The all new 50 Books Challenge!
Title: Eeny Meeny by M.J. Arlidge
Details: Copyright 2014, Penguin Random House
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "The international bestseller that “grabs the reader by the throat”*
First in the new series featuring Detective Helen Grace
Two people are abducted, imprisoned, and left with a gun. As hunger and thirst set in, only one walks away alive.
It’s a game more twisted than any Detective Inspector Helen Grace has ever seen. If she hadn’t spoken with the shattered survivors herself, she almost wouldn’t believe them.
Helen is familiar with the dark sides of human nature, including her own, but this case— with its seemingly random victims— has her baffled. But as more people go missing, nothing will be more terrifying than when it all starts making sense...."
Why I Wanted to Read It: While I've beat on at length this year about the fact crime fiction isn't generally my cup of tea, I've also beat on at slightly lesser length about the fact my choices for fiction were pretty slim!
This is the first in a series (sigh. We'll get to that) and I kept finding the books that succeeded it and seeing the acclaim, so that by the time I actually found this book, I was willing to give it a shot.
How I Liked It: My first instincts, on multiple levels, screamed at me this wasn't a good idea. I don't usually like crime fiction, I like crime fiction series even less than that.
My copy of this book is from the Target Book Club Pick series, meaning it has a special exclusive from the author in the front, and this has some background on the book written by the author.
This is a male author writing a female main character, and given that I found this book just after the debacle that was Mrs Fletcher, the absolute LAST thing I wanted to do was pick up another book like that.
Sternly, however, I reminded myself that plenty of times, books have surprised me in that I hate a book in a genre I usually love, or love a book in a genre I usually hate.
Also, some of my all-time favorite fictional reads have been men writing for female main characters. In the Land of Winter, Richard Grant writes for Pippa Rede. In the Stargirl books, Jerry Spinelli wonderfully imagines the eponymous character. Two of my all-time, most favorite Stephen King books have female main characters, and I can think of at least five more favorite books off the top of my head with female main characters and a male writer.
So you see, I was reluctant, but willing to go against my instincts with this book. And just how did that turn out?
First, a bit of background about the author. He's a writer for British television and mentions in the forward that he has always wanted to write novels and that it's always been his dream to be an author. He also name-drops some favorites like Thomas Harris, James Patterson, and Patricia Highsmith. He says The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a game-changer, since Stieg Larson, that author, taught him that "the good guys don't have to be dull." He notes that the protagonist in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was more interesting than the characters she was pursuing and "it inspired me to think differently when creating my heroine, DI Helen Grace." He goes on that he had a sign taped above his monitor that read "Don't make your heroine boring."
He also said when he read around for inspiration for his work, he "found the same old cop cliches-- white, middle-aged men with failed marriages, a penchant for liquor, etc."
I quote this bit because when we first meet Helen Grace, it's through the eyes of male sex worker, a professional "Dominator" (I've only ever seen them called Doms before this, so I'm not sure if this is a UK difference or some spotty research on the part of the author who wants to make sure you don't forget this character's profession) who is reflecting on Grace, his regular customer, about whom he knows very little, despite his attempts to make conversation. He notes that pain is her thing and that sex doesn't come into it, and fortunately she had the body to take it (which he evaluates-- sigh). If he hadn't accidentally seen her badge that time she was getting dressed, he'd never know she was a policewoman.
This already tells us a few things about Helen Grace, and it's just the awkward sort of exposition that's more or less necessary at this point of the book, but that becomes a touch insufferable in light of the author's note (see? No alcohol for HER! She goes to a Dominator! Isn't that INTERESTING!?).
But a chapter before that, the book opens in the first person with someone named Sam, and the narrator of that chapter (who we discover is named Amy) considering her options, as she and her boyfriend climbed in with the wrong ride whilst hitchhiking, and were drugged, abducted, and being held in a spot that seems like an empty swimming pool. They come around to a ringing mobile phone and a voice informs Amy that if she wants to live, she must kill Sam (or Sam can kill her to be freed). A loaded gun is thoughtfully provided.
From there, the chapters for a bit alternate between Helen Grace (Christmas shopping for people she met through work and spoil, a mother and her disabled daughter) and Amy and Sam in captivity (now the chapter is from Sam's point of view, and after that the rest of the novel is in the third person). Fourteen pages in, the stories collide as Amy is freed, having killed Sam, and stumbles into a crowded holiday fair where given her haggard, ragged appearance and bizarre behavior (and her admission she killed her boyfriend), the police are called and she is interviewed by Helen.
