The only thing worse than a writer with no talent is a writer who squanders talent. Armed with a great concept, first chapter, and even a Cormac McCarthy quote to kick off his novel, Thomas Mullen proceeds to kill off anything remotely resembling an interesting piece of literary fiction. Even the backdrop of J. Edgar Hoover's "public enemies" and The Great Depression were not enough to save it, as the research had clearly gone not one step further than Wikipedia. Poor descriptions, worse choices, and a cast of characters that talked like no human beings from any era littered the pages and left me wondering when the pain was going to subside. Quite honestly, I'm not sure how any self-respecting editor green-lighted this without asking for some simple changes to beef up the story/characters/descriptions/anything or calling for a second draft. Oh, and for those of you wondering if it was truly that bad, I've included some excerpts:

"The place smelled of old ladies' perfume and sorrow."
"Yes, you are rather sorry sometimes." She grinned. "But the rest of the time you're exceptional."
"Life had returned, and she needed sustenance."
"Then he tried to submerge that thought in the amnesia of a long kiss..."