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The Man from Primrose Lane
A mind-bending, genre-twisting debut novel
In West Akron, Ohio, 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 as the Man from Primrose Lane. And on a summer day, someone murdered him.
Fast-forward four years. David Neff, the bestselling author of a true-crime book about an Ohio serial killer, is a broken man after his wife’s inexplicable suicide. When an unexpected visit from an old friend introduces him to the strange mystery of “the man with a thousand mittens,” David decides to investigate. What he finds draws him back into a world he thought he had left behind forever. And the closer David gets to uncovering the true identity of the Man from Primrose Lane, the more he begins to understand the dangerous power of his own obsessions and how they may be connected to the deaths of both the old hermit and his beloved wife.
Deviously plotted and full of dark wit, James Renner’s The Man from Primrose Lane is an audacious debut that boasts as many twists as a roller coaster. But beneath its turns, it’s a spellbinding story about our obsessions: the dangerous sway they have over us and the fates of those we love.
In West Akron, Ohio, 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 as the Man from Primrose Lane. And on a summer day, someone murdered him.
Fast-forward four years. David Neff, the bestselling author of a true-crime book about an Ohio serial killer, is a broken man after his wife’s inexplicable suicide. When an unexpected visit from an old friend introduces him to the strange mystery of “the man with a thousand mittens,” David decides to investigate. What he finds draws him back into a world he thought he had left behind forever. And the closer David gets to uncovering the true identity of the Man from Primrose Lane, the more he begins to understand the dangerous power of his own obsessions and how they may be connected to the deaths of both the old hermit and his beloved wife.
Deviously plotted and full of dark wit, James Renner’s The Man from Primrose Lane is an audacious debut that boasts as many twists as a roller coaster. But beneath its turns, it’s a spellbinding story about our obsessions: the dangerous sway they have over us and the fates of those we love.
381 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2012
112 people are currently reading
3703 people want to read
About the author
James Renner
22 books1,059 followersJames Renner is an award-winning journalist and author of True Crime Addict, the definitive book on the Maura Murray disappearance. Renner is also a novelist, having written The Man from Primrose Lane and other works of scifi and fantasy. He currently hosts the podcast, The Philosophy of Crime.
In 2019, he founded The Porchlight Project a nonprofit that raises money for new DNA testing and genetic genealogy for Ohio cold cases. In May, 2020, James Zastawnik was arrested for the murder of Barbara Blatnik, thanks to the work of genealogists funded by the Porchlight Project.
In 2019, he founded The Porchlight Project a nonprofit that raises money for new DNA testing and genetic genealogy for Ohio cold cases. In May, 2020, James Zastawnik was arrested for the murder of Barbara Blatnik, thanks to the work of genealogists funded by the Porchlight Project.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 493 reviews
July 1, 2018
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 after that it all went a little crazy. i refuse to give away this book's secrets. other reviewers have, but most have been coy. this is a coy kinda book. do you have one of those annoying friends who will invariably announce,after a movie "oh, i totally saw that coming!!!??" give them this book. if they say they saw it coming, they are fucking liars.
this book does the story-within-a-story thing, going back and forth in time, sometimes even mid-sentence, following a couple of different storylines until even that much variety is not enough for it and it seems to suddenly get bored with itself and breaks out and goes barreling across genres and themes, laughing maniacally the whole time while the reader is left just trying to hold on and follow the story.
it is kind of fun and kind of regrettable. on the one hand - holy hell! it is awesome to be so blindsided - to be halfway through a book and suddenly have no idea what you are reading. on the other hand, it makes certain resolutions too easy and a little unfair.
this was probably only going to be a three-star book, but i decided to give a star for sheer balls alone. massive, "fuck you, reader" balls.
come to my blog!
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 after that it all went a little crazy. i refuse to give away this book's secrets. other reviewers have, but most have been coy. this is a coy kinda book. do you have one of those annoying friends who will invariably announce,after a movie "oh, i totally saw that coming!!!??" give them this book. if they say they saw it coming, they are fucking liars.
this book does the story-within-a-story thing, going back and forth in time, sometimes even mid-sentence, following a couple of different storylines until even that much variety is not enough for it and it seems to suddenly get bored with itself and breaks out and goes barreling across genres and themes, laughing maniacally the whole time while the reader is left just trying to hold on and follow the story.
it is kind of fun and kind of regrettable. on the one hand - holy hell! it is awesome to be so blindsided - to be halfway through a book and suddenly have no idea what you are reading. on the other hand, it makes certain resolutions too easy and a little unfair.
this was probably only going to be a three-star book, but i decided to give a star for sheer balls alone. massive, "fuck you, reader" balls.
come to my blog!
July 15, 2016
Widowed writer David Neff is at rock bottom when his agent drops the tale of The Man From Primrose Lane into his lap. Will a new book to work on bring him out of the funk he's been in since his wife's death or will his obsession kill him?
Before I get down to business, let's all be honest with one another. Most of the books we read are of average or less quality and are just an entertaining way to pass the time. This book is not one of those. This one grabs you by the genitals and infects your thoughts while you aren't reading it.