Her story (abduction! Starvation! Forced murder!) is seemingly unbelievable despite all the evidence of the condition of both Sam's and Amy's bodies supporting Amy's account (when Amy, still recovering and telling her story again and is still not believed, Helen literally yells her story doesn't make any sense, and if you think that's a tired trope, settle in).
But then, the killer strikes again in the same way! And then again. And again! It keeps happening and Helen is on the trail with stops for massive police corruption, an affair with a troubled, alcoholic coworker (with issues with his ex wife), and the fact all the victims have some sort of tie to her, so is she being targeted? Also, we are scattershot with chapters from the past, detailing a truly horrific childhood that is spared seemingly no horror, and ends with one of the children (spoilers?) killing their abusive/neglectful parents in possibly the most unlikely/improbable way imaginable.
Finally, many tropes (including a-suspect-is-later-a-target!) and no small amount of corpses later, the perpetrator is finally apprehended after failing a final showdown with (who else?) Helen.
For as fascinating and fast-paced as this is all clearly trying desperately to be, I was genuinely surprised that the book is so actually so tedious. It's not just the author clearly trying his level best to Make Helen Interesting (including having her abuse the sex worker "Dominator" at a weak moment and say a bunch of nasty things, and we'll get to all that) at the expense of plot, character development, or general pacing, although that's part of it. I briefly mentioned before the level of tropes this employs, but really, it gets quite staggering at a certain point, and it'll be at a point when there's really nothing saving this story.
In what should be a heart-racing, page-flipping moment of suspense when All Will Be Revealed, I found myself actually counting down the pages.
The author doesn't skimp on the gore, or grossness, or horror, including over-the-top horrific, graphic child abuse (in multiple forms) in flashbacks to one character, but doesn't really bother to frame any of it in suspense or mystery or give it nuance, to the point where it just feels like the story is trying to out-tragedy/shock/disgust itself just to have somewhere to go.
The most terrifying books aren't terrifying for the sheer amount of horror (or horrible things) the author writes, they're terrifying because of the way the author sets up the horrible things for maximum chilling impact. And while this book contains graphic torture and sadistic child abuse, I've been more frightened by young adult novels where no one is actually hurt, there's only the suggestion. Those authors did more for horror with only the power of suggestion and imagination than this author does with graphic brutality.
You could say it's a rookie mistake and this author is a first timer, after all, but this isn't his first time writing professionally period: as I mentioned, he wrote in television, although having not seen his television work I can't tell if it's just that bad or if this is him struggling with a new medium. I'm fairly sure he got a series deal with the book, too; it's not a matter of the first book being popular enough for demand for more.
If someone had the confidence in his writing to draw a multi-book deal, it can't have been the writing that makes John Saul look like Edgar Allan Poe.
While this book isn't as bad as Mrs Fletcher as far as the downright tediousness of the male gaze, that doesn't mean it still doesn't come up in an annoying, off-putting way (and this story definitely doesn't need anything that takes our eye off the action). Also, Mrs Fletcher wasn't supposed to be suspenseful (at least, not primarily) and yet it read more suspensefully than this did.
I haven't read all the authors this author name-dropped, but I will say what I've said before: I've enjoyed books with unrealistic action usually because everything else was so good, you don't realize as much (if at all) that the action is unrealistic and you don't really care if you do. On that front, this book has no chance, complete with a monologuing villain describing their motives in great detail at the end which let me say right now, is never a good idea? Don't you realize James Bond can break free of his ties in that time?! But yes, the unrealism in this book would probably still rankle even if everything else sparkled, which it sure does not.
So we have a book that is somehow even worse than Mrs Fletcher on a number of levels, which is really impressive. Also of note, it also makes the last worst thriller I read look like a complex character piece.
Sadly sometimes?
Your first instincts are absolutely the right ones.
Notable: HOO BOY DOES THIS AUTHOR HATE SEX WORKERS AND TRANS PEOPLE. At least, if this book is anything to go by.
Sex work can be difficult to write well, as it's a marginalized profession involving (on average) marginalized people, and it's generally in your best interest as a writer to do a lot of research to get it right. Run it past a sensitivity reader (for those unaware: a sensitivity reader is someone who specializes in critiquing media and offering feedback/improvements, usually for a marginalized group, to make sure you the writer aren't causing more harm with your portrayal. They make your writing better and more accurate!) or several.
