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The Man from Primrose Lane: A Novel

by James Renner (Goodreads Author)

3.69 of 5 stars 3.69 · rating details · 548 ratings · 203 reviews

A mind-bending, genre-twisting debut novel

In West Akron, there lived a reclusive elderly man who always wore mittens, even in July. He had no friends and no family; all over town, he was known only as the Man from Primrose Lane. And on a summer day in 2008, someone murdered him.

Four years later, David Neff is a broken man. The bestselling author of a true-crime boo

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ebook, 384 pages

Published February 28th 2012 by Sarah Crichton Books

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Oct 03, 2012 karen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-biggest-fear

i had no idea what i was getting into...

i came across this book at work when it first came in, and i was drawn to its cover, with its little subtle swirly bits and creepy dollface, and when i saw jonathan carroll had blurbed it, i put it on the mental to-read list. i didn't read any reviews of it, i didn't know anyone who had read it, and all i expected from it was a crime thriller involving mittens and obsession.

and so i was just reading along, doodley doodley doooo and then wait WHAT???

and aft...more

62 likes · like · see review

May 05, 2013 Paquita Maria Sanchez rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature

What an arresting, addictive little genre-tapdance, this novel. It's a matroyshka doll of a story masquerading as lit-fic murder mystery, which manages to combine the plot set-ups and Big Bads of a dozen or more X-Files episodes were they to mate with some random police procedural with more "realistic" intentions (already a stretch, I know, but you seriously have no idea the stretchy). I've maybe already said too much, but even my hint-hint shoulder-nudges won't take away from all the surprises...more

24 likes · like · see review

May 05, 2013 Jonfaith rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you liked Ender's Game this may be a novel for you. I cite Orson Scott Card and his self-delusions for a certain reason. The Man From Primrose Lane inspired such a foaming rage on my part, I could only think of Ender playing video games while REALLY saving the world. My bullshit immunity was breached, there was no vertigo nor fever. What a fucking hack, I screamed, well, muttered, as my wife was watching tv in the next room.

I wanted to like the book. I won't spoil such. Sweet stars above, af...more

7 likes · like · see review

Apr 16, 2012 Emma Makes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reading-for-work

The Text Publishing cover of The Man from Primrose Lane runs the line “PROMISE: You will have never read anything like this before.”

“That’s the case for every book you’ve never read,” points out my husband; and he’s right – but don’t let the marketing put you off this part crime novel, part sci-fi work that’s an incredibly enjoyable read… as long as you’re aware that it’s going to get wacko at about page 250.

The Man from Primrose Lane will hook you from the first sentence – it’s well written; de...more The Text Publishing cover of The Man from Primrose Lane runs the line “PROMISE: You will have never read anything like this before.”

“That’s the case for every book you’ve never read,” points out my husband; and he’s right – but don’t let the marketing put you off this part crime novel, part sci-fi work that’s an incredibly enjoyable read… as long as you’re aware that it’s going to get wacko at about page 250.

The Man from Primrose Lane will hook you from the first sentence – it’s well written; descriptive without being flowery, imaginative while taking the reader along for the ride, and the kind of book that will make you regret having a job because you’ll want to sit reading all day.

I found the twists and turns of the plot truly surprising (even before it got wacko) and the characters both believable and thoroughly enjoyable to read.

The Man from Primrose Lane came across as a good old-fashioned thriller for the start – a real whodunnit that kept me guessing throughout. The writing was so real as to be nauseating in one scene where the protagonist meets with a practicing child sex offender. What made the novel so good in the early part of it was that it wasn’t sensationalised.

The crime scenes and the events surrounding them were factually descriptive and the detective work sedate enough to be believable rather than exploded into a quick wrap-up of unbelievable coincidences that we’ve come to expect from crime stories (thanks CSI).

This was a four star read for me; what I really needed this book to have was a decent blurb on the cover, because without it I found the schism where a dystopian future becomes woven in with the gumshoe-esque crime thriller more disruptive than the author probably intended.