The Man From Primrose Lane is one hell of a crazy read. The titular character is a local eccentric who was known as The Man with a Thousand Mittens to the cop who found his corpse, complete with fingers in a blender. In life, he was always seen wearing mittens and had a closet full of them when he died? Interested yet? What if I told you the MFPL had a painting of David's dead wife in his basement? Or that he has a notebook about another woman's daily habits that just happens to resemble David's wife?
This is one of those books that I cannot divulge the plot of without ruining it. Suffice to say, it is a cleverly written mind bender. Part detective story, part bat shit crazy. Your brain might fold in on itself like a black hole before it's finished.
What the hell else can I say without spoiling things? I like how Renner uses David going through the withdrawals for his depression meds as a good way to reveal his back story using flashbacks. I had a feeling who The Man From Primrose Lane was about 30% into the story but I had no idea how complex things really were.
That's about all I'm prepared to reveal at this time. If you like genre-bending, thought provoking reads, you could do a lot worse than this. This is in the top two or three books I've read so far in 2016. Perfect score.
Before I get down to business, let's all be honest with one another. Most of the books we read are of average or less quality and are just an entertaining way to pass the time. This book is not one of those. This one grabs you by the genitals and infects your thoughts while you aren't reading it.
The Man From Primrose Lane is one hell of a crazy read. The titular character is a local eccentric who was known as The Man with a Thousand Mittens to the cop who found his corpse, complete with fingers in a blender. In life, he was always seen wearing mittens and had a closet full of them when he died? Interested yet? What if I told you the MFPL had a painting of David's dead wife in his basement? Or that he has a notebook about another woman's daily habits that just happens to resemble David's wife?
This is one of those books that I cannot divulge the plot of without ruining it. Suffice to say, it is a cleverly written mind bender. Part detective story, part bat shit crazy. Your brain might fold in on itself like a black hole before it's finished.
What the hell else can I say without spoiling things? I like how Renner uses David going through the withdrawals for his depression meds as a good way to reveal his back story using flashbacks. I had a feeling who The Man From Primrose Lane was about 30% into the story but I had no idea how complex things really were.
That's about all I'm prepared to reveal at this time. If you like genre-bending, thought provoking reads, you could do a lot worse than this. This is in the top two or three books I've read so far in 2016. Perfect score.
May 26, 2016
The was a old man who lived on Primrose Lane, he didn't leave his house. He didn't engage with the neighbors, he wore mittens every, single time that he was seen.
Then he is found dead. He has been shot, but that's not all. His fingers were removed and pureed up in the blender.
Then we meet a author of the one hit wonder book about serial killers. Or rather one serial killer in particular, that the author David Neff proved was innocent. After the state killed him. Then he testified at the trial of the guy who was the real murderer.
David has been through the wringer, he lost his wife to suicide and is raising his son on his own. He takes a drug to help him have no feelings. (This was a really good depiction of an anti-depressant and the withdrawal symptoms)..but when a friend visits and tells him about the man from Primrose lane he gets David's attention.
Sounds good doesn't it? And it was.
Then the second half of the book happened.
I think I may have done this book a disservice by reading it so soon after Blake Crouch's Dark Matter..because some of the little weird things sorta felt the same to me. (I thought Dark Matter was the better book)
This is one of those times that I think my own friends on GR are probably going to think I've bumped my head..because they all mostly loved it.
They don't realize.
I have the cat.
If my fingers get put in the blender..totally check out : Kelly's review. She loves this guy's books. She keeps telling me her husband took her new knife..."for ribs".
Then he is found dead. He has been shot, but that's not all. His fingers were removed and pureed up in the blender.
Then we meet a author of the one hit wonder book about serial killers. Or rather one serial killer in particular, that the author David Neff proved was innocent. After the state killed him. Then he testified at the trial of the guy who was the real murderer.
David has been through the wringer, he lost his wife to suicide and is raising his son on his own. He takes a drug to help him have no feelings. (This was a really good depiction of an anti-depressant and the withdrawal symptoms)..but when a friend visits and tells him about the man from Primrose lane he gets David's attention.
Sounds good doesn't it? And it was.
Then the second half of the book happened.
I think I may have done this book a disservice by reading it so soon after Blake Crouch's Dark Matter..because some of the little weird things sorta felt the same to me. (I thought Dark Matter was the better book)
This is one of those times that I think my own friends on GR are probably going to think I've bumped my head..because they all mostly loved it.
They don't realize.
I have the cat.
If my fingers get put in the blender..totally check out : Kelly's review. She loves this guy's books. She keeps telling me her husband took her new knife..."for ribs".
January 23, 2015
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
“Are these things usually this complicated? They only appear to be. The explanation is always elegantly simple. I guarantee that when we find this man, we’ll smack ourselves for not seeing him sooner . . . Truth is always simple but it’s never that boring.”
Let’s get the things I didn’t like out of the way real quick. To begin with? The title. If it weren’t for my friend Trudi’s review, I would have never given this one a second glance. My other problem? The cover art. It’s not good and I am a Judgey McJudgerson who passes up ugly books. The good news is, those are the only two things I didn’t like. Once I started reading, the tabbing of the pages started happening . . .
