Customer Reviews

Witness to Myself (Hard Case Crime)

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

 

 

"You don't have to know if you killed her, he told himself. You've lived all these years, fifteen years, without knowing. And you've got a good life that you're going to destroy, you're only thirty, a lawyer, you have someone you love, and a new career, one where you can do so much good. You've never had it better. For God's sake turn around!" -- from Witness to Myself

For the last fifteen years, an impulsive act has kept Alan Benning in fear of being discovered. Only he is not quite sure exactly of what he is guilty. Did he kill the young girl in the woods off the shore of the fictional Cape Cod town of South Minton, or didn't he? Not knowing is driving him crazy. Little does he know that trying to find out the truth will make him even more miserable.

I believe that this is the first time that Hard Case Crime has published a new work by an author from whom they could have just as easily published a reprint. Seymour Shubin (a rather milquetoasty name for a crime-fiction writer) has been in the psychological-suspense business since his debut novel, Anyone's My Name, first appeared on the bestseller lists in 1953.

He was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his novel, The Captain, in 1982, and his 1985 novel, Voices, focused on the phone-sex industry. (There is an interview with the author, from that year, online.) Shubin's work has also been selected for inclusion in critical surveys of the mystery genre (although he objects to the classification of his work in that way).

Shubin makes an interesting choice in Witness to Myself by telling Alan's story through his cousin, Colin. Finding out Colin's role in the story is just one of the many questions readers will be wanting answered. The primary effect this has, though, is a lack of certainty in Alan's lifespan, adding to the suspense. Shubin skillfully carries his readers along, involving us deeply in Alan's story, and making this possible murderer an extremely sympathetic character. The conviction in Colin's voice is so strong that, many times, I had to remind myself that I was reading a crime novel, and not a non-fiction tome (Shubin has written in the true-crime field and it shows).

Witness to Myself has the old-time feel of noir fiction but is set firmly in the present. Like any modern thirty-somethings, Shubin's characters feel completely comfortable using the Internet for research -- in fact, they prefer it. Alan keeps the Cape Cod Breeze's Web site link on his desktop for easy access, and Colin instantly goes to Google when trying to find the meaning of a half-remembered phrase. This is the first book I've read that has folded modern technology so seamlessly within its storyline -- even more surprising coming from an "old-timer" like Shubin.

Adolescence is a hard perplexing time ripe with strange thoughts, strange feelings, and impetuous actions with little consideration of the consequences. It certainly was fifteen years ago for teenager Alan Benning. His family, on vacation in Cape Cod by way of a large motor home, had no idea what he thought or felt. The family was well off, his parents were conservative and Alan, with no one to talk to about life and his feelings, began to hate and fear himself. That hatred and fear of himself grew and grew after the incident in the woods near the beach during that vacation.

In the present day, Alan, now thirty is a successful lawyer with a steady girlfriend, Anna, a loving cousin, and an obsession about what might or might not have happened that fateful day fifteen years ago. Driven to know, he begins to unravel his own perfect life. A life that appears to be perfect but hides so many dark secrets that he is not sure of what actually happened back then.

Author Seymour Shubin has weaved a complete tale about the human spirit. Shifting in point of view between Alan and his cousin the author paints a picture of obsession. Not only is Alan obsessed with what he might or might not have done but the cousin has his own obsession. The cousin's need isn't as obvious early in the novel but the end of the book it is clear that his own obsession is just as strong.

It is also clear that the author is commenting on the nature of mankind. Those little things that surely lead to disaster. Those little things, unnoticed or unremarked at the time and yet become telling through the use of hindsight. The signs were obvious, as they often are, and unnoticed until long after the fact. The author makes this point throughout the work as he weaves complex multifaceted characters throughout the tale.

The result is a fast paced intense read. While only 250 pages in paperback, this isn't a beach book and far from it. This is a book that rapidly becomes a real page turner as it pulls the reader into a world not unlike his or her own. This is a book that one doesn't want interrupted and is sorry to see end. Intense and driven, the book doesn't let go until that final phrase "the end" and even then lingers in the mind.


Kevin R. Tipple (copyright) 2006

This is a different sort of Hard Case novel. It's not a Whodunit. It's not about planning and pulling off one last big score. It's not about revenge. Witness to Myself is sort of a Whydunnit. I liked it but if you're expecting it to be like the others in the series you'll be somewhat disappointed. 15 years ago when he was a sex obsessed teen, Alan, the protagonist did something disgusting. Now, as sad eyed adult he is forced to look back on that one out-of-character act and find out whether his memory played him false.

