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“Heart of Glass”
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“Death is the respite of worry. Death is the ultimate Prozac.”
There are several reasons why Jack Glass cannot help but let his heart be troubled. First of all, his girlfriend is a serial killer, but that’s the least of his troubles. A startling discovery sends Jack spiraling down a rabbit hole of family secrets while he struggles with the possibility of his own untimely demise, as well as not receiving enough hugs during his childhood, in “Heart of Glass”.
There are several reasons why Jack Glass cannot help but let his heart be troubled. First of all, his girlfriend is a serial killer, but that’s the least of his troubles. A startling discovery sends Jack spiraling down a rabbit hole of family secrets while he struggles with the possibility of his own untimely demise, as well as not receiving enough hugs during his childhood, in “Heart of Glass”.
Readability
“Heart of Glass” is a first person narrative told from Jack’s point of view. The story is largely character driven and spends ample time meandering as well as navel-gazing. The slow pace and lack of plot development went well into the middle of the novel, until the story reached a significant turning point that honestly felt quite contrived. From that point on, the continuity issues begin to stack up one on top of another. There are no major plot holes per se, but a lot of questions are raised, which for the most part go completely unaddressed (let alone resolved) by the end of the book.
I took no issue with Wallwork’s writing style in this work. I thought the writing in this work was the novel’s saving grace - for its measured mix of imagery and description, which helped keep me interested. I think if I had to endure poorly written prose on top of this aimless narrative, then I would have said, “Please, stick a fork in me!”
Creativity
The relationship dynamic between the main character (Jack Glass) and his girlfriend (Prudence aka Felicity?) is the most intriguing aspect of this novel, to me. As far as I’m concerned this is probably the most original take on a psychopathic female character that I’ve experienced in any form of media. Jack’s naivety when it comes to the opposite sex, along with his obsessive compulsive mind (not to mention his repressed mommy issues) really made him a prime target for such a manipulative woman.
Jack’s character admits to himself that “Prudence is good at manipulation,” but that dynamic of their relationship only comes into play here and there throughout the book. For instance, whenever there was a moment when Jack’s character would suddenly harbor doubt in regard to the fidelity of his relationship with Prudence, only for those concerns to be glossed over or never brought up again. It was clear to me, more so than Jack, that Prudence had him wrapped around her little finger. Perhaps he just didn’t care, but I thought the author should have leaned into that aspect a little more. Regardless, it made for an interesting character study.
I thought the photo lab, where Jack‘s character works, was going play more of an integral role than it did. However, at least metaphorically speaking, I think there is something almost subconscious about the inclusion of the whole photography motif in this work that I think touches upon the reading experience I had with this book. I think this whole novel was more of a testament to Jack’s ability (or inability) to process his memories and develop a romantic relationship, than it was focused on delivering a cohesive story to the reader. I felt as though I had been flipping through a stranger’s private photo album, filled with snapshots of the skeletons in their closet.
I did note that the author would occasionally use the word “Beat.” as a means of creating dramatic pause, and I thought that was subtle yet effective (given the main character’s condition).
Delivery
I think the continuity issues in “Heart of Glass” are undoubtedly a consequence of the main character’s convoluted storyline alongside an overly ambiguous plot. Conceptually I think the novel starts off with a compelling premise, but it suffers from too much rumination and not enough externalized conflict (not to mention the overall lack of tension for a story that is categorized under “crime”).
The premise of the novel is no male member of the Glass family has ever lived beyond the age of thirty, which drove each man mad and turned Jack Glass into a serial killer (or at least an accomplice to murder alongside his girlfriend). In the first section of the novel we get a glimpse of how Jack and Prudence find their victims and their motivation for murdering them (which is always poisoning them via prescription overdose).
The first section of the novel is very self-reflective and philosophical, as we get a look into Jack’s psyche in regard to his condition and his feelings about the future (or lack thereof) and his relationship with Prudence. The novel meanders quite a bit around the idea of Jack trying to “understand” death and recall his estranged childhood memories. This leads into the middle of the novel where the plot becomes quite contrived. Seemingly out of nowhere Prudence has the idea to meet with Jack’s mother, with whom he isn’t even close to, and he goes right along with the idea. From the get go, it is clear that Jack hates his mother and they both have some unresolved issues. At first I thought the story was going to turn into some family driven melodrama, but instead it turns into a full blown “matricide” based upon the most ridiculous (almost laugh out loud) reasoning by the main character.