The heavy labouring of the scientific detail (the story even says at one point “yeah I know science blah blah blah”) was also off-putting but I guess necessary I imagine to deal with pedant readers who I probably love to point out in certain science-based scenarios what is and isn’t a possibility.

I should have – and I recommend you do this if you’re not used to reading sci-fi – given myself an hour or two to commit to reading my way right through the introduction of the sci-fi elements so I could more easily follow along. I found my reading became laboured and somewhat less enjoyable for about thirty pages as I grappled with some of the mind-benders in this novel.

However, as I came to grips with major plot twists and confirmed once again in my own mind whose story I was reading, The Man from Primrose Lane became enjoyable again. And I’m even pretty confident that I know who killed The Man from Primrose Lane … I think.

The Man from Primrose Lane is at once a thoroughly enjoyable and challenging read, which will keep you thinking and questioning what you know well beyond finishing the book. It’s the kind of book you’ll want to read again as soon as you finish.
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May 26, 2012 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've puzzled over a review, not wanting to unwittingly cue or clue potential readers about the tricks up Renner's sleeves. Of course, maybe I shouldn't fret about (view spoiler). Because there's much more than sleight of hand going on here.

It's always neat to see a magician testdrive a new bit of stagecraft, rather than yanking the same old rabbits out of threadbare hats, sawing the same lady, stepping into the same...more

14 likes · like · see review

Mar 31, 2012 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm liking this so far. I'm close to the end and I can sense it in my bag...beckoning me!

Update:
I just finished the book. First, this is the first book I have finished this quickly in years. I read all day at work and I just really gave up reading for pleasure, which is idiotic, but I'm glad this was the book that pulled me back in.

I gave it four stars because I loved it. But five stars is going to be saved for books that hold my heart over time. Chronicles of Narnia, books that I reread until t...more

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Nov 26, 2011 Adam rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Adam by: James Renner

Shelves: fiction

The author of this book, James Renner, is a friend of mine.

Reading this book is like watching a freight train barrel toward you and being unable to move, while remembering a time in your past when you watched a freight train barrel toward you, only to wake up to find out there's a freight train barreling toward you.

This is the kind of novel that should appeal to anyone, and the ingredients it contains that aren't to your taste should be more than made up for by the things that are. There are thr...more The author of this book, James Renner, is a friend of mine.

Reading this book is like watching a freight train barrel toward you and being unable to move, while remembering a time in your past when you watched a freight train barrel toward you, only to wake up to find out there's a freight train barreling toward you.

This is the kind of novel that should appeal to anyone, and the ingredients it contains that aren't to your taste should be more than made up for by the things that are. There are three acts with a few interludes, and by the third act, I was so hooked that I read the last 100 pages in a sitting.

It is a deeply personal, emotionally-charged murder mystery/thriller about an investigative journalist/writer and his search for a serial rapist & murderer of little redheaded girls. Sorta. If Raymond Chandler had written it, that's all it would be about. It's also a novel about how internal darkness creates external demons. Partially. If Stephen King had written it, that's what it would be about. But James Renner wrote this, so it's about those things, and much more; obsession, redemption, fate, philosophy, futility and hope in the face of it. There are also plenty of easter eggs for folks who live in or are familiar with Northeast Ohio.

This isn't normally the kind of novel that I read, so it took me awhile to get in the groove with the intricate detail and characterization supplied during the initial exposition. I found myself wondering if all this detail was truly necessary (it is), then that groundwork starts paying off over and over again. I had to keep putting the book down to calm down, such was the deeply personal impact that the characters actions have upon each other. The structure of the exposition places events that occur at very different moments in the past and future concurrent to each other. This results in two things: 1) overwhelming dramatic irony and 2) the novel becomes something akin to time travel, initially similar to the way that Gene Wolfe's Peace is a time travel novel.

So if you want your heart-strings tuned, some exercise for your adrenal glands, your tear ducts flushed, your action packed and your food thoughtful, read this book.

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Nov 19, 2012 Kristin (MyBookishWays Reviews) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2012/11/...

