“Pocket Notebook tells the story of Jacob Smith, a hunky, muscular, macho firearms police officer. Unfortunately for everyone involved, Jacob seems to be getting slightly unhinged...
Written by a current police officer, the book is infused with enough vocabulary, atmosphere, and a sense of realism to be rivetting purely on the merits of the convincing and compelling world it introduces us to. On top of that, it is a strangely addictive, angry story, mesmerizing in all the ways that watching footage of the Hindenburg is mesmerizing.
The story is told in the first person, and every now and again we get glimpses of the notebook that Jake writes in. These are not pretty glimpses - throughout the novel, Jake trusts his notebook with more honesty and self-revelation than he trusts any of the people in his life. In many ways, it is Jake's diminishing ability to connect with other people that drives the novel. Sometimes, this inability to connect seems to almost reach out of the page, all the way to the reader - even though we're in Jake's head, it often feels like he is holding back from the reader, and himself.
While the writing and the world are engrossing, our hero can be difficult to spend time with. There is good reason why the cover visually echoes Clockwork Orange - this is a dark, out of control, sometimes quite vicious character to be around, and he may well be beyond redemption for some readers. On the other hand, it is a book that stands out in many ways, never in danger of being bland or bog-standard.
Definitely worth a read. As they say in every movie trailer ever made, this story is "something you have never seen before". And that on its own is an impressive achievement. ”
Robert H wrote this review Wednesday, February 10, 2010.
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