Monday, October 17, 2016

An Enigmatic Man with a Mission

The alcoholic piano player living in the basement hears Knottspeed move in. He goes upstairs and is shocked by the Knottspeed’s condition. He’s badly smashed up, lying on a ratty couch under a single blanket.

Knottspeed may be down, but he wants to do things. He co-opts the piano player into becoming his companion and off they go to find food, entertainment and clothes. The whole trip, particularly the scene in the clothing store is reminiscent of the Keystone Kops.

This is the pattern for the novel. Knottspeed co-opts people into helping him achieve his objectives, but he helps them also. He’s a very unique character.

This is definitely a character driven novel. It’s filled with unusual people who interact in unusual ways. The characters are interesting, but I found the plot difficult to follow. Knottspeed has a mission, but it’s not easy to figure it out until the very end. He changes situations and people. His plans may be hard to follow, but people become involved with him, and it changes their lives for the better.

If you enjoy character driven novels, this is an interesting one. It’s not the type of book I usually enjoy so I can’t recommend it. However, it has a particular charm because the story is off-beat.


I received this book from Turner Publishing for this review.  

No comments:

Post a Comment