A Violent Masterpiece

Following in the slipstream of the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger awarded Everybody Knows, this horrific slice of the dark side of Hollywood is a thriller of nightmarish proportions. Focusing on the unspeakable, it reveals the horrors of human nature when ‘there are no rules, only prices’ becomes a mantra for those who can afford the services of Sub Rosa [a private concierge service].

The narrative is written with the urgency of present-tense in an almost screenplay style, peppered with insightful asides and observations. The novel’s title refers to contemporary America, where Harper describes ‘this country as a violent masterpiece’ and ‘the weapon [be it a handgun, rifle or nuclear bomb] as the true American art form’

Written from three viewpoints which converge eponymously thus giving the novel its motif. Firstly we have Jake Deal a young vlogger of “Creepy Crawl”, who livestreams internet content from his van; scanning police and emergency responder channels. He is tracking the crimes of the serial-killer ‘L.A. Ripper’, a murderer that appears to be selecting victims on their appearance. He’s given a task by his former boss to track a list of known Hollywood names he believes is for a dangerous blackmailing syndicate [headed by the mysterious ‘BOB’ aka Belly-Of-the-Beast].

Secondly, we have Doug Gibson a young and idealistic public defender – a lawyer haunted by his abusive childhood [via his step-father; a corrupt LAPD officer]. Gibson [against all instincts] takes on the case of disgraced Hollywood star Eric Algar – arrested for multiple paedophilia accusations and sexual deviancy events with co-stars and Hollywood hopefuls.

And thirdly, we have the tortured Kara Delgado, an operative for the Private Concierge service Sub Rosa.  She used to work for Mitnick and Mitnick Associates – a Los Angeles based [black-bag/crisis management] PR Company referenced in Everbody Knows. Kara got the ‘gig’ at Sub Rosa thanks to her friend Phoebe, who worked in the Private Concierge firm, but has since vanished. Kara is haunted by the voice of Phoebe in her dreams, perhaps it is due to Kara’s drug abuse hallucinations or perhaps it’s ghostly messages.

As our three protagonists Jake, Doug and Kara undertake their journeys traversing Hollywood’s under-belly, they uncover an array of truly surreal characters. Horrors from the world of excessive wealth [and power] are uncovered in a hallucinatory trip [pun intended]. We meet the Disc Jockey to the stars Wayne Skerrit with his neck tattoo ‘Mum it’s not your fault’ as well as the underground club Leopold House where for a price, Sub Rosa can provide any manner of ‘things’ to sate your desires. There’s Dr Samuel Otis and Anthony Nesbit of Euridyce medical suppliers to the elites. Dirty Cop Roger Kasabian, and the black suited private security operators BlackGuard [many of whom are moon-lighting from the LAPD] and appeared in Everbody Knows. And all the while, casting/talent agent [ITGirl] Carol Goodman knows something about why Eric Algar has been finally arrested, and why nobody is safe from a final retribution for the crimes hidden under the shadows that Hollywood casts – making the novel’s opening quotation from The Brothers Grimm horrifically prophetic “When people are too well off, they always long for something new.”

Though closely related Harper’s preceding novel ‘Everybody Knows’, A Violent Masterpiece is very much its own vehicle, and the reader does not require any knowledge of Everybody Knows – except that both of these novels are extraordinary.

Though a warning, like its predecessor, A Violent Masterpiece despite its brilliance, is a deeply unsettling and disturbing read. I read it in four sessions. After each sitting I required a long hot shower to wash away the horrors the book contains. The debris it left in my mind are akin to painful shards of glass that continue to give me nightmares.

Like the works of Thomas Harris, Jordan Harper’s A Violent Masterpiece can be shelved either in the Crime, or the Horror Fiction sections of the bookstore.