Sex work has also been notoriously inaccurately and harmfully portrayed in media, particularly in crime fiction, which is why in 2014 these types of harmful tropes aren't just eyeball-roll-inducing, they're actively harmful and should be avoided. Two sex workers appear in this book, one the professional "Dominator", and one is a trans woman, one of the murder victims.
The "Dominator", Jake, is given the backstory that after being neglected as child, he wants to be in charge.
Born to parents who never really wanted children, Jake had been palmed off on countless grannies and aunties-- each as uninterested as the rest-- until eventually entering the merry-go-round of foster care. He had survived of course-- but it's hard to be unloved and not feel pain. Learning to control and use that pain had been the masking of him, a way of managing his anxieties and expiating his demons in ways that excited him and others. He'd tried the submissive route and after he'd got over his initial fear had enjoyed it well enough, but in his heart of hearts he liked to be in control. He knew that deep down it was his insecurities that made the choice for him, but he could live with that. He was in charge now and that was was mattered. (pg 230)
Wow, that sure sounds like someone well-adjusted and not at all that should have professional therapy rather than be in this line of work! SIDE NOTE! YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE CHILDHOOD ISSUES OR ANY OTHER KIND OF ISSUES TO ENJOY BDSM OR BE KINKY. CONVERSELY, YOU ALSO MOST CERTAINLY DON'T HAVE TO GET INTO KINK AND/OR BDSM BECAUSE YOU HAVE CHILDHOOD ISSUES OR ANY OTHER KIND OF ISSUES. In fact, try and manage that (at least get a better grip than Jake) before you enter something like this, lest you hurt yourself and/or someone else!
He appears to look down on most of his customers as "sad wannabe victims", and sneers internally that he's a "dominator, not a whore. He provides service but not that kind of service." (pg 80) while giving what feels like lip service to issues about consent and boundaries (in a way that honestly reminded me of how Mrs Fletcher generally regarded social justice: buzzwords and phrases you parrot that you don't actually mean). Consent and boundaries, by the way, that Helen violates, and when he (finally) objects, she blasts at him.
Everybody has to draw the line sometimes. And for Jake that time was now. This was not pleasant or fun or even professional anymore; it was a nasty situation that was getting out of control. He'd been with a client when she turned up, but she didn't seem to care. She had sat outside his flat, face turned to the floor, while Jake finished his session. But the mood had been well and truly broken and he'd had to promise his disgruntled client a free session just to get him out the door. This kind of thing wasn't good for business-- the S&M scene on the south coast was a small world and word would soon get around.
She apologized, but she didn't mean it. She was incoherent and emotional. Jake wondered if she'd been drinking and asked her as much. She didn't like that, reminding him that he was a dominator, not a doctor. He'd let that one go, didn't want to provoke her, and suggested a short, mild session today as a way of calming things down. Then perhaps they could talk.
But she wasn't having any of that. She wanted a full one-hour, no-holds-barred session. She wanted as much pain as he could muster. More than that, she wanted abuse-- she wanted him to tell her that she was evil and ugly, a useless piece of shit who should be killed or worse. She wanted him to destroy her.
When he refused, she got angry, but he had to be honest. Some people he would have happily degraded-- whatever floats your boat-- but not her. It was not just that he liked her; it was also that he knew instinctively that this wasn't what she needed. He'd often wondered if she took therapy elsewhere-- if she didn't, he was tempted to suggest it. Rather than escalating their sessions to yet another level of extremity, Jake felt it was time to draw a line and suggest some complementary avenues for her to explore.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Helen exploded. "How dare you tell me what do?"
Jake was taken aback by the force of the explosion.
"It's just a suggestion, and if it's not for you, that's fine. But I don't feel comfortable going in this dir-"
"You don't feel comfortable! You're a bloody whore, for God's sake. You're comfortable with whatever I pay you to do." (pg 128, 129)
She doesn't see him for a bit and he (spoilers?) realizes he has feelings for her and despite her abusing him, not only takes her back as a client, but wants a friendship with her, because she is so
He had reached a place in life where things were ordered and good. Which was why he knew that he would take her back. She had hurt him but was penitent. Did she have anyone else? Jake thought not and realized for the first time that's she needed him. To reject her would be cruel and dangerous.
