Hell on Church Street Jake Hinkson 9780982843673 Books
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A small Baptist church in Arkansas should be easy pickings for a natural born con man like Geoffrey Webb. But after talking himself into a cushy job as a youth minister, he becomes obsessed with the preacher's teenage daughter. When their relationship is discovered by a corrupt local sheriff named Doolittle Norris, Webb's easy life begins to fall apart. Backed by a family of psychotic hillbillies, Sheriff Norris forces Webb into a deadly scheme to embezzle money from the church. What the Norris clan doesn't understand is that Geoffrey Webb is more dangerous than he looks, and he has brutal plans of his own.
Hell on Church Street Jake Hinkson 9780982843673 Books
Hinskson's debut noir novel, "Hell on Church Street" was favorably commented on in the "Los Angeles Review of Books" (LARB) in an interesting (if necessarily selective) overview. LARB has idiosyncratic perspectives on fiction in this genre and reviewers seem to favor lurid cover art and fairly close adherence to the stylistic "rules" of the genre. Within that framework, this book stands out and it does, as the cover blurb suggests, merit comparison with Jim Thompson's works.The protagonist, Geoffrey Webb, is the prototypical loser: fat, down-and-out, grubbing along on the far margins of society. Another hard case character looking for some quick and easy cash spots Webb and assesses him as good mark for a robbery. Of course, things go awry and Webb delivers the story in the form of a monologue delivered to his now captive criminal subject as they wind their way through the badlands of the Midwest. The story ends with an interchange between two and a "surprise" concluding scene.
As it stands, this is a standard noir "pulp" story and it adheres closely to the strictures of the form. Nonetheless, it's interesting and successfully hardboiled. The denouement is less satisfying than might be expected, given the clever plotting to that point. The acerbic commentary on religion are worth the purchase price alone. In summary, while "there's nothing new under the sun" (as proven yet again in this book), there are plenty of remaining approaches to make an old tale interesting even while it's formulaic.
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Hell on Church Street Jake Hinkson 9780982843673 Books Reviews
Wow. I bought this for my on a lark, having never heard of the author before.
Now, I have been a crime fiction fanatic since I was an early teen. I've read hundreds of Crime fiction titles from the best and brightest. I only state this because I feel like I'm very familiar with the genre as a whole, and Hardboiled Crime/Noir specifically, and while everyone is entitled to an opinion, I would say Crime fiction is one of the things--one of the few things, perhaps--I know extremely well and can discuss at length with anyone. It's not often I pick up a title with no idea of who wrote it, and walk away as surprised as I was with this one.
After reading it, I knew I had to write a review and do my bit so that anyone who happens across this title will be more likely to give Jake Hinkson a shot. This guy has written a very, very engaging first novel that shimmers with promise and anticipation of things to come.
The basic plot is a rootless, dishonest man becomes a youth minister for an Arkansas church. He does it because he simply needs a place to live and money to live on. He is genial and can speak well. He has little problem making the congregation believe he is a decent, God fearing man whose only intention is the Lord's will. Now, readers will, or at least I did, strongly empathize with Webb, the protagonist of the novel. He's really not a bad sort. He's only trying to get by in life, and even if he doesn't believe what he's spouting to the congregation, he certainly isn't doing any harm. That's what makes some of the crimes he ends up committing all the more disturbing. You identify with him so much that when he does something appalling, you wonder what you would have done in the same situation.
His problems really begin with Angela, the Pastor's underage daughter. She's sixteen or seventeen and Webb immediately starts obsessing over her. Not really in a creepy, bizarre way, but in a way that most guys who have met a woman that leaves a serious impression on their heartstrings can fathom. I like the fact that Hinkson strays from cliche'-ville and instead of making her a beautiful and precocious Cheerleader/beach bunny Lolita, Angela is a pudgy, insecure girl who largely goes unnoticed by the world. Which, again, is true to life because often the people who leave extrordinary impressions on us to the point where we can't stop thinking of them often do not look like Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. Beauty really is a subjective and bewildering concept. Again, so far, so good. We have a main character that could easily be you or I, in a situation that is perfectly plausible and understandable.