The Man from Primrose Lane is the story of David Neff, a bestselling author whose one-hit-wonder was a true-crime novel that outed a serial killer . . . after someone else had already been executed for the crimes. Now David finds himself being recruited to solve one more coldcase crime . . .
“'Who Was the Man from Primrose Lane?’ the above-the-fold article demanded to know. ‘And who wanted him dead?’ went the subhead.”
What a gooooooooood mystery this was. And then I got to the 60% mark and something kinda like this happened . . .
“You ever get that feeling when you meet someone that your life is about to take a strange detour that maybe you’d be better off avoiding?”
When attempting to describe my reaction to this book to a friend, I summed it up that it’s like the author was plugging along just fine and got a case of writer’s block or sudden onset amnesia that caused him to leave the project unfinished . . . and then a few weeks or months or years later he picked it up again and said “you know, a lot of people write decent mystery novels. I’mma flip the script and make it one huge mindf*&^ instead.” I’m not giving away a diddly dang thing on this one. Let me just say this baby is so intricately woven it’s insane . . .
Or maybe more like this . . .
A giant Rube Goldberg machine that gets put into action once you read the first line. And using the term “episodes” instead of chapters??? Brilliant. It’s been a long time since a book played out like a movie in my head. This one gets all the stars.
“I hope, if nothing else, you come to believe that what we call the present is nothing more than perception and the concepts of cause and effect are mostly pointless. So say it with me: “FUCK IT.” Now let’s get back to it.”
“Are these things usually this complicated? They only appear to be. The explanation is always elegantly simple. I guarantee that when we find this man, we’ll smack ourselves for not seeing him sooner . . . Truth is always simple but it’s never that boring.”
Let’s get the things I didn’t like out of the way real quick. To begin with? The title. If it weren’t for my friend Trudi’s review, I would have never given this one a second glance. My other problem? The cover art. It’s not good and I am a Judgey McJudgerson who passes up ugly books. The good news is, those are the only two things I didn’t like. Once I started reading, the tabbing of the pages started happening . . .
The Man from Primrose Lane is the story of David Neff, a bestselling author whose one-hit-wonder was a true-crime novel that outed a serial killer . . . after someone else had already been executed for the crimes. Now David finds himself being recruited to solve one more coldcase crime . . .
“'Who Was the Man from Primrose Lane?’ the above-the-fold article demanded to know. ‘And who wanted him dead?’ went the subhead.”
What a gooooooooood mystery this was. And then I got to the 60% mark and something kinda like this happened . . .
“You ever get that feeling when you meet someone that your life is about to take a strange detour that maybe you’d be better off avoiding?”
When attempting to describe my reaction to this book to a friend, I summed it up that it’s like the author was plugging along just fine and got a case of writer’s block or sudden onset amnesia that caused him to leave the project unfinished . . . and then a few weeks or months or years later he picked it up again and said “you know, a lot of people write decent mystery novels. I’mma flip the script and make it one huge mindf*&^ instead.” I’m not giving away a diddly dang thing on this one. Let me just say this baby is so intricately woven it’s insane . . .
Or maybe more like this . . .
A giant Rube Goldberg machine that gets put into action once you read the first line. And using the term “episodes” instead of chapters??? Brilliant. It’s been a long time since a book played out like a movie in my head. This one gets all the stars.
“I hope, if nothing else, you come to believe that what we call the present is nothing more than perception and the concepts of cause and effect are mostly pointless. So say it with me: “FUCK IT.” Now let’s get back to it.”
August 8, 2014
open that door, open it. now step through it.
Marion Black sings: Who knows what tomorrow will bring... maybe sunshine, maybe rain... but as for me I'll wait and see... maybe it'll bring my love to me... but several characters in this novel decide to not wait and see. what is tomorrow, what is yesterday? when it comes to love and other obsessions, "yesterday" and "tomorrow" are mere constructs to these characters, to be rearranged as they see fit. why wait for tomorrow when you can do something about yesterday?
do something about it, that thing that obsesses you, fill that empty life, you can do it, solve those mysteries, find that love, find it find it find it, go forward, go backward, time is nothing to you, go go go go
"the Man from Primrose Lane" is a reclusive old gent also known as "the man with a thousand mittens" - adorable, right? this adorable senior is found murdered, shot in the belly, the fingers that filled those mittens chopped off and put into his blender.
there is a killer of children on the loose. children are missing, children have been found, molested and tortured and murdered, ugh. a child is still missing. find the child, find the child.
why did the wife die? why was she so unhappy? why did she smash that car into that wall? why was she so broken? couldn't she have been fixed?
so the novel Man from Primrose Lane is a mystery and a detective thriller that draws on the author's past work as a crime writer. it is a literally timeless love story as well. it is also:
WHAT DOES IT MEAN when you are investigating a crime and it turns out you are investigating your [SPOILER]? do you continue your investigation?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN when a grotesque frogman crawls out of a giant black egg, covered in black gunk, in the dark of the forest, in the middle of the night? do you grab your gun, investigate?
what is happening, what did I just read, wait a second here, let's pause this I need to process, these mysteries this narrative, wtf, where did the rug go, everything needs to slow down for a minute, I need to think about this.
