What I don’t like is when I find the first chapter of the author’s next book added on to the end of the book I’m reading, like a free download or like junk mail. You don’t see Marcel Proust or Margaret Atwood doing that. It’s really not classy.What I do like is another tale of a guy coming apart at the seams as the pressure builds up and up and UP. We’ve seen it many times before, in movies like Fargo, Locke and Bad Lieutenant, and in novels like Casino Moon, Bonfire of the Vanities and What I Lived For. This one is a solid addition, nothing too fancy. But I think survivors of childhood sexual abuse might not appreciate how the horrible memories bubble up, poison and wreck the life of our unravelling computer systems salesman Richard Segal here. It’s completely bleak. Richard Segal is a very unpleasant protagonist but he suffers so much you’re reading through your fingers sometimes. Jason Starr is an interesting writer – I wonder what other ideas he’s had for plots? Hmm – I think I’ll read the first chapter of Tough Luck that they were kind enough to include….
Crime FictionRichie Segal is going through a rough patch in his life. He's a computer network salesman, and his recent job change has seen him hit a terrible sales slump. His wife, Paula, is an MBA with a new promotion. Richie and Paula are arguing alot, and are $20,000 in debt thanks to credit cards.Richie is seeking relief in alcohol, but that just makes everything worse.One day at lunch Richie sees Michael Rudnick, who as a teenager bullied Richie. As memories return, Richie gets angrier and seeks revenge.Jason Starr's hard boiled, gritty crime novels are thrilling and unpredictible. As usual, events spiral out of control, leaving you eagerly turning the pages.Hard Feelings ends, like the other JS books I've read, with events the reader could never predict!
Do You like book Hard Feelings (2002)?
The best American crime writer operating today and this is one of his best books. You really feel that you know the seamy underside of Brooklyn or Queens when you've read a Jason Starr novel. As an admirer of the kitchen sink novels e.g. of Alan Sillitoe and Ted Lewis (as well as the crime thriller genre) and committed to fusing the two in my own work, I really like the fact that Starr's characters are usually disempowered nobodies who inhabit the real world. I've also met Jason and he's a really sound bloke. And to coin a Jason Starr joke, my mother is the OTHER IRish woman who can't cook!
—Roger Cottrell
falls einem die welt wieder einmal unsagbar ungerecht vorkommt ist dieses buch ein gutes gegenmittel. der unsympathler in der hauptrolle bekommt was er verdient. und wieder eine gescheiterte biographie mehr die starr hier knochentrocken in szene setzt. bei meinem dritten buch von starr hab ich allerdings dann doch das gefühl dass der gute jason nur einen charakter beschreibt, nicht mehrere...aber noch werfe ich ihm das nicht vor, dazu schreibt er einfach zu unterhaltsam. aufzeichnungen aus dem banalen psychopathen-alltag.
—Electric