The Man from Primrose Lane. Man With a Thousand Mittens. No matter what you call him, he’s dead. In fact, he’s sitting in his living room in a pool of blood, one gunshot to the chest and missing all of his fingers. Those are in the blender, by the way, only so much mush now. When a young patrolman Tom Sackett responds to a call from the man’s delivery boy, he immediately senses something is wrong. He never could have imagi...more You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2012/11/...

The Man from Primrose Lane. Man With a Thousand Mittens. No matter what you call him, he’s dead. In fact, he’s sitting in his living room in a pool of blood, one gunshot to the chest and missing all of his fingers. Those are in the blender, by the way, only so much mush now. When a young patrolman Tom Sackett responds to a call from the man’s delivery boy, he immediately senses something is wrong. He never could have imagined the horror waiting for him inside of that house, or the confusing mess the case would eventually become. For years, the Man From Primrose Lane has been a mystery to his neighbors. Seldom venturing outside of his house, he did who-knows-what within the walls of his home and kept very much to himself. If his life was a mystery, his death was even more so.

David Neff is in self-imposed exile in his home and taking care of his four year old son Tanner. Tanner has never known his mother, Elizabeth, since she supposedly took her own life the day after he was born. Her death nearly destroyed David. It also seemed to have destroyed his writing career. Luckily, the proceeds from his wildly successful true crime novel has kept his little family afloat, and then some. No, money won’t be a worry anytime soon, but his editor is ready for him to write again, and the death of the Man From Primrose Lane is the story he presents to David. The familiar tingle of a story in waiting hits David when he hears about the death, but the medication he’s been prescribed for PTSD has completely wiped out any creative instincts that he used to have. The PTSD is a nice little reminder of his search for a child killer that resulted in the true crime novel, The Serial Killer’s Protégé,and the medication has, quite frankly, kept him from taking his own life. His fierce love for his son has kept him sane, and he starts to think that maybe this is what he needs, something to get him out of his funk and write again. But the meds will have to go. Shaking the meds is a dubious proposition, one that actually might kill him, but he’s determined to go through with it.

Eventually David seeks the help of the police officer that found the old man’s body in the beginning, Tom Sackett, who’s also being assisted by the FBI. Sackett thinks David is hiding something, and the feeling is mutual, but David needs him. As David begins digging into the Man from Primrose Lane’s life, he soon finds out that his life, and his wife’s, were intertwined with the dead man’s in shocking ways.

The Man From Primrose Lane is the first fiction novel by James Renner, and it’s a doozy. The book, while following the investigation into the old man’s death, also details David’s courting of his unusual and troubled wife, the court case that nearly destroyed him, and his all-encompassing obsession with finding the thieves of children: those that take their lives and destroy everyone around them.

Equal parts Stephen King, Dean Koontz’s Lightning, and dystopian scifi, The Man From Primrose Lane is never what you think it will be, and is one of the most haunting books that I’ve read in a long time. It demands your unwavering attention. Trust me, you’ll want to wrap a cozy blanket around you and tune out all outside distraction while reading this one, because the narrative is not linear and as the threads from the story lines unravel, you may find yourself wondering how all of it could possibly connect, but they do, in spectacular, shocking, and devastating ways. There may be times when you think things are “getting really weird”, and they do, but I promise, the author makes sense of it all in the end and the payoff is well worth the effort.

Moments of horror and dread highlight moments of almost aching tenderness, and as dark as this book gets, underneath it all it is ultimately a story of love, the boundless ability of the human heart to care for others and the desire to see justice done for those that are so, so vulnerable. The Man From Primrose Lane is a genre defying, horrifying, and rewarding read that will surprise you at nearly every turn. James Renner’s imagination is a vast, strange, wonderful, terrifying thing and we’re very lucky he’s willing to share it with us.

If you’re in the mood for a breezy mystery, or a straightforward thriller, this is NOT that book. It’s not a light read, and you really must pay attention. I love a light read as much as the next person, but this doesn’t fall into that category, so proceed accordingly, but most definitely DO proceed when the mood for something a little more “meaty” strikes you.