But then trouble brought on by the unpredictable vagaries of existence arise and Webb quickly begins to be swept up in them. The story that follows is disturbing, emotionally honest, and frighteningly realistic. I won't go further into detail so as not to ruin the surprise of some of the sudden and shocking events, but let's just say it's to the author's credit that as far down the moral ladder Webb climbs, it's hard not to relate and even root for him.
OK. To sum up Hinkson is a real find. I will actively seek out this guy's work henceforth. He goes down on my MUST READ list. I think this is his first published novel. If this book wasn't nominated for a best first novel, somewhere, an injustice has been done. It's a fast read; I could easily see where other writers would have padded out the storylines and made it two or three times longer. But Hinkson stripped the story fairly close to the bone and we get a fast-paced and mesmerizing tale of lust, love and murder delivered masterfully by a new writer who writes like one of the established best. Already. In his first published book. Scary, in an absolutely wonderful way, to think of what this guy is capable of if he's already, out the gate, wrting this well.
Jake Hinkson really delivered when he sat down and wrote this gritty, bad ass debut novel. I really loved how he presented the story. The book is separated into three parts. The novel begins with Paul, a tough guy who works in a plastics factory down in Mississippi, telling his story. Paul smashes his foreman's face to a pulp because the guy called him lazy. He decided to leave and head up to Oklahoma before the cops had a chance to catch him. After spending a few days on the run with an empty wallet and empty stomach, he decides he needs to find an easy target to rob. Geoffrey Webb, a youth minister at a Baptist church in Arkansas, seems like the perfect target. After hitting Geoffrey in the ear with his gun and shoving him into the car, Paul just doesn't realize he has stepped into a vicious man's life.
The second part of the book is told from Geoffrey Webb's point of view and proceeds to explain why Geoffrey could care less if Paul robs and kills him. In fact, Geoffrey has committed enough sins that he is pretty sure that he has a first class ticket to Hell. Geoffrey has a smooth, yet very creepy, way of talking himself out of any obstacle that gets in his way. Geoffrey Webb feels the need to tell Paul about his life as a youth minister and the bloody mess that he left behind on Church Street. Yes, Paul definitely picked the wrong guy to rob that night.
Jake Hinkson was not afraid to dip his toe into murky waters when it came to talking about sensitive subject matters that would make the toughest reader squirm a bit. He was, also, not afraid to shed blood. Do not go into this book thinking that it is a tale about a mean robber taking a sweet, soft spoken youth minister hostage. By the time I reached the halfway mark in the book, I was blown away by the whole turn of events. I really loved this book and I could not wait to talk about it with other readers. Jake Hinkson is very good at writing dark and gritty. I highly recommend giving this book a shot.
Hinskson's debut noir novel, "Hell on Church Street" was favorably commented on in the "Los Angeles Review of Books" (LARB) in an interesting (if necessarily selective) overview. LARB has idiosyncratic perspectives on fiction in this genre and reviewers seem to favor lurid cover art and fairly close adherence to the stylistic "rules" of the genre. Within that framework, this book stands out and it does, as the cover blurb suggests, merit comparison with Jim Thompson's works.
The protagonist, Geoffrey Webb, is the prototypical loser fat, down-and-out, grubbing along on the far margins of society. Another hard case character looking for some quick and easy cash spots Webb and assesses him as good mark for a robbery. Of course, things go awry and Webb delivers the story in the form of a monologue delivered to his now captive criminal subject as they wind their way through the badlands of the Midwest. The story ends with an interchange between two and a "surprise" concluding scene.
As it stands, this is a standard noir "pulp" story and it adheres closely to the strictures of the form. Nonetheless, it's interesting and successfully hardboiled. The denouement is less satisfying than might be expected, given the clever plotting to that point. The acerbic commentary on religion are worth the purchase price alone. In summary, while "there's nothing new under the sun" (as proven yet again in this book), there are plenty of remaining approaches to make an old tale interesting even while it's formulaic.
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