The Identity Man
I have a problem. I've just read The Identity Man, the new novel by Ricochet's own Andrew Klavan, and I can't for the life of me figure out how to tell you just how good the book is without giving away big pieces of the plot.
What can I tell you? Let me think. The central character, John Shannon, is a two-bit low-life, a petty thief about to be framed for a murder he didn't commit. You'll like Shannon. That's one of the wonders of the book. He's a bad guy with a good heart, which is sort of appealing in itself. But the character is so richly drawn that you'll find yourself wishing you could get to know Shannon--thinking you'd enjoy having a beer with him, or hearing his views on sports, politics, or the new city in which he finds himself living. He's peculiar and quirky and, I repeat, a thief. But he's so unassuming, so completely himself, so uninterested in high attainments or ambition, and so horrified by the adventure into which he finds himself thrust that John Shannon will become your best fictional friend--the best company you've kept--since, oh, let's say Bilbo Baggins.
The adventure? Hm. Again, what can I say? As he's about to be framed for murder, Shannon finds himself summoned to a mysterious midnight meeting with a foreigner he has never before met. Next? Shannon wakes up in a hospital room--and discovers that he has undergone extensive plastic surgery, acquiring an entirely new appearance, and, as he soon learns, new ID cards, a new job, and a new place to live. In a word, Shannon has been given a new identity. Why has the foreigner done this for him? Shannon doesn't know. All he knows is that he's been given a second chance. Shannon happily takes up his new life--he has even been given a new job--and then? Well, strange and dangerous things begin to happen.
And that's all you're going to get out of me.
About the plot, anyway.
I think I can add that the prose moves, and that, as is his want, Andrew Klavan combines a page-turner of a thriller with an almost Dostoyevskian concern for good and evil and sin and redemption--and with brilliant insights about the politics and culture of contemporary America. Just get a load of this passage, for instance, in which one of the supporting characters, an African-American preacher, addresses his congregation. Andrew Klavan, as you'll see, possesses an understanding of white guilt as acute as that of Shelby Steele:
The white man in America...[is] full of the shame of racism, the shame of slavery and Jim Crow. And he'll do anything to make that shame go away. He'll give you money--welfare money for doing nothing. He'll give you government jobs you didn't earn and don't deserve. He'll say 'You wanna take drugs? You wanna get your girlfriend pregnant? You want to live without morality...? I give you abortions to kill those babies. I give the mother money so you don't have to marry her. I give you some pro-grams for those drugs. Pro-grams, that'll set you right up. Just don't be calling me racist. I'll give you anything you want, just set me free of my shame.'
The Identity Man. A thriller. A character study. And a commentary on American life.
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Comments :
Aug '10
Re: The Identity Man
I've added it to my Amazon wish list, just above the HMS Invincible.
Aug '10
Re: The Identity Man
Serialized in Big Hollywood was the bait that hooked us, that and a 13 yr old girl who is always asking me when the next book is coming out. She can't read this one yet. Try and scare her with "men sending messages from the belly of a snake" . Won't work.
Meanwhile, we're all waiting for Lilek's Cold War Cookbook.
Re: The Identity Man
I just downloaded my iPad copy from Amazon--a bargain at $9.99. If my experience with Empire of Lies is anything to go on, business travel next week will go a lot quicker while I lose myself in a gripping novel.
Re: The Identity Man
Thanks, George -- I'll iPad it right now. Of course, it'll be impossible to get Drew to sign my iPad.
Aug '10
Re: The Identity Man
Apropos of .? re:podcast
How much personal joy can one compromise ? Books have alot deeper roots in our habits. The page focuses. Is it the light ?
New verb sighting
Re: The Identity Man
Flownover, I greatly prefer physical books. Unfortunately, I travel a ton and my back therefore prefers the iPad.
Jun '10
Re: The Identity Man
Seconding George's praise of Empire of Lies, really enjoyed that one -- and Peter's take that Klavan "combines a page-turner of a thriller with an almost Dostoyevskian concern for good and evil and sin and redemption--and with brilliant insights about the politics and culture of contemporary America" is spot on imo.
May '10
Re: The Identity Man
Peter, I will download it to my iPad right now based on your rave review. I plan to get him to sign an actual book when he does his book signing In Roanoke in April.
May '10
Re: The Identity Man
Imagine if a a bunch of that money wasted on bad and false movies such as Fair Game instead went into making movies of Empire of Lies, Prayer for the Assassin, and The Identity Man. Always a moral foundation, often Christian, but as suspenseful and adventurous- more so than the cartoons out today- as any blockbuster if put int he right hands. And heroes you want to root for, real imperfect people trying to do good, not indulge themselves. The hero of Empire reveals his faults and desires, but makes good decisions for good reasons, the way we have to every day, despite our base instincts.
Those movies, if true to the stories, would be as violent, and, face it, sexy, as any others out there (James Dobson probably wouldn't like them)- but profoundly moral and very entertaining.
I still say that we need to start a center-right media mutual capital fund. Where are the creative center-right directors and producers?
Aug '10
Re: The Identity Man
You can't put down Klavan's fast paced mystery/thriller "The Identity Man". But what remains with you are the mental pictures it evokes: the slums of a flood damaged city rotten with political corruption. An angel's head emerging from a block of wood. A bar maid-- who accidentally sees through a fog of media lies to the truth about a cornered fugitive's innocence--the moment before she stakes her own safety on that insight to help the fugitive escape. The book is a page turner that leaves you thinking about the big questions.
May '10
Re: The Identity Man
I see it's available on Audible, as well as his previous books, so I'm purchasing it now. I first encountered Andrew on an Uncommon Knowledge episode and proceeded to enjoy his videos for PJTV. This will be my first exposure to his day job.
As for the question of physical books...I have a huge library of books and 30+ years of solid reading behind them, but with two hours of commuting a day and the ability to listen to a book while shaving, etc, audiobooks are now my first choice, Kindle app on iPad/iPhone my second, and physical my third.
I do enjoy reading physical books before going to sleep; especially those best enjoyed on the printed page, such as the beautiful Making of Star Wars/Empire Strikes Back books, or those not available in any other form, such as Daniel Hannan's New Road To Serfdom.