The Man from Primrose Lane

Although there were a lot of aspects of the characterizations and writing that I didn't like, the intricate plotting and ambitions of the story are enough to bump this one up to a 4 from a 3 - 3.5 for me. I appreciate ambition, even if it didn't particularly stick the landing for me. It's a slower start, but once it gets going, it's hard to stop reading.

Haunting. I'm still not sure about the out-of-left field twist three-fourths of the way through but I can't get it out of my mind, which is a good thing. Classic mystery with paranormal aspects.

All the makings of a cult classic with some great meta elements once you start digging into the bibliography of the author James Renner. It opens with the discovery of the Man from Primrose Lane. A notorious recluse also known as the Man with a Thousand Mittens for his quirk of always wearing mittens regardless of the weather. He has been found dead in his home, the victim of a gut-shot wound. But more significantly, it looks like he has been dragged to the kitchen where all his fingers have been cut off and put into a blender.

That's it. That's all I want to tell you. I went in completely blind and loved the sense of discovery as more elements of the story unfolded. I want to give it 5 stars but my sense it could have been edited tighter butts up against my love of all the hints, easter eggs and wish for a closer examination of some of the story's elements.

Genres are good. They narrow down the field and help us find the things we love. I support genres as an aid, not as a rule: it's good to not grow stagnant, become so enveloped in one area that we ignore the rest. But genres can be limiting. How do you classify some works which cross genres? And what the hell do you do with a book like The Man from Primrose Lane?

So my library has The Man from Primrose Lane in the Horror section. Sure, it has its grisly moments, but horror is one of the last genres I'd think to classify this novel as. It may bear some similarity to the work of Stephen King, but we can do better than the horror label. How would I classify James Renner's debut novel? Well, initially I'd say it's very much a literary mystery: there's the murder, the whodunit, and the interrogations. But as a whole, I don't like mysteries and I liked this, so I'd focus more on the literary side of the label. Then, stuff happens. Big stuff. Stuff that should make any fan of Mitchell or Murakami smile. It's a big mess of stuff that will infuriate many readers who feel the author has hijacked a great mystery; my personal reaction: bring it on! I loved it. Sure, it was heavily convoluted, extremely difficult to follow, but it was so much fun trying to piece it together. It's difficult to say more without giving it all away. A thrilling literary science-fiction mystery horror novel: how's that for a genre?

I think any open-minded reader of speculative fiction should take a shot at this novel. The storyline is riveting and the characters are great. I won't pretend like the novel doesn't perhaps become a little confused in its... oh, the risk of spoilers... that is to say, I thoroughly enjoy David Mitchell, but sometimes his writing lacks a certain coherence and plausible (albeit paranormal) outcome (I refuse to believe the underworld or whatever it was resembles Ghostbusters 2); Renner's novel steps onto that same road, but takes it nowhere near as far as Mitchell has done, in my opinion. In short, some suspension of disbelief is necessary on more than one occasion, but I don't think this should deter the more open-minded reader.

How would I classify The Man from Primrose Lane? Brilliant. I loved every minute of it.

This book starts out great, then completely changes... To greater. It's a hard one to review, in that the genius if it lies in plot points they can't be discussed. I want everyone I know to read this, it's that good.

Pros: brilliantly intricate plot, fantastic finish, compelling, interesting characters

Cons: some disturbing imagery, some gross imagery, complicated plot was sometimes hard to follow

David Neff hasn't written since his wife's suicide 4 years ago, on the day they were to bring their new baby home from the hospital. So when his agent suggests he try his hand at solving the murder of the Man from Primrose Lane, he baulks. But his naturally obsessive nature takes over and he soon discovers that the case is connected to that of his wife, whose twin sister was kidnapped in front of her eyes when they were ten.

The first 231 pages of this novel are straight up crime fiction. The author, James Renner, has written two true crime books, and so knows what's required to investigate the kinds of cases David Neff faces. This section of the novel tells about David's present and two parts of his past: his meeting and marriage to Elizabeth and the murder case he solves (and subsequently writes a book about). This case, something he obsesses over for many years, requires crime scene descriptions of rape and murder victims, most of whom are children. The imagery, while not gratuitous, caused this reviewer some unease, as did some of the gross descriptions found in the book. While hearing that someone vomits is fine, knowing WHAT they've vomited up... isn't something this reviewer was prepared to learn. One scene in particular caused this reviewer some concern for the contents of her own stomach.

The last third of the novel is pure science fiction. The SF is fundamental to the story and complicates the already complicated plot. In many ways this segment of the book reminded me of the movie Primer. It would have been incredibly helpful to have a flowchart of what happened to whom and when. Even before this segment, keeping characters straight was a bit of a challenge. And unlike most books, where you can flip back through the linear narrative to refresh your memory, trying to find earlier passages - with the way the book jumps through time - was tough.

The mystery was very compelling and David's character fascinating. And once I learned the twist I couldn't put the book down. There were a few things that appeared to be plot holes but the author meticulously dealt with each one before finishing the book. Indeed, the ending was absolutely brilliant.

The Man from Primrose Lane is not for the faint of heart but is ultimately rewarding for those who finish the book.