"Yes we can go back to normal. But I've got a client coming in five, so..."
She took the hint and left, but not before she had crossed the room and hugged him. Another breach of protocol, but Jake would let it go because it felt good. He watched her go, surprised at how relieved he felt. She needed him for sure, but perhaps he was now beginning to realize that he needed her. (pg 230)
Ouch all around.
He ruins it once things are "back to normal" again by asking her if she wants to talk and psychoanalyzing her to her face ("You're a good strong person with so much to give, but you hate yourself and it doesn't make any sense. So please let me help you." pg 293) based on her BDSM preferences. Sigh. Did I mention tropes, friends?
The other sex worker, Martina, is trans. Given the significant trans presence in sex work (and the fact anti-sex work sentiments are frequently also anti-trans, and vice versa), this is not necessarily bad in and of itself, but writing for two marginalized groups is going to require even more caution and research to get it right. Martina is hired along with another female sex worker to have sex with each other and perform a show for a client. This is something she's apparently done before, repeatedly, and although it's a bit strange that this client is a woman, she doesn't give it much thought. The author lets loose a troubling passage:
It was much rarer for a woman to hire two girls. Especially not such a well-dressed one as Cyn. Rarer still for the woman not to get involved. Most women who hire female prostitutes were happily married but sexually unfulfilled. Women who wanted the status and trappings of normal family life but yearned to be touched by another woman.” (pg 165)
Yup, "normal" family life, meaning heterosexuality. In 2014.
As the saying, which dates at least to the 1990s goes, being heterosexual isn't "normal", what it is is common. If you're talking about heteronormativity, SAY heteronormativity. Or at least "so-called normal family life" since after all you're talking about women who are living a secret, repressed life.
But back to Martina. She belongs to two marginalized groups, sex workers and trans women. So given that her character is subject to various horrible tropes for both of those groups, it obviously comes across as even worse. Her murder as a sex worker is treated as disposable and her being a trans woman is treated as some sort of disgusting plot twist (among other things that it's discovered at her autopsy, which is a whole other can of transmisogynistic worms), a reveal that she's "really a man." Once it's discovered the character is a trans woman, she's treated by medical staff and the police as a man, deadnamed, referred to as "he" and "him" and discussed derisively, and while this type of transphobia may absolutely be par for the course for the setting, particularly for law enforcement, it's not treated by the author as transphobia, and characters that are supposed to be sympathetic (and heroines) going along with that is transphobic. Want some horrible examples?
Martina's body was athletic and strong-- she was tall for a girl-- and Cyn ran her eyes over her form before saying:
"Something special for you today." (page 166)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Starvation would be their release-- it was plain that there would be no escape.
Caroline had been waiflike to begin with. Now she looked like a famine victim, her ribs threatening to break through her skin at any point. Martina was the more muscular of the two, and somehow, despite day after day of starvation, she struggled to her feet now. (pg 187)
Given the content of the passages you're about to read, somehow before she's even revealed as trans, portraying her as "muscular", "strong", and "tall for a girl" feels offensive (like the author probably thought it was foreshadowing). Think I'm overreacting? Just wait.
And it was as he was sitting at his desk, mentally drafting his CV, that the call came through. It was Jim Grieves.
"Just thought you ought to know that she was a he."
"Sorry?"
"Martina, the prostitute. She may have been well stacked and all that, but there's no doubt she was a chap. Probably had the surgery in last couple of years, and by the look of his ass, he may very well have been in this line of work before, albeit for a different clientele. I'd start looking there if I were you."
So Martina was born a boy. Immediately Mark was energized-- a little crumb that, if it yielded anything, might start the process of defrosting Helen. Suddenly, Mark was back in the game. (pg 210)
END CHAPTER! WHAT A CLIFFHANGER. Gross.
Genital surgery, something ABSOLUTELY NOT ALL TRANS PEOPLE GET NOR DO THEY NEED TO GET UNLESS THEY WANT TO GET IT, is referred to usually as "bottom surgery" (chest surgery, such as breast removal or augmentation, is referred to as "top surgery"). You are absolutely still the gender you are when you feel you are, regardless of any surgery you get or choose not to get. When someone goes by different pronouns and/or a name, do NOT use the previous, even when referring to that person's past. This character was not a chap and she wasn't "born a boy", she was "assigned male at birth". She was a woman, period. All of these terms not only existed but education on them did, too, and was widely available in 2014 for those interested to actually research this subject.
