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Philip Davison¼s The Crooked Man introduces a character that isn¼t likely win much sympathy. Harry Fielding is laconic, grim, dispassionate and capable of murder as a matter of fact. That doesn¼t mean he¼s amoral or isn¼t in some way winning. He just isn¼t likable. Some will find Mr. Davison¼s writing here and therefore Harry¼s voice, too grim and plainspoken ‚ minimalism that isn¼t terribly pleasing to the eye or ear. The narration rarely contains a sentence with more than 10 words in it‚ and dialogue beyond short sharp turns of phrase is rarer still. Harry is an understrapper ‚ basically an off the books guy who is the devil in the details for MI5. He is usually armed only with his wits, some lock picks, and a camera. The reader quickly learns that his specialties are break-ins and his skill in photographing his subjects in compromising positions. Initially, the only thing darker than the routine break-ins that he seems to specialize in are his meetings with his supervisor, Hamilton, which in some way make up the dark heart of the book. Hamilton is the man with the desk at MI5 who is employer, father, and god to Harry, and who makes his understrapper look like an ideal friend and neighbor in comparison. His meetings with Harry, usually at diners, as wrought by Mr. Davison, are small masterpieces in manipulation, mistrust, and the worse kind of co-dependency. This hard boiled territory has been well traveled but Harry¼s telling makes us root ‚ not for him exactly ‚ but for him to hold on to whatever edge he has over Hamilton and for whatever principles he might still have. The central events of the book are both crimes of passion that Harry doesn¼t commit but that require him to commit the kind of crimes he¼s good at ---crimes of dispassion, cold tasks that make the reader who has chosen to listen to Harry¼s voice grow weary with him ‚ weary of the people who require him (us) to deal with their crimes of passion. Some readers won¼t buy that Mr. Davison¼s writing has to so closely follow Harry¼s voice. That is, they may find it contrived that Mr. Davison¼s writing too closely mirrors his main character¼s lean, sharp speech. They are wrong and so are those that think that is the genius of the book. The genius of the book is Harry himself plain and simple and the way he somehow wins the reader in ways that seem fresh despite the fact that devotees of the genre have been here before. Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Frank Wardega, August 2002
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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