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A review by ben_miller
Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto
4.0
So you created a great TV show? Okay, I'll read your book. Sure, I'll buy it and I'll take it with me to the low country of South Carolina and I'll sit on the screened-in porch and read it with the dogs laying all around my feet. Sure. Why not?
And hey, it's pretty good! The roots of True Detective are plain to see here: cracker country, biker bars, prostitutes, drugs, and so on. It's not nearly as compelling in any aspect, but you can see how Pizzolatto is careful with, and good at, writing these types of characters. He pays attention to their little details, mannerisms, and ways of speech, and as a result they feel real. He doesn't let Roy Cady be the generic Hard-Boiled Criminal Anti-Hero, just as he never let Cohle and Hart be Grizzled Cops #s 1 and 2.
He also tries a multiple timeline structure here, as he did later and more successfully in True Detective. It's just the two time periods in Galveston, and the tension created by them is not exactly palpable. But it was obviously good practice, since he used that technique to brilliant effect on TV.
And maybe TV is where Pizzolatto's talents shine best. Reading this book, you can see how he might be able to create an atmosphere that would coax out some really great performances.
In summary, earth-shattering? No. Worth your time, on a hot afternoon in the low country with the dogs' tails swishing against your legs and somebody in the house shelling shrimp and somebody else down on the beach flying a kite shaped like a P-51 Mustang? Absolutely.
And hey, it's pretty good! The roots of True Detective are plain to see here: cracker country, biker bars, prostitutes, drugs, and so on. It's not nearly as compelling in any aspect, but you can see how Pizzolatto is careful with, and good at, writing these types of characters. He pays attention to their little details, mannerisms, and ways of speech, and as a result they feel real. He doesn't let Roy Cady be the generic Hard-Boiled Criminal Anti-Hero, just as he never let Cohle and Hart be Grizzled Cops #s 1 and 2.
He also tries a multiple timeline structure here, as he did later and more successfully in True Detective. It's just the two time periods in Galveston, and the tension created by them is not exactly palpable. But it was obviously good practice, since he used that technique to brilliant effect on TV.
And maybe TV is where Pizzolatto's talents shine best. Reading this book, you can see how he might be able to create an atmosphere that would coax out some really great performances.
In summary, earth-shattering? No. Worth your time, on a hot afternoon in the low country with the dogs' tails swishing against your legs and somebody in the house shelling shrimp and somebody else down on the beach flying a kite shaped like a P-51 Mustang? Absolutely.