The Man from Primrose Lane is an exorcism of its writer's demons, the obsessions that have driven him. The book is an exploration of the cyclical nature of obsessions.
The Man from Primrose Lane is a tender and compassionate tale of family, a tale told with sweetness and warmth. I wanted to hug that kid whenever he appeared.
The Man from Primrose Lane is a supernatural tale of horror. horrible, horrible, creeping, disturbing horror. sweet Jesus, that fucking cat.
The Man from Primrose Lane is about Ohio today. it is about Ohio tomorrow and Ohio yesterday. many, many Ohios. The Man from Primrose Lane is a science fictional tale as well.
The Man from Primrose Lane is one of the most mind-boggling novels I've ever read. I could feel my mind bending and expanding in unusual directions as I read it. it gave me a headache, or something.
I loved it.
Marion Black sings: Who knows what tomorrow will bring... maybe sunshine, maybe rain... but as for me I'll wait and see... maybe it'll bring my love to me... but several characters in this novel decide to not wait and see. what is tomorrow, what is yesterday? when it comes to love and other obsessions, "yesterday" and "tomorrow" are mere constructs to these characters, to be rearranged as they see fit. why wait for tomorrow when you can do something about yesterday?
do something about it, that thing that obsesses you, fill that empty life, you can do it, solve those mysteries, find that love, find it find it find it, go forward, go backward, time is nothing to you, go go go go
"the Man from Primrose Lane" is a reclusive old gent also known as "the man with a thousand mittens" - adorable, right? this adorable senior is found murdered, shot in the belly, the fingers that filled those mittens chopped off and put into his blender.
there is a killer of children on the loose. children are missing, children have been found, molested and tortured and murdered, ugh. a child is still missing. find the child, find the child.
why did the wife die? why was she so unhappy? why did she smash that car into that wall? why was she so broken? couldn't she have been fixed?
so the novel Man from Primrose Lane is a mystery and a detective thriller that draws on the author's past work as a crime writer. it is a literally timeless love story as well. it is also:
WHAT DOES IT MEAN when you are investigating a crime and it turns out you are investigating your [SPOILER]? do you continue your investigation?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN when a grotesque frogman crawls out of a giant black egg, covered in black gunk, in the dark of the forest, in the middle of the night? do you grab your gun, investigate?
what is happening, what did I just read, wait a second here, let's pause this I need to process, these mysteries this narrative, wtf, where did the rug go, everything needs to slow down for a minute, I need to think about this.
The Man from Primrose Lane is an exorcism of its writer's demons, the obsessions that have driven him. The book is an exploration of the cyclical nature of obsessions.
The Man from Primrose Lane is a tender and compassionate tale of family, a tale told with sweetness and warmth. I wanted to hug that kid whenever he appeared.
The Man from Primrose Lane is a supernatural tale of horror. horrible, horrible, creeping, disturbing horror. sweet Jesus, that fucking cat.
The Man from Primrose Lane is about Ohio today. it is about Ohio tomorrow and Ohio yesterday. many, many Ohios. The Man from Primrose Lane is a science fictional tale as well.
The Man from Primrose Lane is one of the most mind-boggling novels I've ever read. I could feel my mind bending and expanding in unusual directions as I read it. it gave me a headache, or something.
I loved it.
May 9, 2016
Anyone looking for a major mind tweak? Well, back up the truck and hop on out for a brain buster that may very well have you shrieking for mercy. Timelines. Obsessions. Genetic predisposition. An old man with a thousand mittens. One malevolent cat. Eggs. A dark and formless void.
'Then things got weird.' Seriously? This was way on down the road from weird, and firmly ensconced in my wheelhouse. Best read without looking at too many reviews, just to avoid possible spoilerage. You don't run into a book like this everyday.
'Then things got weird.' Seriously? This was way on down the road from weird, and firmly ensconced in my wheelhouse. Best read without looking at too many reviews, just to avoid possible spoilerage. You don't run into a book like this everyday.
October 22, 2014
Holy shit snacks! What the hell did I just read? I frigging absolutely loved this book. It is such an awesome mindfuck. It's a locked Chinese box with so many secrets. It's a book that sneaks up on you with its pages and pages of normalcy and sweetness and sadness and intrigue. There's grief and loss, mystery and murder. Then -- when you are least expecting it -- KA-POW! It pounces from the left, and bites you from the right. It punches you in the face and kicks you in the kidneys.
Bruised, battered, confused and reeling. You are in shock. Your adrenaline spikes. All the answers start to pour forth faster than your brain can deal with them. You hang on for the ride, delirious, but hungry for more answers, more revelations, just more! more! more of everything! How is this possibly going to end? What a maze! Which way is out? Is there even a way out?
