"Empty Rooms by Jeff Mariotte gripped me from the
beginning and wouldn't let me go. I am a huge fan of crime fiction, and
this dark tale of kidnapping, pedophilia, despair, and poverty has made
me an offical fan of Mariotte. Richie Krebbs, a recently fired police
officer working in an unsatisfying job as a security guard, becomes
increasingly fascinated with the abandoned Morton house. Thirteen years
ago, a young girl named Angela Morton disappeared without a trace, and
Richie finds it suspicious that her parents seemed detached and even
unconcerned about their daughter's disappearance. Richie becomes
obsessed with solving the case, and enlists the help of Detective Frank
Robey. Together, they embark on a cross-country search of Angela Morton
and her parents.
His "good guys'' are not
perfect, and his "bad guys" are not totally evil. In this way, Mariotte
humanizes his characters and the reader feels empathy towards all of
them. Richie has a questionable work ethic and comes across as extremely
self-absorbed. Likewise, Mariotte delves deep in the mind of a sick
pedophile and gives a very objective account of his life-long struggle,
and eventual acceptance, of his tendencies. I give Mariotte an A+ for
character development.
There were a few plot
points that I feel were slightly underdeveloped and even somewhat
questionable. The author implies that the pedophile had an incestous
relationship with his mother, but there is a part at the end that, if
this is true, would disturb readers. (I don't want to spoil the ending,
so I won't go further than that). And some important characters (such as
Sheriff Kate) were cut off at the end. Mariotte had to take a few
fictional liberties to make the plot work (an extremely understanding
wife who allows him to quit his job although the budget is stretched to
the limit to pursue this case, a trusting detective who essentially
gives Richie a blank check to finance the pursuit, and a few others) but
I think all writers have to do that (myself included). Although I
understand that Mariotte was trying to portray the darker side of human
nature, I feel that Mariotte was a little heavy-handed in the theme of
domestic violence (basically portraying every man he encounters on the
case as a wife-beater and every married woman as afraid to talk to him).
The subplot of Wil Fowler and his family is not completely satisfied,
so I would love it if Mariotte wrote a follow-up novel that centers
around him and his situation.
Mariotte's use
of language is impeccable. He uses a combination of serious narration,
manly sarcasm, and local/cultural dialect to tell a vivid tale. His use
of wording is anything but cliched. He also expertly uses several
symbols and motifs to drive his plot (Superman, angels, the Morton
House, and especially the literal and figurative use of "empty rooms").
Mariotte is clearly not afraid to take on some extremely controversial
issues, something I highly respect in a writer. I am a new fan and will
definitely be reading more of Mariotte's work."
5 stars
Jessica Wren
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