Did he commit a huge crime or did he commit the ultimate crime? Since the story is being told from a distance of years by Alan's cousin you lose some of the urgency. You also know from page one that this will not have a happy ending. It is ebstablished up front that Alan is guilty of something and the book is pretty much about watching him drive himself mad until he finally confesses.

The strength of the book is the emotional punch. You feel sorry for Alan. You feel sorry and worried for Anna. The book makes it clear that if Alan had just walked away that day 15 years ago he would've lived happily ever after and he would've deserved to. This is far more of a tragedy than a classic crime story.

Mr. Shubin has been writing classic noir novels, including Anyone's My Name and The Captain for close to 50 years now, and Witness to Myself is yet another brilliant novel of Shubin's. The writing is masterfully done, very subtle where instead of explosions you get a slow burn that works its way under your skin as it follows the downward spiral of its doomed protagonist who may or may not have committed a heinous crime when he was 15. This is pure noir, poignant, riveting, and I can not recommend it highly enough.

The classic PBOs in the 1950s tackled edgy crimes, tough situations, and tragic figures. Mr. Shubin's PBO, WITNESS TO MYSELF, is no different. That undoubtedly stems from the fact he's been at it since 1953 debut, ANYONE'S MY NAME. Philadelphia lawyer Alan Benning, 30, is an anguished individual who as a fifteen-year-old molested Susheela Kapasi, a thirteen-year-old girl. This deed racks Alan with guilt for fifteen years. He manages to fall in love with his LPN, Anna Presiac, and discovers Susheela was found murdered by her father on the same day. The story tracks Alan's investigation to determine if he's Susheela's actual killer. Alan's cousin Colin, a true crime writer, is the sympathetic, puzzled narrator though he ponders if publishing Alan's crime story might make for a lucrative book deal (so true for any commercial writer). On the other hand, Alan probably won't endear many hearts. This psychological study of a criminal mind is a well-paced and intelligent read.

Alan had a chance to confess to the crime he committed as a teen. Instead, he ducked suspicion and let it fest for fifteen years. What plays out, through the words of his cousin, true crime writer Colin, is how the perfect crime and perfect life of Alan went terrifically, horrifyingly wrong.

I enjoyed the style, as it's different from the novels of this genre I've read in the past. Every time I find a book from Hard Case while I'm out and about, I pick it up. I've not been disappointed yet.

Although Shubin tries to distance readers from the crime by taking them through the story via the protagonist's cousin Colin, the author is so intent on showing the perpetrator's internal process that we are, in fact, catapulted into the very heart and soul of evil itself. So we undergo this chilling journey of obsessional worry, fear, and conscience to its ultimate conclusion with minimal buffer and explore the darkness of a single impulsive act all the more lucidly for that lack of detachment. Shubin is an artful writer, and this novel will stand among his very best-may it be on the shelves a long, long time. G. Miki Hayden, author of Writing the Mystery

After reading like 4 of them I was expecting something classic. What I got was a entertaining, well written book. So why am I giving it two stars? Well it should have been published under some other company or come with a better warning.

As other people have mentioned, this book does not fit Hard Cases traditional genre. There is no "real violence". No twists, no turns, no robberies, no tough guys... Just one man conflicted about a possible murder told through the 3rd person.

I ding it because it isn't tradiontal noir. It is a solid book, don't get me wrong. It just ain't a "Two for the Money" or a "Fade to Blonde".

Sean

If you've been following Hard Case Crime, you know they've put together a distinguished catalog of noir novels. One assumes their publication of a very bad novel by Stephen King was a deliberate mistake aimed directly at the bottom line. But there is no excuse for the Shubin book. There is no complexity, no twists, nothing going on beneath the surface, no surprises, no relationship of any kind with the traditional noir gestures. Anything suggestive of there being more going on than meets the eye, proves to be digressions that signify nothing. The characters are bland and unintersting and the plot almost nonexistent. A fifteen year old boy sexually abuses a twelve year old girl and then kills her. Fifteen years later he turns himself in and goes to prison. Big deal. If he had turned himself in at once, this book wouldn't exist, and we would all be better off.

WHY doesn't Amazon.com let you rate a book Zero Stars?
This disappointing effort is the worst of the Hard Case Crime series. Unreadable: after 30 pages I just flipped through the rest. But it does contain a tip for murderers: Never show up at the local library and ask to see back issues of the newspaper detailing your crime which will cause you to freak out and attract everyone's attention.