This is one of the best books of 2012, and if you haven’t discovered this gem yet (and you like a bit of a challenge-I mean that in the very, very best way), you’re going to want to remedy that.(less)

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Jan 09, 2013 Ellie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

No one really knew the Man from Primrose Lane. Tom Sackett always called him the Man with a Thousand Mittens because each time he left the house he appeared to be wearing a different pair. When he is found brutally murdered, the police try to track down his family only to find he was using a fake identity. With the investigation at a standstill, true crime writer and widower David Neff is approached by his publisher to write a book about the man and perhaps uncover the truth. But soon David beco...more No one really knew the Man from Primrose Lane. Tom Sackett always called him the Man with a Thousand Mittens because each time he left the house he appeared to be wearing a different pair. When he is found brutally murdered, the police try to track down his family only to find he was using a fake identity. With the investigation at a standstill, true crime writer and widower David Neff is approached by his publisher to write a book about the man and perhaps uncover the truth. But soon David becomes embroiled in a plot that he could never have dreamt up in his wildest dreams.

What starts out as an intriguing crime story soon pans out into something more which will keep your brain going round in circles. David is a single father and still hasn’t quite got over the suicide of his wife 4 years earlier, who we find out about through flashbacks. He has made enough money from his first book never to work again so he is reluctant to get involved with the Man From Primrose Lane story.

The man had been obsessed with a young woman, Katy. He had paintings of her and journals of her life. Katy had never met the man before and everyone assumes it was a case of stalking. But Katy reminds David so much of his late wife and then Elizabeth’s fingerprints are discovered on the bed at Primrose Lane. There is a lot going on in this novel but all the threads eventually come together; without giving too much away it’s a wonderful fusion of crime and science fiction.

I’m starting to instinctively dislike the trend of making main characters authors in novels, especially making them out to be unrealistically successful. Here it seems making David so rich from his writing was a convenient way for him not to have to worry about having him go to work or worry about how to raise his son. There are also a few too many moments given over to things-that-successful-authors do; dealing with Facebook fans, signing books, literary snobbery; really things that have nothing to do with the otherwise interesting and complicated plot. The Man From Primrose Lane feels like it wants to be Stephen King at times which is only reinforced by the protagonist’s profession.

There are some bits that just seem a bit silly and out of place. For anyone else that has read it; what the hell was going on with that cat? Even if the science-fiction element was far-fetched, it works in a fictional capacity but adding supernatural elements without context was odd. The best bits are definitely the aspects that would be considered spoilers, so you’ll just have to read it to find out.(less)

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Mar 12, 2012 Evelyn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, thriller, time-travel, science-fiction, highly-recommended

After becoming obsessed with the murder of a young girl, crime writer David Neff learns that the man executed for the crime was innocent and he finds the real killer. He tricks the killer to confess on national TV and his book sales make him a millionaire. But, David cannot stop obsessing over other similar crimes and when a mysterious recluse is murdered in Akron, David investigates that crime, too. As his life unravels, the police come up with evidence that supports David as the killer. Just w...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Zenrin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I would never have read this book had the author not friended me suggesting we had the same weird taste in books ;)
Thank you Mr. Renner for a story so full of twists and turns that I was totally blindsided at times. I liked the writers style and really cared and ached for the characters. I promise you, this book is like nothing you've ever come across before. It's equal parts mystery, crime drama, sci-fi and yes, sometimes flat out weird, but oh so compelling!!! Future books from this author wil...more

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Apr 04, 2012 Sherrie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thrillers-mystery

The Man from Primrose Lane was a real genre bending novel. It was like episodes of Dexter and Six Feet Under mixed with a bit of the Twilight Zone.

