James Kidd
What on Earth Is Going on?
The Kills is a novel that challenges critics, and indeed criticism, in a variety of ways. Its 1,000 pages in hardback form not only strain bicep, forearm and wrist, but also make mincemeat of commonplaces like plot summary. The Kills is a thriller about a fugitive framed for a financial heist he didn’t commit until it becomes a conspiracy about big business interests in Iraq until it mutates into a knowing murder mystery until it does all the above in different voices.
In any case I have already overstepped and forgotten to ask whether The Kills is a novel at all. Its four sections (‘Sutler’, ‘The Massive’, ‘The Kill’, ‘The Hit’) have all been released separately as e-books, making The Kills a compilation of sorts, albeit one that interlocks in extraordinary ways.
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
'The day Simon and I Vespa-d from Daunt to Daunt to John Sandoe to Hatchards to Goldsboro, places where many of the booksellers have become my friends over the years, was the one with the high puffy clouds, the very strong breeze, the cool-warm sunlight.'
https://literaryreview.co.uk/temple-of-vespa
Some salient thoughts on book collecting from Michael Dirda with a semi tragic conclusion that I suspect many of us can relate to from the @Lit_Review #WednesdayMotivation
Sign up to our newsletter! Get free articles, selections from the archive, subscription offers and competitions delivered straight to your inbox.
http://ow.ly/zZcW50JfgN5