Synopsis:

One story.
Two crimes.
Four points of view.
Nine knives.
And a very big gun.

A complex tale in the best traditions of Pulp Fiction and Snatch.

If you steal a car, make sure there’s not a dead body in the boot.

Review:

The story starts in medias res with a man in the middle of nowhere digging a hole. His car gets stolen. He tells his wife they have a problem. She drives out to him. Back home the police show up. The car matches the description from an earlier incident. They go out to the garage. The man pretends he didn’t know the car was gone. Tells the cops, gosh it must have been stolen. The cops leave. Back inside the house, the wife is cleaning up a huge bloody mess in the kitchen. A body was in the trunk of the now stolen car. The man works on finding the car and gets it back. When he returns home, another woman is there with a gun on his wife.

Believe it or not, this only like the first 20% of the story.

The story will stop and new elements and characters will loop back to that tableau in the house. New characters will be introduced. Some backgrounds and motivations will be established. Each loop of the story will bring new information and open up a new faucet to what is happening at the house.

Nine Knives is a pure genre exercise. This isn’t a complaint or a criticism, by naming it’s influences it says so right on the tin. It’s a collection of crime fiction character types, that gather in a story that loops back in on itself, introducing new characters and elements. It’s all about the non-linear structure rather then deep characterization or actions rooted in realistic motivations. By the end we will have a fuller picture of what is happening. Each element is a puzzle piece.

Nine Knives is a fun story that benefits from not having its conceit over stay it’s welcome. A little over 100 pages is perfect for this story as I’m not sure the structure could sustain anything longer. By the time all the pieces are in place and the whole bloody affair kicks off and the big gun comes into play, It’s just a whole lot of pulpy action fun.

Rating: mixed positive/recommended

Availability: Amazon|Kindle|Hoopla

Pair with: Both Pulp Fiction and Snatch are mentioned in the synopsis. In this mode, the Tamil language Aaranya Kaandam is worth tracking down too.