Review: _The Devil's Alphabet_, by Daryl Gregory

Sad Sophomore Slump. I was really looking forward to Gregory's second novel, but it was quite disappointing.

Not to say that it was all bad. For instance, here's a really nice bit of writing from chapter two:

Deke said, "So what do you do for a living? You work in some restaurant?"

"Not some restaurant. The number three Mexican restaurant chain in Chicago, not counting Chi-Chi's and Taco Bell."

"Really."

"Really." Pax shrugged. "It's not a career or anything." No shit, he thought. There were two types of people in the restaurant biz: temps and lifers. The lifers were alcoholics with hefty pot habits. He'd always thought he was a temp--marking time until he figured out what he wanted to do with his life--until he woke up one morning with his fourth hangover of the week and realized he owed his dealer $300.

"You got a girlfriend up there? An ex-wife? I don't see a ring on your finger."

"I'm not exactly husband material," Pax said. "Or boyfriend material. Actually, I'm not even sure I'm material."

That's good wordsmithing: clever, but not pretentious; drawing a character portrait clearly and concisely. Pax really isn't good for much of anything. Sadly, he is the primary protagonist of this novel, despite not being protagonist material either.

( Read more... )