noir fans will welcome this unwelcome protagonist.

Harriet Klausner

Obvious master of the style. Clear fan of the genre. Winks at the tropes of books like these, but respectfully. Laugh aloud funny at times. Genuinely moving at other times. Truly delightful use of language while propelling the plot. Think Jim Thompson on Adderall. If you want the comfortable formula and the one-flaw protagonist, look elsewhere. This ain't Alex Delaware. The people are real. Yeah, warts. Omaha depicted with flair. Yeah, I've been there. Plenty of mystery to unravel without stretching beyond the credible. Might dawn that there's more to books than imbroglio. A true delight.

Killer of time that is. Occupational Hazard will steal your time away if you don't pay attention to the clock; but that's okay, it's time well spent.

Author Segura paints characters that are vivid and likeable yet human (a reminder we aren't perfect). Segura writes with ease (or so it seems).

Worth the money and then some.

Unremittingly dark, but leavened with humor. Every time you think the (anti-)hero is about to show a little warmth and fuzziness he veers back into his world of booze and pill fueled misanthropy.

Though the plot at times is a bit convoluted, the sharpness of the writing and deftly handled dialogue carry the reader's attention through. Segura's a talented new voice. I look forward to reading his next novel.

Had no books to read over the weekend. This was on the shelf, remnant of a class I dropped early this semester (didn't sell it back). Figured I'd give it a read. It was a waste of time. Reads like a movie. Narrator is this annoying anti-hero sort that just gives you a headache. Ending is not satisfying and is not satisfyingly unsatisfying. It was a waste of time.

The first thing about this book that turned me off was the lead character. Cockburn is a worthless excuse of a human. He seems to even revel in the fact. However, at times it seems like the author is telling us it is because of events in his past. Then it turns out the events are his fault and he tries to rationalize his actions. The author gives you no reason to care if he lives or dies.

I know he is supposed to be an anti-hero. However, even anti-heroes should give you a reason to root for them. Take Richard Stark's Parker and Alan Grofield. Both characters make their living on the wrong side of the law. Yet, you want them to win. In this story you don't care if Cockburn dies or not. His sole reason of existence is to get high and talk about how horrible it is to be alive. He doesn't even care about the story he is chasing. The main reason he pursues it to begin with is because he is rebelling against authority. Cockburn believes that he is some how morally and ethically superior to his boss because his boss use to be in sales. Undeserved moral indignation in hand, he intentionally tries to twist the story his boss wants him to write.

The second thing that really got me was the girlfriend. She is no better than he is. The main difference is that her family has money and has supported her eight or nine year stint as an undergrad. She even manages to get sloppy drunk knowing she is about three months pregnant. Then preaches to Cockburn about his need to grow up. The whole sub plot with Cockburn's girlfriend is annoying and senseless.

The third thing that really turned me against the book was the use of sentence fragments. There are a couple of spots where he uses fragments for over half of a paragraph. I think it is supposed to illustrate emotion. Ultimately it only serves to annoy with choppy reading.

For a first book it was a valiant effort. Sadly, it just never seemed to get off of the ground. I believe with some time Segura could be a good writer. Here he just makes a lot of mistakes that young writers make. He doesn't develop his characters in a way that gives them three-dimensional life. He doesn't develop characters you care about. Then he falls in to the trap of over using modern devices. I hope that he can find a good editorial staff to help him mold his next book into its full potential.

Does the unreadable print and thin poor quality paper of this new Simon and Schuster paperback signify the beginning of a cost-cutting trend? The quality of my own self-published CreateSpace novels is far superior--the quality of the paper and type I mean, my writing, hopefully, is on a par with Sequra's who seems to be channelling Charles Bukowski as his protagonist slowly unravels a mystery. We look forward to Sequra's next book but hope he find a better publisher or publishes it himself.