This book has been compared to the movie "Crash", which I watched and really enjoyed. Knowing this took some of the enjoyment away for me, I knew there would be multiple stories interwoven, I also knew the end. The main character would end up dead, after all this book is based on the real life murder of Kitty Genovese. The story unfolds in the courtyard of an apartment block in New York City, one early morning from about 4 a.m. The story unfolds over two hours but when reading the book, it feels so much longer. The book is very gritty, the language can be coarse in some instances and the desriptions are very vivid. This all adds to the atmosphere in the novel. The cover featuring silhouettes outlined in windows looking out capture exactly what happens as the crime unfolds. All the neighours are looking on. We get to know the neighbours and their complicated life stories. Some are endearing, some inspire empathy and some characters inspire revulsion. For the first half of the book, I found it hard to connect to any of the characters. But that changed in the second half of the book. Even though most of the plot is unfolding in people's apartments and out on the dark streets, I was drawn in. People's secrets are revealed, their inadequacies laid bare and ultimately their self centeredness comes through. Some people have dealt with abuse, others infidelity and others still are coming to terms with who they really are. In this book, everyone looks out for themselves. Well, almost everyone. Someone eventually does come to the rescue of the poor injured young woman Kat and it may not be who you think it should be. The feeling in the air is captured in this paragraph::"Nobody saw what was happening out here?" he says, looking from one person to the next. "Nobody called the police?"That is a loaded question. That so many saw and heard a crime being committed and NONE did anything to try and stop it or tried to help the victim was heartbreaking to me. This story is especially haunting because it is based on a real-life story. Overall, this was a good and fast read. A nice way to spend the evening since I was homebound due to the Blizzard of 2013 in CT. Reason for Reading: I was so impressed with the author's latest book, The Dispatcher, that I just had to read this, his first book.I'll start off by saying I undoubtedly enjoyed this book, not as much as Jahn's second book, but I'm still quite impressed. They are two very different types of books though. While The Dispatcher is most definitely a thriller written at a fast past. Good Neighbors is hard to classify into a genre and while it only takes place within one night it moves forward slowly. This is not a bad thing though. The book is definitely a crime. A woman is attacked, stabbed and raped in the courtyard feet away from her apartment block. But many more crimes take place also, some illegal, some immoral, some omissions of error and yet all are considered crimes against natural order. What this book mostly does is take a look at a true to life crime, the real-life murder of Kitty Genovese , and imagine how her death could have happened as it did surrounded on all sides by apartment blocks. Jahn goes inside the heads of these people who stand and stare at what is happening below them in the courtyard, some not realizing the gravity of the situation, others realizing it, but everyone assuming someone else has already called the cops so why should they as they'd only become involved and have to answer questions about their own lives. And you see everyone has secrets in their own lives. None of these people are truly "bad" but none of them are without sin either and they'd rather not have to answer embarrassing questions. The book focuses on a handful of people and couples who all have something quite important going on that evening that overshadows the event happening down below in their courtyard. They are too wrapped up in themselves to even notice the outside influence. Then there are others who don't live in the complex but are/or will be connected by book's end who also are having to deal with life threatening issues before they are placed in a position to be of any service to the wounded girl.Mostly this book is a study of characters, a slice of life from the mid 1960s and deals with social issues and taboos of the times such as: black/white racial tensions, crooked cops, police cover-ups, mixed marriages, serial killers, homosexuals, euthanasia, Vietnam War. The book was not what I had expected (a mystery/thriller) but I ended up absolutely entertained with the psychological insight into the minds of these people from another time and also the effects that mass shock will have upon people. It is a study into the minds of the times and gives a great slice of what 1960s American culture was like.This is one of my favourite types of books; multiple characters with separate stories where the point of view switches between them rapidly until slowly towards the end connection are made. A fascinating story. I will be on the lookout for Jahn's next book.
What do You think about Ein Akt Der Gewalt (2009)?
Verstörend, brutal, irritierend und gegen jedes Gerechtigkeitsempfinden. Richtig gut!
—Tracy
A curent re-telling of the Kitty Genovese murder. It was ok.
—ben
Holy crud! Best book I've read in a long time.
—jordan
Brutal and graphic and I couldn't put it down.
—sarah
