Those Who Trespass: A Novel of Murder and Television

I can't deal with the big stuff, so let's do the small stuff. This is a pretty competent thriller, with a Machiavellian murderer, a heroic detective, and a good woman caught between the two of them. There's sex and death and high stakes confrontations. I'm pretty sure I read like five novels by Ken Follett with pretty much the exact same plot. Buy it at the airport, leave it at the airport, feel no shame.

Except for the big stuff, which is that this was written by TV "journalist" and serial sexual harasser Bill O'Reilly. And this is where it gets super weird. See, the protagonist Shannon Michaels is basically Bill O'Reilly's id, an Irish-American TV journalist who gets a story stolen from him by a bigger name at the network in Buenos show more Aires in 1982 (something that actually happened to O'Reilly), and who then goes on a rampage of revenge against the people who wrecked his career, using his IRA training (yes, really) to kill them in ironic ways without leaving any evidence. Stopping Shannon is Tommy O'Mally, an Irish-American cop with a shitty ex-wife, who's basically another layer of O'Reilly's id. And between them this super idealized East Coast prima donna, slumming it as the crime reporter at the New York Globe.

This novel is pretty good when it sticks to what O'Reilly knows, the backstabbing politics of TV news. Whenever a woman shows up... I have seen aliens depicted with more psychological realism and understanding than the female characters in this book. Good ones exist to be seduced by the powerful men, bad ones are ugly, crazy, probably secret lesbians, and deserve to die. A decent book, that is unintentionally hilarious in retrospect. show less

I remember hearing years ago in a writing class that there are character-driven novels and plot-driven novels. In Chapter 1, I feared this was going to be a plot driven novel. The writing was very distant and stilted. I don't know if the author kowtowed to the "drop readers right into the action" push or if it was a deliberate hint about who the killer is.

Eventually the novel does become more character driven which made it more enjoyable for me. Someone is killing people with ties to television. We're left with two potential suspects eventually but the identity of the killer isn't kept hidden from readers until the end with a big reveal.

Narcissism is discussed--and sadly I can say that I personally know someone who had some of these show more traits (not killing as far as I know, but the ability to twist situations so that others appeared to be wronging him and the ability to get others to do things they might otherwise not do through the power of persuasion/personality). And you do feel fooled when you realize it. show less

O'Reilly writes about things he knows and understands in this novel. I've found the audio version quite engaging - mostly because the author is reading it and giving it the emphasis that he no doubt intended as he wrote it. I can picture his expressions as he describes various characters and their reactions. The one surprise was just how sexy ol' Bill can be! Oh, and oh, so creative in devising methods for revenge murder. I especially liked the "silver spoon in his mouth." While the plot is somewhat predictable, there are moments when the author's imagination delivers some surprises.

This was better than I was expecting. The story line was fairly solid, and I found the peek into journalism interesting, since I don’t read much that provides any insight into that world. However, you really have to get past the writing style. Or rather, the lack of one. It reminds me of something I would have written in high school or college. Just not very sophisticated at all. If I hadn’t been grabbed by the plot, I wouldn’t have finished it.