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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Street Level Realism Brought Into Unflinching Focus, November 13, 2002
This review is from: Spider Moon (Hardcover)
This slim little book packs a whallop. The First Part alone has plenty enough memorable turns of phrase to please the Shirlian reader, or any other reader, for that matter. I was so caught up in Slim's odyssey of vengeance that I felt as if I were in the same state of mind he is. When everthing just stops mattering, and something primal awakens within you, and you are carried along with it, your former personality suddenly taking a back seat to this new, more focused you. I found myself relishing every page even as the dismay mounted as the remaining pages diminished by the minute. It's as if I was trapped in a locked vehicle skidding out of control and my seat belt was stuck: I could see the crash-test-dummy brick wall straight ahead of me and a part of my mind knew the collision was inevitable so the other part just resigned itself to the adrenalized thrill of the ride. Whatever you wanna label this genre, "streetwise" or whatnot, let me just say that in my opinion, the author is in his element here. SPIDER MOON is the gritty, street-level, real deal. It is trim, wound tight, and written as if the author were dipping a scalpel into his own blood. John's book is decidedly 21st-century, written from a viewpoint that places the reader's perspective in the cradle of the bullet itself. It's as if upon reading this novella, I have been carefully picked up, loaded into Slim's .44 chamber, and thoughtfully fired down the barrel along w/the story, to become imbedded into the heart of all that has awakened Slim's sense of injustice in this world. This book is a one-sit read at a fast-paced 170 pages. And one of the best things about it is, what a goddamned satisfying resolution! All I can say is "Thanks, John Shirley!" for providing such a necessary tale of redemption and oulaw justice. I am not kidding when I say that the whole story is effective enough to produce real tears in the reader...and I'm not talking about those old snuffly "sad" tears: I'm talking about that one droplet of saline squeezed out of a duct that has everything to do with "Right On!" and little to do w/the tearjerker mentality of artificially induced sorrow. SPIDER MOON, despite it's straightforwardness & brevity (or because of it-?), will from now on sit on the highest shelf of my collection for me, because it says something so damn many of us have wanted to hear, have needed to hear, for a long time now. It's a crash course in poetic justice, and why the hell Quentin Tarantino doesn't collaborate with John Shirley, I'll never figure out.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It'll Catch You Up In Its Web (sorry), October 19, 2002
This review is from: Spider Moon (Hardcover)
This one hits uncomfortably close to home -- so close, in fact, it took me two weeks to read this short (170 pgs) novel because whenever I came upon a particularly "familiar" passage or disturbing scene, I had to put it down and focus on less depressing things. But I did finish it, and I enjoyed every last punch to the gut. And I cried. John Shirley has written something extremely important here; he, in his usual no-holds-barred style, has written a cautionary tale that manages to horrify without being gratuitous, warn without being didactic, and move without being sentimental. There is some lovely imagery within Spider Moon, as well, gorgeous lines like: "She was close to crying, as she rocked, the mournful creaking sound of the rocking chair making a torn paisley shape in my mind..." The combination of rough, realistic dialogue, the sometimes heart-breakingly angry narrative and fluid, lyrical prose is unique and utterly perfect -- Shirley makes cold-bloodedness seem almost noble, almost beautiful, even when he makes clear that it is anything but. He does "Street" better than any author I've read thus far, and he does it with apparent empathy and masterful grace. Much of Spider Moon will stay with me, and I'll probably find myself still thinking about it weeks from now -- it will linger, as many excellent books do -- but that last page will always, always haunt me.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
JOHN SHIRLEY IS AN AUTHOR TO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR!!!, December 2, 2002
This review is from: Spider Moon (Hardcover)
SPIDER MOON by John Shirley is the tragic tale of Slim Purdoux, an ex-con who served a year-and-a-half in a Texas state penitentiary and who's now working as a book editor for a publishing firm in San Francisco. Slim's world begins to fall apart one morning when he's informed by his new boss that he can either accept a transfer to New York City-away from his ex-wife and son-or lose his job because of cutbacks within the company. Then, within the next hour, Slim discovers to his dismay that the child he loves so much has just died from drug poisoning. He naturally blames himself for the unexpected tragedy, but most of all he blames the people who sold his son, Frankie, the bad drugs. When Slim returns to work from the hospital to hand in his resignation, he's shocked to discover that another employee has gone on a wild shooting spree, killing several co-workers. One unfortunate event swiftly leads to another and the police suddenly think that it was our Texas cowboy doing the actual killing in the office building. Barely escaping with his life, Slim decides that he now has nothing to lose by going after the drug dealers who killed his boy, and he's prepared to do whatever it takes to collect some sweet revenge. Before the week is over San Francisco is going to find itself in the middle of a bloodbath that will make the shootout at the OK corral look like a beach picnic. SPIDER MOON is one of those pleasant little surprises that every reader hopes for when discovering a new author. Though short in length (170pp), it's a whirlwind of a novel that delivers with in-your-face intensity. I could feel the anger and frustration boiling beneath the surface as Slim Purdoux tries to keep himself from going ballistic at the drop of a hat. He has to force himself to pull it together just long enough so that his mission of revenge can be accomplished with deadly accuracy. To the author's credit, he knows how to keep the tension building within the story and the pace moving quickly toward its exploding climax. I couldn't help but find myself getting caught up in Slim's emotional anguish, and this led to me care about him. Also, I was amazed at the degree of sympathy that evolves for the street people that Slim gets involved with while hunting down the individuals who were responsible for Frankie's death. The character of Wendell clearly stands out. Even with Wendell's violent temper, crudeness, and street savvy, it doesn't take long for the reader to start liking him. All in all, SPIDER MOON proved to be one of those wonderful experiences that catch you off guard and causes you to anxiously search for other books by the same author.
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