Mouse by D.m. Mitchell- a Book Review

Mouse by D.M. Mitchell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Mouse by D.M. Mitchell is a 2012 Amazon publication. This book was my June Kindle Lending Library pick.
This was one dark and twisted tale you don't want to pass up, especially if you like trying to stay one step ahead of the game. You probably won't make it in this situation, but you will have a blast trying to figure out the puzzle.
First off it's important to note that the story is set during the 1970's. Even the smallest of towns in the US and UK had a movie house or theater. By the 1970's these building were starting to show their age and lose their glamor. If you were watching a movie alone in there is was a little creepy. There are all sorts of off beat and vile characters to try an figure out. The main character is Vince. He's not the most ambitious of men but he enjoys his job as projectionist at the Empire movie theater. He doesn't get paid a lot or have a lot of time off but he gets a few perks, like being able to watch great movies and get a few free passes to make up for it. All is pretty calm until a new flashy manager shows up.
The add to an already gloomy atmosphere is the story of Laura. Laura has returned to the huge manor home she was raised in. She has money and will never have to work, but she chooses to live a quiet life while rumors circulate about her mental health. Vince thinks she is just wonderful though and is has an obsession with her.
Enter various other players into the mix, all of whom has his or her own agenda and you have an unforgettable tale of murder, madness, lust, greed, sin and maybe a little poetic justice, depending on how you look at things.
Who is sane, who is criminal, who is the good guy, who is an innocent bystander? Is anyone as they appear to be on the surface? This book reminded me of those old movies made in the 70's that really gave you a sense of foreboding. Very understated in some regards and over the top in others. Super edgy and suspenseful. It also has a touch of dark humor and occasionally has a satirical tone. If you like a good whodunit, a dark psychological thriller, and suspenseful page turning thrills, then you will really like this one. Thanks Kindle for once more introducing me to a new author . 4.5 stars rounded to 5.
D. M. Mitchell has been compared to Ruth Rendell, Martina Cole, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Linwood Barclay, Dickens and even the Bronte sisters! This wide array of writing styles is appropriate - though Mitchell is known for his psychological thrillers, he is determined that each of them will be different, so they might be set in different eras, may be straightforward thrillers or have a supernatural or horror twist, and he avoids like the plague the standard and unimaginative serial killer format! You'll find he uses different styles of writing to suit different types of books - it also keeps him from getting bored...
D. M. Mitchell was born into a small mining community in Yorkshire, England. His career advisor said he had two options - go...more D. M. Mitchell has been compared to Ruth Rendell, Martina Cole, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Linwood Barclay, Dickens and even the Bronte sisters! This wide array of writing styles is appropriate - though Mitchell is known for his psychological thrillers, he is determined that each of them will be different, so they might be set in different eras, may be straightforward thrillers or have a supernatural or horror twist, and he avoids like the plague the standard and unimaginative serial killer format! You'll find he uses different styles of writing to suit different types of books - it also keeps him from getting bored...
D. M. Mitchell was born into a small mining community in Yorkshire, England. His career advisor said he had two options - go down the mines or become a policeman. Being scared of the dark and never having much meat on his bones, he declined both and in his early years bounced like a pinball from job to job - warehouses, cinema projectionist, market trader, salesman - you get the picture. He sort of made a success of himself and now lives in a money-pit of a cottage in a tiny village in the cream tea heart of the South West of England.
His first remembered attempt at pushing the boundaries of creative writing was during a school lesson at the age of nine. Titled simply 'Rain' his proud masterpiece began with 'It started to rain' then there followed eight pages of nothing but the words 'pitter-patter', concluding with 'and then it stopped'. It was handed over and duly reviewed by his brick wall of a teacher, whose eyebrows flickered up and down ominously, his cheeks flushing bright red, before declaring it total rubbish. He tore it up into ribbons, showered him with his first, and no doubt only tickertape ceremony, and gave him a meaty slap around the head (they could do that sort of thing in 1967). He made him write 'I will not write stupid things for eight pages' for eight pages. Thus he learnt a number of valuable early lessons - the meaning of irony, writing is very subjective, everyone's a critic, and no-one likes a smart-arse.
He persevered, his first novel appearing in 1986 and disappearing into the attic the same year. It's still up there. Many manuscripts later he used to save the piles of rejection slips to paper his bare walls. So the adage is, keep at it, in these times of economic depression you'll soon have the house fully redecorated. Nowadays, writing is the one thing he feels totally comfortable with, except perhaps for a cup of Horlicks on a cold winter's night when the rain goes pitter-patter against the window panes (there it is again...).
Characterisation is an important and noticeable aspect of all Mitchell's novels. It allows him to be whoever he wants to be when he gets fed up of being himself, which is quite often. So too is a sense of mystery and the exploration of the darker side to humanity. There are always strong elements of a complex puzzle to be solved in a D M Mitchell novel, many disparate parts ultimately coming together, tragedy and comedy sitting side by side. As in life, nothing is as it first seems. He takes a keen interest in history, a thread which runs through his writing, whether it's the 1960s or 1970s, as in 'Max' and 'Pressure Cooker', or the Victorian 1880s, as in 'The House of the Wicked'.
His favorite novelists include Barry Unsworth, Thomas Hardy, John Steinbeck and Graham Swift. Top two favorite historical books: Culloden, by John Prebble and The Face of Battle by John Keegan. He also collects first edition novels and takes a keen interest in anything old, tatty and in need of love and restoration. His wife says he needs to get out more.
He has three grown children and also enjoys photography, painting and walking the Blackdown Hills with his wife and an overly excitable Border Terrier - or is that an overly-excitable wife and a Border Terrier... One of the two.
He'd like to thank his growing legion of fans for allowing him to practice being.