Rating: 
Summary: A Dissenting Voice
Review: This is a strange fever dream of a novel. It's the author's first book, set in Chicago during the Columbian Exposition. A serial killer nicknamed Clemantis, the Husker, is on the loose in Chicago, torturing and murdering small boys and leaving their brutalized bodies in the fair grounds. When the young son of a prominent citizen goes missing, the police are forced to take notice. Dr Elizabeth Hadley, a forensic psychologist, is called in to assist in finding the killer. She is one of the first people working in this field. Chicago is the main character in this book and Michod does a wonderful job of creating a Chicago that is brutal, atmospheric, and frightening. Hieronymus Bosch would have felt right at home in this Chicago. Winds howl, blood runs in the street, and desperate men threaten strikes against the meat packing industry, whose injustices are vividly portrayed. Meanwhile, the monied elite are blind to the suffering of the less fortunate. However, the human characters in this book are sketchily drawn, and I found their speech and their reaction to events inappropriate and unbelievable. I could not find a single character to like or identify with. I also found the author's writing style to be unecessarily odd and awkward. I am puzzled at the author's need to invent a semi-fictional serial killer when there was a real one working the Columbian Exposition. H.H. Holmes, the mad doctor and killer of young women who registered at his hotel of horrors is a more interesting character than Michod's Husker. I imagine Michod reasoned that there had been enough written about Holmes's activities--notably the earlier non-fiction book 'Devil in the White City.' I did not like this book. Yet, several days after finishing it, I find it still much on my mind. So what does that mean? No idea. You'll have to try it and judge for yourself, I guess... I give it an 'A' for atmosphere, a 'C' for character development and plot, and a 'C-' for writing style.
Rating:
Summary: A Dissenting Voice
Review: This is a strange fever dream of a novel. It's the author's first book, set in Chicago during the Columbian Exposition. A serial killer nicknamed Clemantis, the Husker, is on the loose in Chicago, torturing and murdering small boys and leaving their brutalized bodies in the fair grounds. When the young son of a prominent citizen goes missing, the police are forced to take notice. Dr Elizabeth Hadley, a forensic psychologist, is called in to assist in finding the killer. She is one of the first people working in this field. Chicago is the main character in this book and Michod does a wonderful job of creating a Chicago that is brutal, atmospheric, and frightening. Hieronymus Bosch would have felt right at home in this Chicago. Winds howl, blood runs in the street, and desperate men threaten strikes against the meat packing industry, whose injustices are vividly portrayed. Meanwhile, the monied elite are blind to the suffering of the less fortunate. However, the human characters in this book are sketchily drawn, and I found their speech and their reaction to events inappropriate and unbelievable. I could not find a single character to like or identify with. I also found the author's writing style to be unecessarily odd and awkward. I am puzzled at the author's need to invent a semi-fictional serial killer when there was a real one working the Columbian Exposition. H.H. Holmes, the mad doctor and killer of young women who registered at his hotel of horrors is a more interesting character than Michod's Husker. I imagine Michod reasoned that there had been enough written about Holmes's activities--notably the earlier non-fiction book 'Devil in the White City.' I did not like this book. Yet, several days after finishing it, I find it still much on my mind. So what does that mean? No idea. You'll have to try it and judge for yourself, I guess... I give it an 'A' for atmosphere, a 'C' for character development and plot, and a 'C-' for writing style.
Rating: 
Summary: Stunning Debut
Review: Wonderfully unfit for Oprah's book club, Michod's manic, cinematic reckoning of all that is sinister in "progress" is the strongest work in recent memory by a first time American author. This is either a remarkable flash in the pan or the first volley of a master storyteller.
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