I thought this book was very well written and liked the use of dark humor sprinkled throughout the book. James Renner's writing is similar to Stephen Kings's in that it mixes horror with humor and does it quite well. The book had a complicated plot which confused me a bit in the end but overall I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

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Apr 28, 2012 Vicki rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I thought this was going to be a crime/mystery book. Nowhere in the description does it say anything about time-travel, so this book surprised me. The time travel also doesn't reveal itself until halfway through the book, so I was often left in the dark trying to figure out WHAT was going on ... The first half of the book I was literally confused with every passing page, I found myself struggling to read it, there was so much and nothing happening at the same time. It was all over the place. But...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 30, 2012 Elodie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: from-library, science-fiction

This book was just plain crazy. Overall I liked it, and thought it was a satisfying ending but wow, lot of weird turns (and I usually like weird). Felt a little rush in spots.

edit: the best thing I can say about this book is that I read this months ago and I am still thinking about it. I would definitely recommend this to people who like mystery and/or time travel in their science fiction. It's an interesting take on obsession and the lengths we go to to fill the needs of our obsessions. Was a v...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Lauren rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is about a man's obsession with a crime. This review is about a woman's obsession of this book - I simply couldn't put it down. It was even in my dreams. Wonderfully bewitching.

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Apr 25, 2012 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Loved this book. It defies description. Just do yourself a favor and read it. Wow! I have never read anything like it, and doubt I ever will again.

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May 14, 2013 Pamela rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The cover of the book says "Love. Murder. Time Travel."

I admit I have a few guilty pleasures in reading and spend most of my fiction-reading time consuming murder mysteries and time travel/love stories. But a book that promised to combine all three? Yes, this was an impulse book store purchase. I didn't know the author, didn't know anyone who had read the book, and didn't know anything about the book other than the first four words which caught my eye.

Oh MAN am I glad I bought it! It does have s...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Debbie Bennett rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hmm. The reviews don't surprise me. Lots of twists and turns, jumps backwards and forwards and weird things happening. Nothing is quite what it seems.

I guess if I had the time to read this in one sitting or at least in big chunks, it might had made more sense. It started out well and I was interested in David's predicament but then as Katy came into the picture, the credibility of the relationship made me start losing momentum. I'm sure that everything makes sense in the end, but when I can't re...more

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Aug 19, 2012 TFGamer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this because it sounded interesting. I like mysteries and I like SciFi, so why not give it a try?

Well I read the entire thing, mainly because I wanted to find out who dunnit. But also because it was really well written. Such a smooth writer.

But the dunnit part was rather disturbing. I really didn't like the crime topic.

That being said I wasn't at all surprised by the switch in genre half way through as I felt the first half foreshadowed it quite well.

And the ending was incredibly unsat...more

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Aug 01, 2012 Mira rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-reads

I picked this book up because it is by a local author, set in my home state and area(s). The book started off a little slow, which is ok, and kept my interest. Parts of the story were told in flashback, part in present and the author did an ok job of weaving the two together. About 2/3 of the way through, the book got weird. It became a sci-fi book. It started off as a mystery/thriller book and then wham! it's science fiction. I was like what!??. By this time I had read 2/3 of the book and the m...more

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Jul 26, 2012 Chris Bauer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I suspect it will be challenging to write a review of "The Man from Primrose Lane" by James Renner without giving any of the twists away. I'll do my best.

I have to give kudos to Mr. Renner for attempting a very intricate and delicate procedure in this work. Most authors (with a few notable exceptions) attempt to stay far away from any kind of hybrid "cross-genre" novels. And to muck with it even further by introducing a chronology which doesn't actually read the way the story goes makes it even...more

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May 26, 2012 Kristin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really love books that manage to confuse the hell out of me until that one moment where all the pieces of the puzzle come together and it suddenly makes sense.
This book has a very haunting opening, with the discovery of the body of the Man From Primrose Lane. Shot in the stomach, he lies on his kitchen floor and his fingers are found pulverized in the blender. While still alive, this man was a bit of a mystery, keeping to himself and rarely going outside. He owned more than 100 pairs of mitten...more

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Apr 02, 2012 LINDA rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books

This review contains hidden spoilers:

Mind-bending is the perfect adjective for this book! It is so exciting when an author takes ideas so seemingly impossible (view spoiler)) and through scientific explanation and seamless writing, it become a possibility so real that it blows your mind!

