REVIEWED: Not for Nothing
WRITTEN BY: Stephen Graham Jones
PUBLISHED: March 18, 2014

Not for Nothing is a gritty, twisting detective tale set in small-town Stanton, Texas, where everyone knows each other and business affairs are conducted by the ghosts of high school cliques. In fact, one of the clever and most successful elements of this story is the yearbook-esque feeling of it; the protagonist, Nick Bruiseman, a disgraced ex-cop and now-drunk security guard fumbles his way through a series of double crosses and murders, and all the time every person he comes in contact with —either friend, enemy, ex-lover, etc.—is from his school or is the child from someone from his school.

The book is rather slow and leisurely to read, much like life in Stanton. The story is drenched in sadness and dejection, but also in humor and suspense. It has a hundred twists, and not all of them are necessary, but it’s a thrilling ride nonetheless. The narrative seemed a bit choppy at times, but that ties into Nick’s perpetually half-drunk take on the world around him. Then again, this style of writing seems to be a signature of the author, Stephen Graham Jones; reading him is as of someone verbally telling a story, with detours, hiccups, gaps, asides, and all other means of genuine conversation. Rather than polished-smooth, the writing is raw and legitimate and embodies an unfamiliar beauty.

As a side note, after reading the first couple of pages, my mind slowly recoiled in a double-take of reluctant, dawning horror. This book was written in second person point of view: The audacity! The inhumanity! The dread! It’s a rare-enough feat to pull off a successful short story in this POV, but I don’t know if I’ve ever read a full-length book in this way which has held my interest (excepting childhood Choose-Your-Own-Adventures!), and I was instinctively averse to continue. However, Jones managed to build a story filled with empathy, sadness, humor, insight, that in retrospect seems integral to having been 2nd POV.

Five out of Five stars
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"Not for Nothing" or "How to make second-person narrative interesting" by Stephen Graham Jones


Disclaimer: I received an advance reader's copy (ARC) of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own, and no monetary compensation was received for this review.

This was my first Stephen Graham Jones novel and it won’t be my last.

I’ve always had a pet peeve against the second-person narrative. Using the second person the writer is constantly confronting the reader assuming that he/she’ll react positively, thinking that he/she’ll be drawn into the story, but requiring increased suspension of disbelief for him/her to actually enjoy the story.

You can read the rest of this review on my blog. ( )

Not for Nothing by Stephen Graham Jones is a recommended detective novel

Nick Bruiseman was a detective with the police department. Now, after being kicked off the force and told to leave Midland, he's a private investigator, sort of, and the security guard for the storage facility in his hometown of Stanton, Texas. What Nick is really doing is living - and mostly drinking - in a storage unit. Then things get more complicated.

A woman he thought he loved during high school shows up to hire Nick: "The exhaled smoke rises to the top of the storage unit, goes all paisley around the yellow bulb, and it’s then that the woman you know you should know says your name. The one nobody’s called you since grammar school."

Nick The woman, Gwen, wants to hire Nick. She's concerned that an ex-con is stalking her:
“You said you—that you provide security for this place.”
You nod once.
She picks it up, keeps nodding, adds, “That’s what I want too, Nick. Security.”

After this Rory Gates shows up and wants to hire Nick to spy on his wife whom he believes is having an affair. Nick ends up with "Three-hundred and seventy-five dollars in one day, you tell yourself. Three hundred of it cash money, even. The other seventy-five you unfold, study. In the top left corner of the check is Rory and Gwen Gates. You close your eyes, press the check to your forehead." That's right, now Nick has money to keep up his drinking but both husband and wife have hired him. And then a murder happens and Nick is the suspect...

Nick is a damaged character who admits to more than one flaw and plenty are present. The story is packed with plenty of twists and turns that keep the plot interesting and the action moving at a brisk pace. For me, it is worth noting that Not for Nothing is written in the second person. I guess while I liked the story, I felt some prejudice over the second person, present tense delivery. I found it cumbersome and awkward to read. Admittedly this is my problem. The novel is worth reading, especially if you don't get hung up on delivery.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Dzanc Book via Netgalley for review purposes. ( )