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The Bastard Hand

Heath Lowrance

Why we're reading this: Amazing novel, from friend of the site Heath Lowrance
[close] Amazing novel, from friend of the site Heath Lowrance

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Dec 03, 2011 Danny Hogan rated it it was amazing

Holy Moses, here's a good'un for you right here. Noir, pulp and southern Gothic combine in this outrageous tale of mental sickness, religion and the supernatural in a small time outside of Memphis. The protagonist Charley Wesley has some flaws and a half but none the less has a moral code and is easy to get behind, which I am sure we can agree is the fundament of all leading characters. But it is the sheer, breath-taking imagination that went into the character of the Bad Reverend Phineas Childe ...more

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Mar 29, 2011 Benoit Lelièvre rated it it was amazing

Noir has evolved, I keep saying it. We have James Ellroy to thank for that. The man destroyed the conventions of the genre and built back something completely new with his bare hands. Something new and free from the constraints of the hardboiled genre. I guess I wasn’t positive enough, because not only the genre evolved, but it’s proliferating like the children of a post-war boom. The Bastard Hand, first novel of short stories circuit veteran Heath Lowrance is the prime example of that.

One the m Noir has evolved, I keep saying it. We have James Ellroy to thank for that. The man destroyed the conventions of the genre and built back something completely new with his bare hands. Something new and free from the constraints of the hardboiled genre. I guess I wasn’t positive enough, because not only the genre evolved, but it’s proliferating like the children of a post-war boom. The Bastard Hand, first novel of short stories circuit veteran Heath Lowrance is the prime example of that.

One the main hooks of The Bastard Hand is that it’s free of the cops n’ robbers dynamic, it’s a novel that drags you far into the bad guys territory and yet, it’s tricking you into a similar good versus evil scenario. And when I say “tricking”, my word is carefully chosen. The narrator is Charlie Wesley, your everyday, normal, fun-loving fellow that hears the voice of his dead brother in his head. Or does he have a dead brother at all? Is he so disturbed that he created a past life for himself. You see the genre, a charming individual.

On the run, Charlie stops my Memphis where he meets Reverend Phineas Childe, a man of God, or should I say a man who found (and constantly finds) the answers to what he needs in the Bible. In the Reverend, Charlie finds a companion and a moral lighthouse in his quest for a little peace and happiness. And in Charlie, the Reverend found the perfect, dedicated personal assistant and a precious help for his crusade against the small city of Cuba Landing, as long as he can control him.

The Bastard Hand establishes from the get go that good and evil are human creations and Charlie, a narrator crazy enough to feel detached from those values, makes it clear as day to when he needs to position himself in the political game. Through his narrator, Lowrance makes a point about the destructive nature of human politics. Despite his natural skills and instincts for violence, Charlie is a simple man, whose life could be fulfilled with just a few things, but the confrontation of powers turn him into a tool of destruction.

The density of The Bastard Hand goes even way beyond that. It’s a novel written with the fire of anger, but his wrath is not blind or vain. Heath Lowrance is teeing off on precise targets and achieves mass destruction. It’s halfway in between a Nietszchean wet dream, where the idols keep falling and an angry manifesto for the downtrodden. The Bastard Hand is a spectacular, yet graceful novel that leaves you wanting more from Heath Lowrance.

(taken from my blog: www.deadendfollies.com) ...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Fiona Johnson rated it it was amazing

Heath Lowrance is one of the very best new writers around. Fact. His ability to tell a story and describe a setting is razor sharp and if his stories were a plate of chocolate brownies, you wouldn't stop eating until you were lying sick on the floor, clutching your stomach and pleading for mercy.

The Bastard Hand is first of all a brilliant tale, showing true creativity and imagination. Think of the big blockbuster films you've seen over the last ten years; great effects, make-up, score, acting ( ...more

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Mar 15, 2015 Castor Sorrel marked it as to-read

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