David Neff is a memorable, sympathetic main character. I don't think any part of this teetering, layered narrative -- so many branches on a tree, so many ripples on a lake -- would have worked without normal, nice guy David and his charming, precocious four year old son Tanner. We come to know them, like them, feel empathy and yes, even love. You root for father and son and pray for their release from the tangled and warped web in which they are ensnared.
David reminded me a lot of Jake Gyllenhaal's character in Zodiac -- one of my favorite movies that also deals with obsession and its damaging, lingering effects.
This is a dramatic and thrilling story that's well-constructed and well-told. It's everything I was hoping to get from The Shining Girls and did not. It surprised me in many ways -- not just its twists, but how emotionally invested I became in the story, its characters, and its outcome.
Read this review! It will make you want to read this book. And you should. Read this book. Yes, you most definitely should.
-----
Ack! Stay tuned. Apparently there will be a movie -- with Bradley Cooper!
January 5, 2017
5++ stars. Excellent!
June 2, 2016
This book. How the hell do I rate and review this book? I really enjoy books that make me feel some type of emotion, and this book has generated an abundance of confusion.
I think this book is the book that was written in this book. I think it was written by David, maybe in collaboration with the man from Primrose Lane. I think the little redheaded girls were saved, or maybe just two, maybe three of them. I think it was Riley Trimble, or maybe Dean Galt. I'm not sure what the cat represented, but as a cat lover, I kind of resent the implication.
I'm a reasonably intelligent woman, but I think a younger me should write this review. At my older and more experienced age, I'm not as obsessed with figuring this book out. (Wink)
I think this book is the book that was written in this book. I think it was written by David, maybe in collaboration with the man from Primrose Lane. I think the little redheaded girls were saved, or maybe just two, maybe three of them. I think it was Riley Trimble, or maybe Dean Galt. I'm not sure what the cat represented, but as a cat lover, I kind of resent the implication.
I'm a reasonably intelligent woman, but I think a younger me should write this review. At my older and more experienced age, I'm not as obsessed with figuring this book out. (Wink)
May 16, 2014
I'm going to review this soon (mostly under a spoiler tag, cause there is no other way)......but, damn, this was one weird book! It probably had one of the most disgusting things I've ever read in it. My stomach is a flipping and a flopping.
I know EVERY place the author mentions in this book because I live in the same general area. I've eaten in the restaurants and had the same meals. I even lived in Loveland Ohio for a year-ish and I'm thankful to say I did not run across anything odd at the time.
I know EVERY place the author mentions in this book because I live in the same general area. I've eaten in the restaurants and had the same meals. I even lived in Loveland Ohio for a year-ish and I'm thankful to say I did not run across anything odd at the time.
January 1, 2020
I really enjoyed this twisty-turny tale. It starts out as a murder mystery of sorts but becomes something completely different by the time it finds its conclusion. I can totally see how some readers, who were expecting it to stay a ‘standard’ thriller could have been upset by the genre-blending in the second half of the book but, as somebody who loves it when books don’t stick to the rails of a specific genre, it was perfect for me. A great first book of 2020!
May 23, 2025
I have no idea how to write a review of James Renner’s novel “The Man from Primrose Lane” without giving away some spoilers, so just be forewarned: if you haven’t read this yet, and you plan to, you may want to skip this review... But I promise I won’t give away the Big Revelations and Major Plot Twists. And, yes, there are more than one.
Renner, best known for his true crime nonfiction, deftly tried his hand at writing fiction and, in 2012, published “TMFPL”. To say that it is a great book is like saying that sex is a fun activity. It’s, of course, so much more than a great book. It’s mind-blowing.
Seriously.
Renner pulls off something that few writers have been able to do and even fewer writers have been able to do successfully. He makes the reader think they are reading a certain type of story and then---BAM!---pulls the rug right out from under the reader by revealing that something else entirely is going on. Not only that, but HE DOES IT TWO FUCKING TIMES!!!
It’s rare to find a writer who can so deftly and cleverly bend genres the way Renner does, but to ingeniously straddle the line of breaking the fourth wall and keeping the narrative momentum flowing is pure brilliance.
Here’s the deal, in a nutshell, minus any spoilers: David Neff is a famous writer living off the decent royalties of his one and only bestseller, a true crime thriller called “The Serial Killer’s Protege”, a book that nearly killed him in its conception. Now, Neff is suffering from PTSD and trying to raise his young son after his wife committed suicide. His publisher thinks that getting back into writing would be good therapy, so he gives Neff a lead: the recent murder of an old man in his Akron home. Someone shot him, let him bleed, cut off all his fingers, and then threw them into a blender. Weird, right?
Oh, you have no fucking idea.
When his dead wife’s fingerprints are found on the scene, Neff is suddenly a murder suspect.
I’m going to stop there. Because to go on would mean I would have to talk about the black egg, the Loveland Frog, and the mangy cat. I so totally want to talk about them, but they would be spoilers. In fact, I probably shouldn’t have even brought them up in the first place. Shit.
Anyway, if you love the weirdness of TV shows like "Twin Peaks", “The X-Files”, and “Fringe”, the trippy reality-twistiness of writers like Philip K. Dick, and the hairs-on-the-back-of-the-neck-going-up creepiness of H.P. Lovecraft, you will love “The Man From Primrose Lane”.
