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A review by katykelly
Normal by Graeme Cameron
4.0
I'm going to mention Dexter a few times in this review. If you're not familiar with the TV show (or inferior books), don't be concerned, it's a comparison I couldn't help but make as I read this, and won't affect your enjoyment of this debut. Dexter is all about a serial killer, one who kills to fulfil a deep-seated need, but who can cover his tracks owing to his position as Blood Splatter Analyst for the police.
The (unnamed) protagonist of Normal also kills because he needs to. He however, is smart without the advantage of a position in the police. He's cool, he's calm - the ultimate dispassionate predator. And he's also funny. Very, very funny. Things he says, you see as being very 'normal' and everyday and all of a sudden he turns them into something quite different:
"In Fruit & Veg I selected a peach. Small, rosy and perfectly rounded, she set my mouth watering the moment she caught my eye."
Just like Dexter's opening credits where the everyday, mundane and normal can be seen through the serial killer's eyes as something much more dangerous.
For the narrator, killing is normal, murder, death and mutilation. And we as readers start to see it as that too, until he pulls us up again:
"An unprecedented calm enveloped me as I made space in the pantry freezer, between the joints of topside beef and the waitress from the Hungry Horse."
You reread things, not sure you've read it correctly. Then realise you have. And laugh. And wonder how you can laugh, when everywhere around this man are murdered women.
The start of the novel sees our killer stalking a woman, and it not going quite to plan. His elaborate and very well-designed basement dungeon is called into play. But his next victim, Erica, isn't quite what she appears. And our quirky murderer finds his perspective changing when he visits the supermarket and - bam - falls in love, with a woman he doesn't immediately want to cut up.
How his loved-up persona affects his psychotic nature is amusing, the plot somehow managing to keep some very dark deeds quite light. Even Dexter gets quite bogged down in his 'dark passenger' subplot that never strays into the 'humorous' aisle of the serial killer genre. Normal is unique.
For a book with a male serial killer, Cameron gives some juicy little roles to women. Annie for me was the standout, but I won't spoil her plotline. Annie and a very understated female police officer grow more interesting as the story progresses. I wasn't convinced by love interest Rachel, but she does get her moments. Erica starts brilliantly, with some great development.
But I haven't given this five stars. Really, it was the ending (actually, I hate the way Dexter ended too). I just felt a little let down with the hectic finale (and also some very confusing moments throughout when I felt I'd missed paragraphs as characters seemed to have moved forward without this being written onto the page). I didn't like the ending, so this might be my personal taste, but the two main roles acted in ways I didn't feel fitted with previous actions or that went in ways I thought suited the style of story. A shame for me, as the first half was a solid 5-star read.
Despite an ending that didn't suit me personally, this is original, biting and hilariously dark killer material. Don't feel bad for liking it, it doesn't make you any less Normal.
Review of a Netgalley advance copy.
The (unnamed) protagonist of Normal also kills because he needs to. He however, is smart without the advantage of a position in the police. He's cool, he's calm - the ultimate dispassionate predator. And he's also funny. Very, very funny. Things he says, you see as being very 'normal' and everyday and all of a sudden he turns them into something quite different:
"In Fruit & Veg I selected a peach. Small, rosy and perfectly rounded, she set my mouth watering the moment she caught my eye."
Just like Dexter's opening credits where the everyday, mundane and normal can be seen through the serial killer's eyes as something much more dangerous.
For the narrator, killing is normal, murder, death and mutilation. And we as readers start to see it as that too, until he pulls us up again:
"An unprecedented calm enveloped me as I made space in the pantry freezer, between the joints of topside beef and the waitress from the Hungry Horse."
You reread things, not sure you've read it correctly. Then realise you have. And laugh. And wonder how you can laugh, when everywhere around this man are murdered women.
The start of the novel sees our killer stalking a woman, and it not going quite to plan. His elaborate and very well-designed basement dungeon is called into play. But his next victim, Erica, isn't quite what she appears. And our quirky murderer finds his perspective changing when he visits the supermarket and - bam - falls in love, with a woman he doesn't immediately want to cut up.
How his loved-up persona affects his psychotic nature is amusing, the plot somehow managing to keep some very dark deeds quite light. Even Dexter gets quite bogged down in his 'dark passenger' subplot that never strays into the 'humorous' aisle of the serial killer genre. Normal is unique.
For a book with a male serial killer, Cameron gives some juicy little roles to women. Annie for me was the standout, but I won't spoil her plotline. Annie and a very understated female police officer grow more interesting as the story progresses. I wasn't convinced by love interest Rachel, but she does get her moments. Erica starts brilliantly, with some great development.
But I haven't given this five stars. Really, it was the ending (actually, I hate the way Dexter ended too). I just felt a little let down with the hectic finale (and also some very confusing moments throughout when I felt I'd missed paragraphs as characters seemed to have moved forward without this being written onto the page). I didn't like the ending, so this might be my personal taste, but the two main roles acted in ways I didn't feel fitted with previous actions or that went in ways I thought suited the style of story. A shame for me, as the first half was a solid 5-star read.
Despite an ending that didn't suit me personally, this is original, biting and hilariously dark killer material. Don't feel bad for liking it, it doesn't make you any less Normal.
Review of a Netgalley advance copy.