A Shock to the System

Dark, dark, dark! Who knew Simon Brett could write something this dark? Everything else I've read by him is in the cozy-mystery vein. "Shock" mostly certainly is not. I loved it. Started it one day and finished the next. It was a bit disconcerting to be feeling sympathy for a character like Graham Marshall - but not his victims. It's that kind of book.
My only complaint - and why I knicked it down to 4 1/2 stars, instead of 5 - is because of how fast the book ended. It felt a little rushed to me. Other than that, this book is highly recommended.

The delusions of Graham are wonderful! His one-sided view of the world really comes through. His early years with the company and all of the ploys to show up his superiors, he later mocks while watching Bob Benham doing the very same things. His cold aloof manner was even a delusion. He really did care very much about how people thought of him. He pretended to hold everyone in contempt, but relied on them to validate his existence b being properly awed by him. People you really consider beneath you don’t require impressing. I liked the ending too. The one murder he didn’t do was his downfall.

I’m sorry to say that I found myself sympathizing with him sometimes. It would be major suckage to have the job you toadied so hard for, go show more to someone else. Someone who acts so much like you did that you can’t see it – it’s too close to focus on. His wife was pathetic and tiresome drama queen. The mother-in-law was equally unbearable. If Simon Brett intended the reader to feel this way, he’s done his job. show less

The first Simon Brett novel I've read although it may not be typical as I believe his tend to be wryly humorous and although some aspects of black humour are occasionally evident, especially in the ending, this one isn't 'funny'.

The style is probably out of fashion today, as most of the story is 'told', although we are in the protagonist's view point all the way through, and it is his backstory that is laid out first, and then his ruminations and a gradual descent into detached and callous lack of emotion. He is an office assistant manager who has worked his way up to his present position, initially through the self sacrifice of his parents in sending him to a minor public school and encouraging him to pass exams and get into show more university. In more recent years he has worked in the Personnel department (this is written in the 1980s) of an oil company. It seems that after years of humouring his manager and impressing the right people, he is sure to get the head of Personnel's job when he shortly retires.

However, it seems that a new broom is preferred who isn't so closely associated with the old head of department, so a man who has only been at the company for 3 years and is about 10 years younger, is suddenly promoted over the protagonist's head. Years of conforming to the right way of doing things, as taught him by his father, suddenly culminate in an attack of rage in which he kills a tramp - and gets away with it. This then leads him to handle other problems that frustrate him in life with the same expedient, with fatal results for some of those around him. There is a classic element of Greek drama in that the character becomes more and more arrogant and convinced of his own immunity from detection, let alone punishment.

There is a twist ending which I won't spoil, though there were a few pointers that mean it was not a total surprise. show less

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