P.S. Rumor has it that FOX has green-lit this to be a series coming soon. Let’s hope it’s more than just a rumor...*
*10/31/2024 addendum: The fact that this has been "in production" for the past six years leads me to think that this TV show may never happen. It was, unfortunately, one of the myriad of projects that were dropped due to Covid-19. Oh well, the book would have been better than the show anyway...
Renner, best known for his true crime nonfiction, deftly tried his hand at writing fiction and, in 2012, published “TMFPL”. To say that it is a great book is like saying that sex is a fun activity. It’s, of course, so much more than a great book. It’s mind-blowing.
Seriously.
Renner pulls off something that few writers have been able to do and even fewer writers have been able to do successfully. He makes the reader think they are reading a certain type of story and then---BAM!---pulls the rug right out from under the reader by revealing that something else entirely is going on. Not only that, but HE DOES IT TWO FUCKING TIMES!!!
It’s rare to find a writer who can so deftly and cleverly bend genres the way Renner does, but to ingeniously straddle the line of breaking the fourth wall and keeping the narrative momentum flowing is pure brilliance.
Here’s the deal, in a nutshell, minus any spoilers: David Neff is a famous writer living off the decent royalties of his one and only bestseller, a true crime thriller called “The Serial Killer’s Protege”, a book that nearly killed him in its conception. Now, Neff is suffering from PTSD and trying to raise his young son after his wife committed suicide. His publisher thinks that getting back into writing would be good therapy, so he gives Neff a lead: the recent murder of an old man in his Akron home. Someone shot him, let him bleed, cut off all his fingers, and then threw them into a blender. Weird, right?
Oh, you have no fucking idea.
When his dead wife’s fingerprints are found on the scene, Neff is suddenly a murder suspect.
I’m going to stop there. Because to go on would mean I would have to talk about the black egg, the Loveland Frog, and the mangy cat. I so totally want to talk about them, but they would be spoilers. In fact, I probably shouldn’t have even brought them up in the first place. Shit.
Anyway, if you love the weirdness of TV shows like "Twin Peaks", “The X-Files”, and “Fringe”, the trippy reality-twistiness of writers like Philip K. Dick, and the hairs-on-the-back-of-the-neck-going-up creepiness of H.P. Lovecraft, you will love “The Man From Primrose Lane”.
P.S. Rumor has it that FOX has green-lit this to be a series coming soon. Let’s hope it’s more than just a rumor...*
*10/31/2024 addendum: The fact that this has been "in production" for the past six years leads me to think that this TV show may never happen. It was, unfortunately, one of the myriad of projects that were dropped due to Covid-19. Oh well, the book would have been better than the show anyway...
February 4, 2017
A perfect combination of genres I love (thriller, murder-mystery, science-fiction, and even a dash of horror). Renner spins it all together with compelling prose that made me lose sleep rather than lose a thread. I even read Horton Hears a Who! this afternoon because it was quoted. Worth reading twice.
April 7, 2016
Most of my goodreads friends seem alot more lukewarm or meh about this, but this is probably the most fun I've had reading a book in at least the past year.
Perfectly timed as a last fun hurrah in reading as I go back to a couple of months of possible book hell.
Perfectly timed as a last fun hurrah in reading as I go back to a couple of months of possible book hell.
January 5, 2023
It is important to note that the majority of the themes explored in this book deal with sensitive subject matters. My review, therefore, touches on these topics as well. Many people might find the subject matters of the book as well as those detailed in my review overwhelming. I would suggest you steer clear of both if this is the case. Please note that from this point forward I will be writing about matters which contain reflections on the death of an animal, child endangerment, extreme graphic sexual violence against a child, psychological distress, extreme violent crimes against a child, body decomposition, self-mutilation, suicide, mental illness, grief, & others.
I would like to highlight the content warning placed at the beginning of this review with great levels of severity. If you are someone for whom reading repeated instances where both graphic descriptions & dedicated insinuations regarding the abuse of children, leads to feelings of overwhelm, triggering sentiments, debilitating emotions and/or train of thought, or others; this is a book I would encourage you to put aside. The subject matter in this book deals entirely with the actions taken by sexual predators. Very little of this story does not impart mental reflection on the realities these children were forcibly subjected to throughout many years. Therefore, please be kind to yourself & do not pursue this book or my review if you are not in a position to be faced with this matter.
Our story opens in the middle of an instant, a ticking time slot on the clock, the discovery of the murdered corpse of The Man From Primrose Lane. What ensues is a delectably horrific, morbidly despicable story of David Neff—an author debonair who rose to fame from the single success of his non-fiction work which brought light to the inequities of the United States Justice System & its subsequent reliance on the death penalty. Throughout the time it takes the reader to become acquainted with David we learn that we have known him all along. He was, The Man From Primrose Lane, just as he was the victim of suicide off the Y-Bridge, as well as being Uncle Ira & most probably a jumble of the men our initial main character saw throughout his life.
