I don’t normally read crime fiction. In fact, I’ve never
read any crime fiction. I do, however, enjoy select crime shows (Law and Order:
SVU, Lie to Me, early seasons of CSI). I don’t know why I’ve never been drawn
to the written form of crime stories, but after finishing Gun Machine, I’m
certainly going to read more.
Gun Machine is the story of John Tallow chasing the
psychotic hunter, and the hunter, in turn, chasing John Tallow. Tallow is an
NYPD detective stationed in the first precinct. He and his partner, Jim Rosato,
respond to a 911 call about a naked man waving a shotgun around on the top
floor of a walk-up. But Rosato’s wife had been on him about exercising more,
and when he got to the floor with the naked man, his knees give out and a
shotgun blast rips his skull off. Tallow kills the naked man and goes upstairs
to survey the damage while in a mild shock. The naked man had shot out a
section of wall and beyond that wall was an apartment filled with hundreds of
guns arranged as if some sort of cathedral or machine (see what I did there). What’s more, each gun is linked to
an unsolved case wherein a single victim was murdered. And each gun is matched
to its victim. Tallow, with the help of two eccentric CSUs and quite a bit of
hindrance from the corrupt NYPD, must find out what sort of man can execute a
twenty year spree of murder, whilst never getting caught, and find him, because
the murderer knows that Tallow destroyed his temple.
Gun Machine, first and foremost, is a stylish, fast-paced
crime thriller. Tallow is an interesting protagonist who has a great character
arc from reactive to active. Scarly – lead CSU – is cleverly vulgar but deeply competent.
And Bat fulfills the role of ‘mad scientist’ with aplomb. The three play off of
each other very well, making for some inspired conversations.
“Hello. I’m John. And your name?”
“Bat.” On Tallow’s chill look: “Hey. Parents in the
eighties. What’re you going to do?”
“Go back in time and kill them before they breed,” Scarly suggested.
I wouldn’t call Tallow a hero, nor would I call the hunter a
villain. The characters are real in a way that a lot of fiction gets wrong;
gray in a truly human way, unlike those ‘gray’ characters from speculative
fiction that rely upon the grotesque, the sexual, and the violent to give them
a semblance of ‘reality.’ It’s refreshing.
These are characters who have real motivations and behave
accordingly. Even if Tallow doesn’t fit into the typical categories of hero
(classic, anti, etc), he’s still a compelling protagonist. In fact, it’s
because he doesn’t have an overwhelming sense of honor or bravery that makes
him all the more relatable and human. He wants to solve the crime to stop the
murderer. On an ideological level, he wants to close the case because it is his
job. On an intellectual level, it’s the greatest puzzle he’s ever faced. On a
personal level, he wants to stick it to the brass at One Police Plaza who seem
determined to find a way to fire him. And as the narrative unfolds, even these
seemingly mundane motivations begin to twist and evolve into something
original.
The city comes alive through the eyes of the hunter. I’ve
never been to NYC, nor do I ever want to visit Manhattan, but that doesn’t
detract from the visceral reality Ellis creates. Colors play an important role
in the work, with gunmetal and blood being the predominant hues. The hunter
lives a sort of half-life, able to shift his consciousness between the steel of
glass of Manhattan and the wooded island of Mannahatta. Even in the modern
metropolis, the hunter finds ways to pay homage to the Native Americans who
once inhabited the island by foraging in Central Park for his food, and
surviving off the land. As far as an antagonist, he’s unique. Because his
pursuit is righteous and he doesn’t feel any remorse for the killing, neither
did I as a reader while I was in his POV. It was only when the murders were
reflected upon by Tallow that they made an emotional impact. It’s a rare writer
who can string my emotions along like this.
The structure has to be commented on too. The two main
points of view are those of Tallow and the hunter, and these switch back and
forth not-quite-but-almost on a chapter-by-chapter basis. However, there are
also chapters from the points of view of secondary characters and even a few with
no characters. Some of the most interesting are the ones that are just chatter
from the police band. More than anything, these interludes create a heady sense
of atmosphere.
There are so many good things about this book that I could
fill a dozen posts with them. It’s truly a book that needs to be experienced to
fully appreciate. It’s also one that you’ll want to budget a full six hours
for, because it has such brilliant pacing that you’ll be hard-pressed to stop,
even at a chapter break.
There are a ton of great thematic elements too, my favorites
being the nature of insanity, the flow of information, and the revulsivity of
the hypermodern. I’ll explore them in a following post.
Definitely my favorite crime novel and I wouldn’t be
surprised if I’m saying that twenty years from now when I’ve read another.
Go read it.
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