NOthing personal by jason starr

Reviewed by Andrew Jamieson

Joey DePino is a degenerate, desperate gambler. Joey is married to Maureen, a long suffering dreamer, aspiring for something greater. Domestic bliss is what she’s looking for, but Joey will never be able to provide such luxuries as those she seeks. What Maureen wants is a life like that of her friend Leslie, who, unknown to everybody else, is a long suffering (recurrent theme) anorexic living what some would call the American dream, married to a dashing, successful businessman, David Sussman, and, together, the proud parents of Jessica, a bright and bubbly youth with a penchant for weather forecasts. And that is about as uplifting as this book gets. Although, if I wanted an uplifting tale I’d read any old pap. This is a crime book and a damn fine one at that.

This book is a builder and, as such, patience is rewarded. It took me until the end of chapter seven to become gripped. Before then I found it tricky to stick with the characters. But from chapter eight onwards everything heads towards an ending worthy of the read.

Joey DePino starts out as possibly the most unlikeable character out of the main set. I can’t exactly comment on when and where it happened, but that perception changed for me. He didn’t become sympathetic as such, he instead came across as the most understandable of the main characters. His motives are based purely on survival.

The two women, Maureen and Leslie, are fractured, obsessive, deluded creations and both seem to be chasing ideals of some sort, a life different to their own. Their page quotient is worthy, and certainly more readable than if they were not crippled by want in some way.

David Sussman is a character who sows the seeds of his future mishaps before we come to him. His life is already in a downward spiral. He has taken a mistress, but unfortunately for him she is of the bunny-boiling variety. Their affair is troubled and entwining, and ultimately doomed.

Jessica, the Sussman’s daughter, is the lost innocent in all of this, inadvertently becoming a scapegoat for the trials and tribulations of the adults in her direct vicinity. She puts the story into focus, and makes the adults appear exactly as they all are: pathetic and churlish.

I enjoyed this book. I didn’t know what to expect as I had not read anything by Jason Starr before, and the write up on the back cover only feeds the barest bones of information. Which is a good thing, for sure, as this is a multi-layered story which rewards the reader with a satisfying yarn of moral drama. The characters, in particular, are one of the book’s most enticing draws. Their foibles, their troubles, their joys, however shortlived, are written in such a way that you feel you can share the moments with them.

Jason Starr writes with an economic style, never flashy or obtuse, always reserved and constructive. Never too much, never too little. He has written a noir character drama with strong characters, plenty of drama, and heaps of noir. I, for one, will be reading more of his work and I recommend everyone else to do the same.

Copyright© 2003 Andrew Jamieson

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ANDREW JAMIESON was born in Derby in December 1977, just in time for breakfast. He discovered a love for storytelling and writing from a young age and read and read and still reads. He is educated to degree level. His favourite colour is midnight-blue. His favourite fruit is the Fuji apple. His favourite author is Barry Gifford. He has written two feature-length screenplays. The first, terrible. The second, slightly less terrible. He is now concentrating on his first novel. It might be terrible.
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Read an extract from Nothing Personal