I came upon this book, nestled snuggly, in my ever-growing list of books I want to read. This, after a long couple of weeks wherein I could not seem to get my hands on a good book; a story that would see me flying through the pages no matter the length, unaware of the passage of time. I am glad that a version of me in the past saw fit to add this book to the roster. Had I known there would be a time that my brain would be consumed by the fog of dreadfully dull stories, poor writing, terribly long-drawn-out premises without promise? I should like to say that yes, there I was wandering in the past, eager to give myself the chance to repose the streak of reading that drained me of the enthusiasm I have fostered all the years of my life.
In a way, I have become familiar with this book's essence—the premonition of intention for events yet to transpire as well as the precognitive ability to impart alterations in a line that is non-linear whilst remaining transparent to the human eye. The structure that this story takes to transmit its message is gloomy, & riddled with legitimately horrific sentences. Yet, Renner weaves a tapestry that glimmers alone in the dark; blissfully wafting in a stagnant air encumbered by the forgotten memories of a lonesome entity. What the author has accomplished is phenomenal. Renner’s story takes part in the present—the one as we know it—while sifting seamlessly to a time in the past which also imparts droplets of futures yet unknown. In all the travels that the reader undertakes, there was not a single instant in which the story became jumbled—Renner clearly states his intention & follows through in a mind-bending fashion.
With that being said, let us begin at the start. The Man From Primrose Lane is a man whom no one knows. He has been living at the house on Primrose Lane for a number of years uncalculatable by locals. He is seldom seen but, when he is, his hands are coated by the warm yarn of Irish knitting. His brutal murder leaves the local policing body muffled by the cause of such graphic violence. The opening scenes depict mounds of larvae swimming in the cavity forced by a bullet in the man’s chest. On the kitchen counter, squashed by razor blades of the subdued blender, are the ten fingers of the unidentifiable resident. Who would do this?
There are parts of this story that might require the reader to disregard the other options available to the investigation. Perhaps, one might wonder why fingerprints were the only aspect of identification the police force sought to access. One might wonder why they did not seek dental work or perhaps collect DNA material from the man’s ear. In essence, there are particulars of the plot that saw me pondering the course of action. I do not think this ruined my sense of enjoyment nor did it leave me curious if I should trust the narrative or not. One need not live in the town of this book to understand the complexities that transpire in real-life investigations. Seldom are criminal occurrences as swiftly sealed as they might appear by the brilliantly efficient minds of “Criminal Minds” (2005).
Because the identity of the deceased is hidden from the reader for the bulk of the story, the plot drives a swift left & becomes another story entirely. It was at this part where I became confused as to the length that the author was taking to recollect events that transpired during the legal proceedings of Trimble’s acquittal of the charges of the murder of a young child. Of course, everything in this story held a purpose & was certainly tied to something else, even if that particular aspect was not yet revealed. However, the middle section of this book was long—not boring or unpleasantly written but long. That being said, this sequence of events introduces the weaving through time that makes this story pointedly unique.
As David Neff is faced with the possibility of endeavouring into a new crime; a new premise to include in a book, a new predator, & a new case file to solve, he remembers how all-encompassing it was for him to write his first work. Certainly, he has fond feelings of those times even if the reality differs quite starkly from the imagined experience. I would like to take this time to include the particulars of the criminal cases that take place in this story. The details of these events are severely unpleasant, dastardly, & revolting; reading about the particulars of the acts committed against children was severely disgusting. What renders stories like this to be so overwhelming is the reality that the instances depicted reflect a truth. They are not confined to the fictional world wherein we might find justice & reprieve. They exist alongside us in this world.
Just as the David that we know as the main character became obsessed with the Trimble child abuse case, so too did the David of the past. Every version of David saw him become, literally & technically speaking, obsessed with a young girl who was murdered by a serial killer & violent sexual predator of children. What draws interest within these moments is the oblivious nature that David—in all his alternatives—maintains. Just as we read about David’s overwhelming dedication to being linked romantically to Elizabeth, so too do we see him delve head-first into an aspect of reality for which he is unprepared.
Ultimately, the good that David seeks to achieve is what leads the reader to follow his actions. It is not appealing to read about a man bewitched with the details of sexually violent crimes against children, for no reason in particular. What renders these cases so inspiring as to lead David to travel through time with the intent of saving this child? Perhaps this question is better left unanswered for in a different timeline, we see David seek a sexual relationship with the girls who grew into women, having been saved by the alternative David.
This might be confusing but, simplistically speaking, Renner incorporates details of Chaos Theory into the plot that linger whilst asking the reader to face a constant overwhelm of moral dilemmas. If we are to follow some of the more condensed explanations of Chaos Theory we know that for every action there is a reaction—we know this thanks to Newton’s Law of Motion. Therefore, a child is killed which sets in motion the synapses in David’s brain that engage his desires for involvement; leading him to act in ways that promote travel through time. When David saves the child that he became obsessed with knowing, the equal & opposite reaction is, that in another timeline an alternative series of events takes place.