In 'The Man from Primrose Lane' you are treated to a book fully of mystery and suspense with an ending that ties everything together in a way that lea...more

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Mar 31, 2012 Libby rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: unforgettable

Twisty! Cunning and Devious! Wow! Rad! Bad! And did I mention twisty? This one started out as a common garden variety mystery-suspense novel, slowly developing its plot rather like British suspense novels. Despite its leisurely pace, I was enjoying it, when slam-bang, it turned into a techno, hard science fiction rush that totally blind-sided me. I was shaking my head and muttering "I did NOT see that coming." This was written with skill and reveals a truly scary plot in itsy-bitsy increments. I...more Twisty! Cunning and Devious! Wow! Rad! Bad! And did I mention twisty? This one started out as a common garden variety mystery-suspense novel, slowly developing its plot rather like British suspense novels. Despite its leisurely pace, I was enjoying it, when slam-bang, it turned into a techno, hard science fiction rush that totally blind-sided me. I was shaking my head and muttering "I did NOT see that coming." This was written with skill and reveals a truly scary plot in itsy-bitsy increments. It definitely kept my interest. The underlying theme is obsession and as the plot progresses, we are allowed to see not one obsession, but many, all twining into a chain of consequences that create entire worlds of possibilities. Our author handles these many strands of action with assurance and the reader is not confused until the author wants him to be. And believe me, the twists are dazzling.

Our protagonist is the clinically depressed true crime author David Neff. Grief over the death of his wife Elizabeth has sapped his talent and his desire to write. All he wants is to raise his son Tanner. His one book has made him enough money that he does not have to work. When his agent tries to interest him in a four year old murder, he doesn't want to deal with it. But against his will, he becomes fascinated by the mystery of the Man from Primrose Lane, the Man With the Thousand Mittens, who was found shot in the chest with his fingers cut off. Gradually, Davis becomes fixated on this crime. He recognizes the symptoms, as he had been obsessed before, with the crime that engendered his best-seller. However, he disregards stray misgivings and presses on to discover connections to many crimes and criminals, including one so twisted and I evil that I shiver to recall him.

This is not an average book, nor is it easy to categorize. If you are easily repelled by descriptions of deviant behavior, don't go here. However, if you love suspense, clever plotting and a touch of strange, this is your read.(less)

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Oct 25, 2012 Becky Vowles rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime, drama, fantasy

This is a really interesting book, from the start you think it will be a straight crime story and as that it works pretty well. However after a short while the story diverges onto a more fantastical tangent. Despite this the whole thing still manages to be entirely credible, don't be put off by the fantasy aspect of this, despite including some really complex science at times the whole thing hangs together perfectly. The plot line is complex and yet never loses track of where it is headed. If yo...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Arna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

More twists than a twisty thing! I did not want to put this one down so keen was I to see what happened next. You really need to keep your wits about you with this one, and it is difficult to review without giving away the biggest twist of all. The story is that of David Neff, a fledgling journalist who solves a murder, at great expense to his personal health, and the well-being of his family. The story starts several years after the investigation, and jumps back and forward detailing his relati...more

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Mar 20, 2012 KP rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was already sold on is book before I even picked it up--because when you get a good review from Harry Dolan (whose "Bad Things Happen" is one of my favorite contemporary mysteries), then you're already starting out ahead of the pack in my eyes.

From word one, I was in love with and invested in the characters with the same level of intensity that fuels the main character's own obsession. Whereas people exaggerate about being unable to put a book down, I speak nothing but the truth. I just kept...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Travis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, sci-fi

