by Jason McIntyre
Another
McIntyre story, another great read.
Mercy and the Cat aroused my curiosity by just reading its appealing,
enigmatic title. It’s the third novella I’ve read by this Canadian author and the
result is the same as always: I hit me like a juggernaut. Days after finishing
it, it stills resounds in my brain.
We have to
distinguish two kinds of styles in Jason McIntyre’s works. On the one hand, you’ve got his long novels,
masterfully written and elaborated, with plots and sub-plots, flashbacks and
unexpected turns. On the other hand, you’ve got his novellas, which could be
described as perfect little jewels, with the same deep depiction of characters
that you can find in his longer works but with less meandering plots. Nevertheless, and despite being a more
straightforward story, McIntyre’s style and prose in Mercy and the Cat (or any other novella) is still as elegant,
poetic and exquisite as any of his novels.
Mercy and the Cat contains more mature and disturbing contents
than any other story I’ve read by this author. However I took this as a
positive feature, because when a writer can surprise you and break all your
expectations again, you realize that
the time you’re investing in reading his work is actually worthy.
In this
story we have a troubled main character, Dave Bolander, and the events in a
late summer night. I won’t write anything else about the plot
because it’ll spoil the fun to future readers. I’ll just say that, from
the very beginning the reader suspects that something’s wrong with him but it’s
really difficult to discern what it is. In addition to this, there’s a strong feeling
of menace from the very first page, which increases as the story unfolds.
This is a magnificent
thriller full of suspense and mystery that will not disappoint any reader of
this genre. If you want to read something different, well written and fresh, go
ahead and grab this book!