The long and short of it is that Jack caught his mom diddling herself when he was a child, because he was hiding under her bed. He tried to leave her room undetected but their eyes met at the threshold of her bedroom and apparently that didn’t deter her ability to scratch her record like disc jockey. As a result, poor Jacky boy has grown up with a self-proclaimed Oedipus complex (that literally no one knew about until he decided to disclose that info to his prospective girlfriend, LOL!). Apparently, the only way for Jack to break that complex, overcome his fear of death, and become the man Prudence truly cares about – is to kill his mother. I couldn’t roll my eyes hard enough, because that was the point where the novel went completely off the rails.
The rest of the novel is sort of delivered like a crime drama, in the sense that the two characters try to cover up the murder of Jack’s mom. The problem I have with the remainder of the book is that it really didn’t commit to this concept, before moving on to more existentialism, as Verity’s murder is simply used as a catalyst to reconnect Jack’s character with his estranged sister and ultimately to his late father’s widow (the stepmom Jack never met), named Rebecca. I think there was a huge missed opportunity for increased stakes and ramped up tension, when Jack’s character was meeting with his sister Anne. There was a little bit of a discrepancy with Jack’s cover story that gets glossed over, and I thought that really would have been interesting if his sister’s suspicions were raised during that exchange.
I could keep going on and on about how convoluted this novel became, with its allegedly faked death certificates being made and fake grave sites being marked (as if either one of those things are even plausible, especially when the deceased in question was very much alive and well, AND aware of who was trying to commit fraud). Then there’s the completely out of left field identity reveal near the end of the book, which only raised more questions than it answered. So long story short, there is absolutely no closure at the end of the story, and Jack is just as much a soulless character, with a confusing backstory, as he was in the very beginning.
“Heart of Glass” is a first person narrative told from Jack’s point of view. The story is largely character driven and spends ample time meandering as well as navel-gazing. The slow pace and lack of plot development went well into the middle of the novel, until the story reached a significant turning point that honestly felt quite contrived. From that point on, the continuity issues begin to stack up one on top of another. There are no major plot holes per se, but a lot of questions are raised, which for the most part go completely unaddressed (let alone resolved) by the end of the book.
I took no issue with Wallwork’s writing style in this work. I thought the writing in this work was the novel’s saving grace - for its measured mix of imagery and description, which helped keep me interested. I think if I had to endure poorly written prose on top of this aimless narrative, then I would have said, “Please, stick a fork in me!”
Creativity
The relationship dynamic between the main character (Jack Glass) and his girlfriend (Prudence aka Felicity?) is the most intriguing aspect of this novel, to me. As far as I’m concerned this is probably the most original take on a psychopathic female character that I’ve experienced in any form of media. Jack’s naivety when it comes to the opposite sex, along with his obsessive compulsive mind (not to mention his repressed mommy issues) really made him a prime target for such a manipulative woman.
Jack’s character admits to himself that “Prudence is good at manipulation,” but that dynamic of their relationship only comes into play here and there throughout the book. For instance, whenever there was a moment when Jack’s character would suddenly harbor doubt in regard to the fidelity of his relationship with Prudence, only for those concerns to be glossed over or never brought up again. It was clear to me, more so than Jack, that Prudence had him wrapped around her little finger. Perhaps he just didn’t care, but I thought the author should have leaned into that aspect a little more. Regardless, it made for an interesting character study.
I thought the photo lab, where Jack‘s character works, was going play more of an integral role than it did. However, at least metaphorically speaking, I think there is something almost subconscious about the inclusion of the whole photography motif in this work that I think touches upon the reading experience I had with this book. I think this whole novel was more of a testament to Jack’s ability (or inability) to process his memories and develop a romantic relationship, than it was focused on delivering a cohesive story to the reader. I felt as though I had been flipping through a stranger’s private photo album, filled with snapshots of the skeletons in their closet.
I did note that the author would occasionally use the word “Beat.” as a means of creating dramatic pause, and I thought that was subtle yet effective (given the main character’s condition).
