Matt McAvoy Book Review

A fantastic book, by an author who is both understated yet imposing in literary stature, “Flow Like A River” is a work of unexpected quality.  Absolutely a book of two halves, the first is a bit of a slow burner, which serves well to develop its endearing and interestingly layered characters; neither overly dramatic or offensive in any way, this easy-going read was engaging from the off.  There is little need for histrionics in this book, nor for gripping violence – the menace of the antagonists is in no doubt from very early on.  Indeed, in this Prohibition-era crime thriller, the gangsters come across as every bit as deadly as the Dillinger or Barrow gangs, more for their apathetic demeanour than for any psychopathic acts committed early on; Guillerman relies rather on the intelligence of his reader and calm narrative than any shock or action tactics.  The second half, by contrast, is explosive.  I read this book in two sittings, and the difference between those sessions was vivid and rousing.  Midway, “Flow Like A River” really erupts into life, as its superb, credible and genuinely quite frightening villain “The Prince” starts to execute his vicious plan, putting some wonderful and clever set-pieces into motion.

This is not your average action thriller, but far more substantial than that.  Part period gangster tale, part deep-south Western yarn, Guillerman portrays the transitional era of this piece perfectly, and you feel that you are right there, in the heat of the 1920s Texan town.  He knows his history and his early American cultures, and the sense of tough-but-decent people trying to lead a happy life in lawless times, as these cultures intersect, really does come across.

This book looks nice, it is clever and thoughtful, with smart, likeable characters, and I salute the author’s style of prose.  Mark Guillerman has impressed and surprised me, and I recommend him and his writing highly; I eagerly await his next.

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