"Tell me about Martina."
"Well, she was born a he and probably had the op in the last three to five years. Scar tissues suggests it's no earlier than that."
"Did she advertise her services as a post-op transsexual?"
"No. Her line was that she liked to party and knew how to pleasure. A fun slut, that sort of thing."
"Why? You can always get more from punters for being a tr***ie. More exotic, more specialist. Why not advertise that fact?"
"Perhaps she didn't like the crowd it attracted?"
"Or perhaps she had something to hide?" (pg 239)
Once again, she wasn't "born a he", she was born a she and mistakenly classified as a he, or if you need to be brief, this character is AMAB, meaning she was assigned male at birth. So you could fix some of this with
"She's AMAB and had bottom surgery in the last three to five years."
As for the fact she didn't want to advertise the fact she's trans, trans fetishism, particularly in sex work, is (shockingly!) not always a good thing? It's completely unsurprising in a vulnerable profession that you would not want to reveal anything to make yourself more vulnerable? It's a matter of practicality, not meaning you're being duplicitous (although trans people being duplicitous and "tricking" cisgender people is a common and pernicious stereotype). And yes, that was the author's "heroine" that uttered the slur, although you could very arguably say she's trying to get in the mindset of trans fetishists, sort of. But given the other things coming out of her mouth/brain, she's speaking for herself.
The Porterhouse Clinic in Loughton was lush and professional. Inside, the lobby was immaculate, the staff likewise, and the whole place had a distinctly soothing feel. The clinic carried out many types of surgery but specialized in resolving issues around gender dysphoria. Therapy was the first stage on a journey that nine times out of ten ended in surgery and full gender reassignment.
The team had sent detailed information out when conducting the search for Martina. The timescale was wide enough to make the search tricky-- they thought the op had been done three to five years ago, throwing up a large number of possible contenders. But still, gender reassignment wasn't massively common. And given that they could provide height, blood type, eye color and a good stab at "her" health history, the chances of a match were good. (pg 266)
All that research about gender reassignment surgery by the author to have "her" put in quotations. But wait, there's more!
The manager, a smooth surgeon with surprisingly hairy hands, wanted to be reassured that the clinic was not going to be on the end of any unpleasant publicity in connection with "this prostitute's murder," as he put it, and Helen had to work hard to get him to play ball, butt when she gently reminded him that, in a case as serious as this, he could be compelled to help them, his attitude changed.
"I think we may be able to help," he said, pulling out a file. "A young man in his mid-twenties came to us five years ago. He'd obviously been through a bad time, physically and mentally. We advised counseling to deal with his situation before committing to gender reassignment and suggested he might want at the very least to reduce his list of additional treatments. In the end we got him to drop a couple of procedures, but that was it. He was determined to have an extensive rebuild. In addition to gender reassignment, he had some buttock augmentation, leg and arm toning, and a ton of work done on his face."
"What sort of work?"
"Reshaped cheekbones, fuller lips, a streamlined nose, skin pigmentation, filler..."
"How much did it cost him?"
"A lot."
"Any idea why he was going to such lengths to change his appearance?"
"We asked him, obviously. We always discuss every procedure to see if it is... necessary. But he wouldn't talk. And we couldn't force him to."”(pg 266, 267)
Quick note of advice! If the surgeon working on you for gender reassignment surgery doesn't know enough to honor your correct pronouns, that's probably a red flag they're not very good.
But let's see, we've got prostitutes as disposable, trans people are conflicted and confused, vain and impulsive and get truckloads of surgery on a whim (QUICK NOTE! ONCE AGAIN, THERE ARE TRANS PEOPLE WHO DO NOT EVER GET ANY SURGERY! ALSO!!! YOU DO NOT NEED GENDER DYSPHORIA TO BE TRANS AND YOU SHOULD AVOID ANYONE THAT SAYS YOU DO!), and yes, that's both the police officer who's the "heroine" of the novel and literally the surgeon who worked on the trans woman both misgendering her. I can deal with imperfect heroes but not with this level of bigotry treated sympathetically.
The ignorance (and bigotry) inherent in this plotline would be objectionable in the 2000s, maybe even the 1990s. Given the amount of information available and the visibility of trans rights in 2014, it was absolutely unconscionable. If the author wasn't making a conscious transphobic statement, it's clear how very little research he actually did.
Final Grade: F
No comments:
Post a Comment