Great book, James! I was a tad worried at the beginning: some of the dialogue seemed a bit over-earnest, plus it's a story that should have been a big fucking mess. It touches on too many different subjects/themes: love, obsession, science, the quest for knowledge, human nature, destiny vs. free-will, quantum physics, the list goes on) but it works. In some ways it reminded me of Ernest Cline's novel READY PLAYER ONE, not because the stories are similar, but because both books seem to have an au...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Raven rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Now this a book that warrants serious attention from readers and critics alike. James Renner’s debut ‘The Man From Primrose Lane’ is marked by it’s refusal to conform to the normal boundaries of the crime fiction writing genre, and instead plays with the conventions of a linear story, imaginatively taking the reader in a whole new direction. Over the last few years it has not been unusual for renowned fantasy writers such as China Mieville and Tad Williams to circumvent the constraints of their...more Now this a book that warrants serious attention from readers and critics alike. James Renner’s debut ‘The Man From Primrose Lane’ is marked by it’s refusal to conform to the normal boundaries of the crime fiction writing genre, and instead plays with the conventions of a linear story, imaginatively taking the reader in a whole new direction. Over the last few years it has not been unusual for renowned fantasy writers such as China Mieville and Tad Williams to circumvent the constraints of their genre by presenting their readers with a crime fiction plot in a fantasy setting, but only after having established their reputations in their chosen genre. With a controlled use of plotting, and having established what appears to be a normal linear crime story, Renner bravely takes the reader into a fantastical flight into the realms of SF and fantasy, whilst never losing sight of the demands of the conventional crime reader, with an assured and utterly engaging touch.

At the start of the book a reclusive old man is found murdered in his home on Primrose Lane in Akron, with no apparent reason for this senseless crime. However, in the eyes of those faceless govenment departments who document our lives in minute detail, he is quite evidently not who appears to be, having assumed the identity of a long dead individual and mysteriously accruing a substantial personal fortune, seemingly only having spent money on a huge collection of mittens and other bizarre and apparently useless items. His killer remains undetected. Grieving widower and true crime writer, David Neff, is approached by his agent to take up the threads of this story, having successfully exposed a heinous miscarriage of justice in his previous bestselling book, and to uncover the secrets and lies that underpin the mysterious death of the anonymous man from Primrose Lane. Neff, is a great character, exhibiting all the signs of a man disappearing into despair following the alleged suicide of his wife, Elizabeth, but bound by his paternal responsibilities to his young son Tanner. We observe a man trying to make sense of what appears to him to be a nonsensical chain of events, put into motion by the loss of his mercurial wife, and how her death and the murder of the old man are so inextricably linked, as strange events and crossed paths, come to light in his reasearch for his new book…

And this is where the story takes the most mysterious of turns, but by my previous reference to the SF and fantasy genres, there is some small clue to the bizarre and intriguing adventure, across different dimensions of time, that you as a reader will encounter with this book. I was wrongfooted completely by the strange turn of events, having read a proof copy with little in the way of blurb contained within, but this for me certainly, made for a multi-stranded and at times complicated tale. I would certainly recommend that this is not a book to be picked up for a few pages before entering the Land of Nod, as it does require that attention be paid on the part of the reader to navigate the later stages of the book, but I would hasten to say that it doesn’t make the book a difficult read per se but more that you will enjoy the cleverness of it more by keeping your wits about you. Supported by a host of surprising and compelling characters the plot mushrooms into abduction, murder and a thirst for justice amongst the main protagonists. I think the strength of characterisation throughout, particularly good in the female characters of Elizabeth and Katy and that of main protagonist David, provides a good foil to the unexpected twists and turns in the plot,that cheekily court more than one suspension of belief on the part of the reader. But you know what- Renner gets away with it. The writing is compelling, veering at times closer to contemporary literary American fiction, whilst maintaining a good conventional murder plot to carry the action along. ‘The Man From Primrose Lane’ tests your imagination from start to finish and this makes it all the more special for that. A wonderful read with an ending that may tempt you to turn back to the beginning to decipher the clever myriad of clues that lie within its pages.
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About James Renner

Renner spends his spare time hunting serial killers and writing about his adventures. One of his true crime stories was published in the Best American Crime Reporting anthology. It was the first nonfiction true crime article to use a dream sequence as a narrative device.

Sometimes Renner pretends to smoke cigarettes because he wants to feel relaxed but is too afraid of the harmful effects to actual...more

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Books by James Renner

Amy: My Search for Her Killer: Secrets & Suspects in the Unsolved Murder of Amy Mihaljevic

The Serial Killer's Apprentice: And 12 Other True Stories of Cleveland's Most Intriguing Unsolved Crimes

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