SAVAGE NIGHT

When Tommy Savage is threatened by someone he doesn’t know - a man who calls himself Smith and wears a ski mask – he turns to his brother for help to try to find out who’s blackmailing him for fifty grand. When Smith proves he’s capable of cold-blooded murder, Savage fears for the safety of his sons and is desperate to find out who Smith is and why he has a grudge against him.

And that isn’t even half the story. It isn’t even the tip of the iceberg, but I’m going to avoid specifics as much as possible to avoid spoilers. What will be of more interest to those considering this book is the nature of the content and the themes, particularly in comparison to Guthrie’s previous work.

When I reviewed HARD MAN last year I said:

I wondered how Guthrie was going to top his achievement with HARD MAN. I approached SAVAGE NIGHT with nervous anticipation, unsure of what would be in store for me.

From page one it was clear that Guthrie had grown as a writer. I do not mean to take anything away from this Theakston award-winning debut TWO-WAY SPLIT, his Edgar, Anthony and Gumshoe Nominated novel, KISS HER GOODBYE, or HARD MAN, which won the Spinetingler award for Best Novel-New Voice. However, every author faces the challenge of matching or bettering their prior works. Not content to just nudge the bar higher, with SAVAGE NIGHT Guthrie shows an ability to push himself and rise to the challenge.

Guthrie has moved away from the stream-of-consciousness narrative-intensive style that served HARD MAN so well and has drawn us into the center of the story from the opening lines. Why is a headless dead man in a tub in Fraser’s living room? And who is he? Many books start off grounding the reader with either a character or hooking them with action. In short order, Guthrie effortlessly does both. With an economy of words he skillfully develops character, setting and hooks the reader through the events unfolding on the page.

SAVAGE NIGHT is a layered story that is told from multiple perspectives, and moves back and forth over a short span of time. Time shifts can prove difficult for authors to pull off, but I never felt lost or disoriented with the transitions in SAVAGE NIGHT. Every writer who’s ever used the teaser, “If only I’d known what would happen” at the end of a chapter to tell readers something dramatic is about to happen that they should stick around for, or some variation of it, should read this book. The shifts managed to both leave questions answered and raise new questions. Through the use of the intersecting timelines Guthrie does not always conceal information. In fact, from the first pages we know who some of the characters who will die are, and we know they’re doomed. Instead of building suspense by always leaving readers to wonder what will happen, Guthrie makes us wonder why this is happening. As the story moved back in time a few weeks and began to reveal the background I found my sympathies shifting, and the process continued throughout the book. Ultimately, Guthrie succeeds in painting the characters as flawed and real. At times I loved and at other times I loathed almost all of them. No matter how I felt about them at any given point in the story I was fascinated by their behaviour, and wanted to see what choices they would make next.

The book grabbed my attention from the start and easily maintains the pace throughout, building to a boil by the end. By putting some of the critical events out in the open at the beginning Guthrie has not given us spoilers. Instead, SAVAGE NIGHT is a story that involves watching dominoes fall, but the intricate maze of blocks weaves around so many obstacles you can’t see where it will ultimately end. As a result, the reveals throughout the book have the impact of a punch in the stomach. Even some of the smallest details have significance later on. Guthrie shows his skill by not drawing unnecessary attention to those variables, and trusts in the reader to form the connections later.

The result is a stimulating read that demands your full attention, and it’s easy to give it because the book is packed with action, and plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing to the end.

No analysis of a work by Guthrie would be complete without discussing violence. It should be noted that I’m actually pretty squeamish and have a low tolerance for pain. I said HARD MAN made me feel as though someone had ripped my heart out of my chest and shoved it down my throat: ultimately, parts of SAVAGE NIGHT had me feeling faint. It’s a good thing I was sitting down when I was reading (as opposed to being on an exercise bike for anyone wondering where else I might be) because there were places I had to close my eyes and put my head between my knees.

There is no doubt that some readers will not be able to get past that part of the content. I will say that initially, I didn’t feel SAVAGE NIGHT was as violent as HARD MAN because in HARD MAN we get the worst content from the victim. Although some of the earlier scenes in SAVAGE NIGHT limit us to the perspective of the one inflicting the pain, that will enable readers with a lower tolerance for pain to get far into the book before they discover Guthrie doesn’t stop there.