Delivery
I think the continuity issues in “Heart of Glass” are undoubtedly a consequence of the main character’s convoluted storyline alongside an overly ambiguous plot. Conceptually I think the novel starts off with a compelling premise, but it suffers from too much rumination and not enough externalized conflict (not to mention the overall lack of tension for a story that is categorized under “crime”).
The premise of the novel is no male member of the Glass family has ever lived beyond the age of thirty, which drove each man mad and turned Jack Glass into a serial killer (or at least an accomplice to murder alongside his girlfriend). In the first section of the novel we get a glimpse of how Jack and Prudence find their victims and their motivation for murdering them (which is always poisoning them via prescription overdose).
The first section of the novel is very self-reflective and philosophical, as we get a look into Jack’s psyche in regard to his condition and his feelings about the future (or lack thereof) and his relationship with Prudence. The novel meanders quite a bit around the idea of Jack trying to “understand” death and recall his estranged childhood memories. This leads into the middle of the novel where the plot becomes quite contrived. Seemingly out of nowhere Prudence has the idea to meet with Jack’s mother, with whom he isn’t even close to, and he goes right along with the idea. From the get go, it is clear that Jack hates his mother and they both have some unresolved issues. At first I thought the story was going to turn into some family driven melodrama, but instead it turns into a full blown “matricide” based upon the most ridiculous (almost laugh out loud) reasoning by the main character.
The long and short of it is that Jack caught his mom diddling herself when he was a child, because he was hiding under her bed. He tried to leave her room undetected but their eyes met at the threshold of her bedroom and apparently that didn’t deter her ability to scratch her record like disc jockey. As a result, poor Jacky boy has grown up with a self-proclaimed Oedipus complex (that literally no one knew about until he decided to disclose that info to his prospective girlfriend, LOL!). Apparently, the only way for Jack to break that complex, overcome his fear of death, and become the man Prudence truly cares about – is to kill his mother. I couldn’t roll my eyes hard enough, because that was the point where the novel went completely off the rails.
The rest of the novel is sort of delivered like a crime drama, in the sense that the two characters try to cover up the murder of Jack’s mom. The problem I have with the remainder of the book is that it really didn’t commit to this concept, before moving on to more existentialism, as Verity’s murder is simply used as a catalyst to reconnect Jack’s character with his estranged sister and ultimately to his late father’s widow (the stepmom Jack never met), named Rebecca. I think there was a huge missed opportunity for increased stakes and ramped up tension, when Jack’s character was meeting with his sister Anne. There was a little bit of a discrepancy with Jack’s cover story that gets glossed over, and I thought that really would have been interesting if his sister’s suspicions were raised during that exchange.
I could keep going on and on about how convoluted this novel became, with its allegedly faked death certificates being made and fake grave sites being marked (as if either one of those things are even plausible, especially when the deceased in question was very much alive and well, AND aware of who was trying to commit fraud). Then there’s the completely out of left field identity reveal near the end of the book, which only raised more questions than it answered. So long story short, there is absolutely no closure at the end of the story, and Jack is just as much a soulless character, with a confusing backstory, as he was in the very beginning.
#LFLR Indie Rating: 4/10
There are some author’s notes at the end of the novel that state that this story was originally a crime thriller published under a different title, and the manuscript underwent some revisions (including the Glass heart concept) to become the book I read. The author admits that he was in quite the existential headspace when he originally wrote the story, which does explain a lot of the meandering and lack of focus. He adds that he believes the story is ultimately about the fragility of life and how “we are much more prepared to face our fears when we are consumed with love.” …not only that but apparently some individuals are also more willing to commit the most heinous of crimes, while ignited with lust for a psychologically twisted, but nevertheless hot, stepsister.
There are some author’s notes at the end of the novel that state that this story was originally a crime thriller published under a different title, and the manuscript underwent some revisions (including the Glass heart concept) to become the book I read. The author admits that he was in quite the existential headspace when he originally wrote the story, which does explain a lot of the meandering and lack of focus. He adds that he believes the story is ultimately about the fragility of life and how “we are much more prepared to face our fears when we are consumed with love.” …not only that but apparently some individuals are also more willing to commit the most heinous of crimes, while ignited with lust for a psychologically twisted, but nevertheless hot, stepsister.
THIS BREAKDOWN IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE #LFLR NETWORK.
