 |
Patrick Garry’s Blind Spots is a novel that defies genre. Is it crime fiction, a thriller, a mystery, or perhaps even a love story? The real answer is all of the above. Frequently, when a novelist tries to do too much, he winds up with a book that does too little. In the attempt to meld genres, the story emerges neither fish nor fowl. It becomes more of a platypus—an interesting novelty that is fun to look at but not necessarily something that holds your interest very long. Fortunately Mr. Garry has adroitly avoided that pitfall.
On the surface, his story seems to be a police procedural, much like the long running television series Law & Order, that uses half of its length to solve the crime and the rest of its time pursuing the appropriate punishment. But Blind Spots is actually about what's below the surface. Why won't the investigating officer accept what appears to be an obvious solution? Why does the suspect confess to a crime he likely didn't commit? Why does the judge anguish over whether or not to recuse herself?
Garry intertwines the present with the past to reveal just enough about each of the characters, and their relationships to one another, to selectively reveal motivations as he enticingly builds suspense. His prose seems content to virtually let the narrative tell itself. Much like the film director who goes out of his way to not let his direction show, Gary subjugates style to story and in doing so creates a novel that is poignant without being preachy. It is as concise as it is compelling.
Make no mistake, Blind Spots definitely unravels the mysteries that lie within it, but like the best of novels, it also asks questions that only the reader can answer.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review