Straight Cut

At first blush STRAIGHT CUT is a bit of an enigma within the context of the Hard Case Crime list. Madison Smartt Bell doesn't ordinarily work within the suspense genre in general or hard-boiled crime fiction in particular, though certainly his talent is such that he is capable of writing, and writing well, in any genre he wishes. And STRAIGHT CUT is not as bare-knuckled as, say, BUST, FADE TO BLONDE or KISS HER GOODBYE, or any half-dozen titles from Hard Case you could name (with the exception, of course, of Stephen King's THE COLORADO KID). The publication of STRAIGHT CUT, however, demonstrates the elasticity of even the relatively narrow hard-boiled genre. Originally published in 1986, the novel has a European feel and edge, and not just because a great deal of it is set in Italy and Belgium. Bell's writing style has a continental flare to it, as well as a cinematic one. At times I felt as if I was reading a script from a Barbet Schroeder film, not topically but stylistically. There is not a great deal of violence in the book, though it is there, interjected at one point to demonstrate that there is more to protagonist Tracy Bateman than meets the eye. Bateman is a freelance film editor whose personal life is less than ideal. Kevin, a film producer who is Bateman's best friend and occasional employer, is incapable and unworthy of trust, as is Lauren, Bateman's ex-wife with whom he shared at best a marriage of convenience. Yet Bateman is at least partially to blame for this state of affairs, aware that his wife and erstwhile best friend formed points of a romantic triangle, a situation that Bateman tolerated almost from the beginning of his relationship with Lauren. Bateman is sunk in an alcoholic ennui on his farm in Tennessee, uneasily brooding and reading Kierkegaard, when he receives a call from Kevin with an offer of employment. The job --- editing a documentary film in Italy --- is an interesting one and certainly within the range of his considerable talents. It is made clear though that the job will involve something more, an additional side task involving drugs and money that Bateman has performed before for Kevin. It is only when Bateman is in Italy and immersed in his editing chores that he learns that Kevin has interjected Lauren into the mix as well. Bateman and Lauren resume their relationship, however briefly, and as a result Bateman takes over Lauren's role in the side job, even as Bateman realizes that Kevin had assumed he would do just that. But Bateman is not without his own personal resources, which he utilizes even as he must fight against his own self-destructive impulses. Though Kevin makes only relatively brief appearances at the beginning and end of STRAIGHT CUT, he is a Machiavellian presence throughout, crossing swords with Bateman at a distance while preserving an amoral detachment from what befalls others at his behest. It is Kevin's machinations, and Bateman's somewhat tardy but effective reactions, that provide

A page turning mystery that takes you to Europe and back. Didn't want it to end yet couldn't put down.

Is Hard Case Crime trying to expand its audience? Madison Smartt Bell isn't exactly famous for his crime noir fiction, but is probably best known for his novel, All Souls' Rising (the first of a trilogy of novels on the Haitian Revolution), which won the PEN/Faulkner Award and was a National Book Award finalist. Not exactly the rundown of the average Hard Case Crime author. A thriller with literary aspirations (the cover quote from Walker Percy, author of The Moviegoer, clued me in to that), Straight Cut gives us the best of both worlds -- although for genre fans, the first two-thirds will essentially feel like exposition. With an opening that will re-break the heart of anyone who's ever had to put a pet to sleep, Straight Cut tells the story of Tracy Bateman, freelance film editor, before, during, and after he is sent to Rome for a cutting job. Offered the job by his best friend / romantic rival and the film's director, Kevin Carter, Tracy is suspicious from the beginning, but the money is too good to refuse (another reason for his suspicion). His Italian is poor, but he manages to make a go of it in Rome. He teaches an assistant, Mimmo, the ropes of film editing while dealing with the recent death of his dog, and his stormy relationship with his wife, Lauren (who married him for an American green card and occasionally runs off with Kevin), while spending a lot of time in trattorias drinking grappa. His reliance on the philosophies of Danish existentialist Søren Kierkegaard doesn't help things. Neither does meeting up again with Lauren, which wasn't exactly on his agenda, but she shows up unexpectedly, carrying a mysterious briefcase, a false identity, and instructions from Kevin. Tracy is conflicted because he doesn't trust that Lauren will ever be the person he needs her to be (though their physical relationship has never been a problem), but he can see what she is getting herself involved in and doesn't want her to get hurt. That Kevin is so obviously careless about putting Lauren in danger only aggravates Tracy's love / hate relationship with him. This leads to what most Hard Case Crime readers will have been waiting for the whole time: a continent-hopping drug-and-money exchange, with all the border-crossing problems, fistfights, and gun-crazy Bulgarians that implies. It only covers the final third of the book, but Bell's prose is so sparse as to make it feel like a novel unto itself. Tracy's thought processes are fascinating to watch and whether he will get himself out of this situation is always in doubt, making the suspense quotient even higher than expected. On the whole, however, Straight Cut is a novel of character, not of plot. Go into it expecting a tense page-turner on the level of Bust or Grifter's Game, and you'll likely be disappointed -- but exercise a little patience, and you'll be greatly rewarded.

Tracy Bateman is having a really bad day. His farm is going to pot, his wife has left again, his dog is dying and although he won't admit it, he's on a fast track to alcoholism. And then his ex-best friend, Kevin calls and offers him a job. Tracy and Kevin have an intense love/hate relationship and it's mostly hate these days. Kevin is a charmer but he's also a liar, schemer and on occasion he smuggles drugs. Before you know it Tracy is right in the middle of a really bad situation and if he can't sober up long enough to fight his way out of it he and his wife could end up dead. Madison Smartt Bell has written a thriling book. The background descriptions of New York and Rome are fantastic and there isn't one wasted or cliched character in the whole story. I think this is one of the best of the Hard Case series.

Great plot, really liked it (according to my notes from 1996). Not as good as "ten indians" or "year of silence" but still, quite spellbinding.