...Richie Segal, a young salesman trying to make a go at life in New York, along with Paula, his wife. Things go from bad to worse when Richie encounters a person who sexually assaulted him when he was a child, and the traumatic memories come flooding back. Richie suddenly knows exactly what he needs to do, and when he does it, things start looking up on all horizons. His marriage improves, he prospers on his job... and then the bottom falls out like a ton of bricks, as he scrambles to pay the piper.

...Jason Starr's spectacular storytelling style. Very crisp, to the point, and he allows the reader to paint the canvass of his story right along with him. What takes Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho, Glamorama)100 pages to write about takes Starr only 10, and Starr packs that condensed punch with style.

...tap into the secret of Starr's writing style, he told an amazing story in just 245 pages. Starr is an inspiration.

...that no person on this planet in all of existence is capable of not doing the wrong thing for the "right" reasons. The degree of how wrong it is can be escalated by a latent psychosis that is sometimes never observed by doctors or loved ones.

...also wrote Cold Caller, Nothing Personal and Fake I.D. I plan on reading these ASAP. After finishing Hard Feelings, I found myself wanting to keep an eye on Starr's career. He may become

...it is highly entertaining and it will, for some, introduce them to a writer they'll appreciate for years to come.

Starr's first-person storytelling works dramatically for this book. The reader finds themself rooting for Richie, who is obviously disturbed and unhinged from the get-go. What adds to the creepiness of the book is Richie's normal veneer, a salesman who is trying to make it through life like everyone else. The clincher is that we see Richie's past trauma and the things rolling around in his head. A tense ride with an ending that packs more than a wallop.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of Hard Feelings (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Original)   from Amazon.Com!

Created Feb 01, 2002 at 10:20am • Submit your own review...