Perry fucking Patton: Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll personified. He’s the ultimate unreliable narrator, at times reminiscent of Will Christopher Baer’s Phineas Poe, but a little bit more destructive. He belongs in the dark, damp streets of the city where he has lead himself on a self-imposed, non-stop journey to self-desruction. And don’t we just love to watch something falling apart?
The story reeks of neo-noir. Yeah, it has flashes of early Palahniuk. And yeah, it’s a bit in the vein of Catcher in the Rye. But nothing can be Transgressive or question identity these days without being early Palahniuk, and nothing can be coming-of-age without being Catcher.
The Neverenders is neither of the two.
Sonbert’s debut novel stands on its own two feet. The prose is sharp, cut-throat, and completely believable. Although, we probably shouldn’t believe a fucking word that dribbles out of Perry Patton’s vomit-breathed mouth, seeing as he is constantly drunk, high on coke and never sleeps. This combination leads to some extremely convincing sections in the prose where the reader can’t be sure if Perry has gone completely mad, or whether the crazy underworld he has found himself stumbling into has gone mad around him.
At times I speculated whether there was something more at play–almost something spiritual, or not spiritual, but maybe supernatural; something much darker than the real world can produce. But not in a tacky way. In a very noir kind of way. Whether this was intended or not is hard to tell. It may very well have been Sonbert’s way of showing the darker side of the psyche. Either way, it certainly allows one to contemplate and look into the story, feeling every single blow that Perry feels. Instead of just putting the book down and going “Well, that was good”, it makes you mull over it. Thinking about what was hinted at, but never told.
This is one of those one-night-stand books. Not, that it’s good for one night only, but that you become so engrossed in it that you’re done before you even scratch yourself. You’re sucked in and dragged back out before you know it, wondering what the fuck just happened to you.
The Neverenders is a blinding debut, and I can’t wait for Sonbert’s next release. I can only hope it has just as much rock ‘n’ roll injected in its raging veins–something that is severely missing from contemporary literature and music nowadays.
So, do a Big Shot thing and buy the damn book.
Review by Doc
Visit:
Michael Sonbert (the author)
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From Amazon.com
Yep, I read this in a single day, too. Loved it and can’t wait for the next. I think we’re getting a reading put together with the author in Kansas City.