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A follow-up to the bare-knuckled badassery of Donnybrook (currently being made into a motion picture, praise 9 pound, 8 ounce sweet baby Jesus), The Savage is set only several years on but light years away. The U.S. dollar is worthless, the power grid useless and power-and-land-hungry hordes are savaging what and who remains.
Against a kill-or-be-killed backdrop, Bill explores the competing interests of (mostly) men living in the madness and how they survive in light of their histories and what type of men their respective fathers taught them to be. One of the things I love about Frank Bill is the reverence he pays to those who work with their hands and ply a trade. The theme of how sad and dangerous it is to continue to destroy and leave that part of us behind runs deep in his writing.
The Savage is soaked in vengeance and unapologetic violence, and Bill easily holds the World Record for the number of different ways to describe a bullet separating mind from matter. His form and cadence vary like jabs and hooks and stray gloriously from the "norm," always with a sure foot beneath them. As cliche as it is to say Bill has a unique voice, I have a hard time describing his style. The best I can do is to liken it to watching Ali fight or listening to him speak. It is a savage ballet that twists your brain with its creativity and leaves you in wonderment.
STREET SENSE: If you're a fan of the grit lit, do not hesitate, Frank Bill is a master.
A FAVORITE PASSAGE: I really want to list a few of my favorite bullet-meets-bone descriptions, but those should not be spoiled. I used almost a full tin of book darts marking passages in this book, and to avoid having to make a difficult choice I'm going to quote from the opening, which provides a look at what goes down for the next (almost) 400 glorious pages.
They wanted change, so they'd taken out the grids, the world's power switch, eliminating lights, sounds, and anything that warranted electricity and what followed was the images of men being kneeled in front of women and children, homes besieged by flame, a pistol or rifle indenting a face enraged by fear, hurt, and anger. Trigger pulled. Brain, skull, and hair fertilizing the soil with departure. One man's life taken by another without mercy.
COVER NERD SAYS: I was pulled to this cover at first sight. It's simple yet piques the curiosity. I'm always a fan of clean, stark imagery, and this cover does that superbly while also pairing well with the paperback cover of Donnybrook. I might have been able to nail this as a Frank Bill book just by looking, and that's a good thing.
Against a kill-or-be-killed backdrop, Bill explores the competing interests of (mostly) men living in the madness and how they survive in light of their histories and what type of men their respective fathers taught them to be. One of the things I love about Frank Bill is the reverence he pays to those who work with their hands and ply a trade. The theme of how sad and dangerous it is to continue to destroy and leave that part of us behind runs deep in his writing.
The Savage is soaked in vengeance and unapologetic violence, and Bill easily holds the World Record for the number of different ways to describe a bullet separating mind from matter. His form and cadence vary like jabs and hooks and stray gloriously from the "norm," always with a sure foot beneath them. As cliche as it is to say Bill has a unique voice, I have a hard time describing his style. The best I can do is to liken it to watching Ali fight or listening to him speak. It is a savage ballet that twists your brain with its creativity and leaves you in wonderment.
STREET SENSE: If you're a fan of the grit lit, do not hesitate, Frank Bill is a master.
A FAVORITE PASSAGE: I really want to list a few of my favorite bullet-meets-bone descriptions, but those should not be spoiled. I used almost a full tin of book darts marking passages in this book, and to avoid having to make a difficult choice I'm going to quote from the opening, which provides a look at what goes down for the next (almost) 400 glorious pages.
They wanted change, so they'd taken out the grids, the world's power switch, eliminating lights, sounds, and anything that warranted electricity and what followed was the images of men being kneeled in front of women and children, homes besieged by flame, a pistol or rifle indenting a face enraged by fear, hurt, and anger. Trigger pulled. Brain, skull, and hair fertilizing the soil with departure. One man's life taken by another without mercy.
COVER NERD SAYS: I was pulled to this cover at first sight. It's simple yet piques the curiosity. I'm always a fan of clean, stark imagery, and this cover does that superbly while also pairing well with the paperback cover of Donnybrook. I might have been able to nail this as a Frank Bill book just by looking, and that's a good thing.
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