One of the reasons it’s important that Guthrie doesn’t shy away from the graphic content is that it is tied to the characters and their development. In the wake of the release of HARD MAN Guthrie was criticized by some who labeled the book as torture porn, an assertion that baffled me. The violence is directly connected to the nature of the characters involved. Those who were content to criticize Guthrie for HARD MAN will probably want to lynch him for SAVAGE NIGHT. It may be a slight spoiler for me to say that as someone who partially severed their foot as a child, there are certain methods of inflicting pain that bother me more than others, and while no feet are severed in SAVAGE NIGHT I have no doubt that anyone who reads the book will understand why I had spasms in my foot while I was reading.

While I have abandoned other books where the violence felt gratuitous, there are multiple reasons why the violence not only works in Guthrie’s novels, but is essential.

Guthrie is not writing police procedurals, and is not writing about average people with average lives. His work tends to feature those on the edges of society, criminals who’ve managed to elude conviction but are no saints and those who are blowing their second or third chance at proving they can rejoin society. These are not the genteel streets of Edinburgh where we will spend our time with polite society. For the most part, these people are not angels, and it would be inappropriate to present them as non-violent and civilized. Most of them understand reasoning by force and the work they do requires demonstration. Steal from the boss, become an example so that nobody else tries to double-cross their employer. Expecting Guthrie to shy away from the use of violence by career criminals would be comparable to suggesting that Omar should never have to shoot the drug dealers he’s robbing on The Wire, and the results would be laughable and unrealistic.

The one thing that every person understands is pain. We may not all understand what it is to love a certain way, or to be prepared to murder someone, even if they’ve done horrific things to you. But is there one of us that can’t recall stubbing a toe in such a way we wondered if we’d broken it, or how it felt to slice your skin so deep you needed stitches or the feeling of slamming your fingers in a door? Guthrie shows the connection we can form to characters we otherwise wouldn’t necessarily sympathize with by sharing their pain with us. In the end, no matter what a person has done they’re still human. By showing us the cruelty that someone can willingly inflict on another person we come closer to understanding what drives some of the violence in our society.

It isn’t pretty, but I’m hard pressed to think of another author who exceeds his skill at depicting violence in such a way that the reader almost feels they’ve experienced what happened to the person in the story. While some authors touted as hardboiled take the label proudly, writers like Guthrie redefine the subgenre. Others allude to terrible events happening off the page that might motivate a character to behave a certain way, but in order for us to truly grasp the reasons behind the choices characters make in SAVAGE NIGHT, Guthrie shows us. It’s an unflinching look at the damage one person can do to another, confronting us with the physical and emotional pain that damage produces.

In SAVAGE NIGHT, an ability to appreciate that pain is required to understand the events that unfold. Ultimately, I felt every scene, every element included, had been carefully measured. There are many places within the story where Guthrie could have been more graphic than he was, but by pulling a few punches where they aren’t needed he makes the ones he includes count, and he shows discernment. He’s willing to step back from the violence by giving the reader some separation when it isn’t necessary to know or experience more first-hand.

In the same way that at times I loved and loathed some of the characters, readers will undoubtedly have mixed opinions about Guthrie’s latest, and I expect those opinions will be strong. This is not the type of story you feel indifferent about. For me, SAVAGE NIGHT was at times mesmerizing, horrifying, shocking, spellbinding and thought-provoking. The question of how far you would go to avenge a loved one is front and center, and there are no easy answers. True to form, Guthrie doesn’t shy away from the complexities of human reasoning, of how we justify horrendous choices and inhumane acts. He probes into the human psyche, showing us how guilt and fear as well as anger and hurt can drive us to do the unthinkable. My only disappointment with SAVAGE NIGHT was reaching the end, knowing that now begins the long wait for his next book.

Discuss this book or the review here.

Other Reviews of works by Allan Guthrie

Kill Clock - Nov 22, 2007

Hard Man - Jun 11, 2007

Kiss Her Goodbye - Nov 18, 2006

Interview with Allan Guthrie

On the Spot at Fantasybookspot: Allan Guthrie - Jan 27, 2008