By saving the child David became obsessed with ultimately gifting himself the ability to fall in love—or infatuation, whichever way you choose to describe his behaviour—with this same person in an alternative timeline. The problem that arises with these scenarios is that we are faced with the impossibility of highlighting an antagonist. Is it wrong for David to love Elizabeth when he actively sought to save her & her twin sister, Elaine, for over 30 years in an alternative timeline? Does that make some form of his mental state as sick for, in all the time he knew Elizabeth for the bulk of his existence to ensure that she survived, she was a child? How can we grant ourselves permission to accept that David’s infatuation with Elizabeth was healthy & not as wildly inappropriate as the predatory stalking that took place by the serial killer? Elizabeth had no free will. Her actions were dictated by what David chose to do & how he chose to behave.
In every timeline, David is the driving force behind the explosive wingspan of the butterfly. As if to reinforce this, every interaction David has with a woman is drenched in sexual proclivities. This would be my main qualm with the book given I found the interactions to be as wildly unfounded as could be. For example, the first instance in which Elizabeth & David have a ‘proper’ conversation is during a debate in the class wherein the subject matter of the ‘American Dream’ is put forward & whether or not this is an achievable feat. After they both leave the classroom in a dramatic fashion, David proclaims his love for Elizabeth based solely on the aspects of her that he noticed—none of which are who she is.
Elizabeth’s actions are dictated by the world around her & given that David is flying through time a thousand times over, it is not wrong to deduce that much of her actions—coping mechanisms, reactions, behaviours—are founded as a result on a decision that David made. He is in love with the person he shaped Elizabeth to be. This is even more dreadful given the total lack of awareness that David sustains throughout his relationship with Elizabeth who exhibits severe levels of Depression. I am not in a position to comment on the accurate depiction of Depression from either a professional or personal standpoint. However, what I am trying to say is that the introverted nature of Elizabeth’s dissociation from the social world, her clearly necessitated daily structures, her habits, & her reliance on familiarity, all exude a mental state that does not foster calm & healthy living.
When Elizabeth’s mother asks David how he hadn’t known that she was mentally ill, he said he just thought she was sad because ultimately, David is not here—in any capacity—because he cares for the people these women are. David is here because he wants to solve a mystery, he wants to be right, & he wants to feel fulfilled in the face of a challenging opponent. The women in this story are calamities that simply get abused, killed, married, deranged, etc.
Katy’s character is simply a caricature of Elizabeth. I’m still unsure as to whether or not I was meant to believe that Katy’s blatant talk about ‘jerking off to her Facebook pictures’ was said in irony or earnest. What was the purpose of including Katy’s character in the story except to have a person who grovelled at David’s feet, always wanting to be around for no reason in particular? What aspect of David’s character enticed her in the least? I suppose that what I found to be annoying about these interactions was the fact that all the women were empty—that is probably the goal of this story. Regardless, it was tiring to read about because I wanted the plot to move forward, I didn’t want to have to try & figure out why Katy would be naked with a man who was experiencing medical withdrawal.
In tandem with the exploration of moral conundrums posed by the ability to change devastating events, the reader is shown the disparity between what people view as a sober mind & a rotting carcass—the mind of the mentally ill. David is initially accused of murdering his wife—whom we are told was found dead in a car crash but whose neck was evidently strangled…bizarre that no one noted that during the original autopsy but, I digress—because he is not emotionally evocative when told that she has died. During this time, David is on medication set to regulate his emotions due to being diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
While in court, in an attempt to bring justice to the crimes of continued child abductions & murder, David’s testimony & research is invalidated because he was experiencing PTSD throughout the research process & it is therefore deemed inadmissible because he was not in his ‘right mind’. Though some of the aspects of this discourse are presented in extreme ways they are not untrue. There remains a stigma about mental illness that sees people ostracized for things that are set against them, literally what is stuck in the membrane of their most important organ.
It is not wrong to admit to needing help, such as David did in court. The jury deemed it wrong in the face of a person for whom circumstantial evidence pointed in excess to their involvement in violent crimes against children. Yet, those crimes were less important than defaming someone who was experiencing mental illness. How much do we value the freedom we have in this life? If we could, what would we change? Would our alterations be accepted? Or would our efforts for a better world be scoffed at by those who view the world in a different way than us?
Ultimately, I found this book to be grisly, repugnant, vulgar, & sickening, in the most enthralling way. I am glad to have read this story. I am glad for the effort that is done in this life; those moments of déjà vu. The instances wherein the moral high ground is simply a stilt to the left rather than a Goliath hill to climb. Just as David returned hundreds of times to fix the past, & alter the occurrence of terrible crimes, so too did those around him restart. A new portrait to paint, a new story to write, another day on the job, another missing person.
In all the days of our lives, there will be presented to us, riddles, poems, illustrations, & melody, a demand to decode a series of events that have not yet been exposed to us; hidden in the tomorrow of yesterday by the version of ourselves that remembers familiarity, hoping that the intentions we take set the precedence for a more enjoyable today.
I would like to highlight the content warning placed at the beginning of this review with great levels of severity. If you are someone for whom reading repeated instances where both graphic descriptions & dedicated insinuations regarding the abuse of children, leads to feelings of overwhelm, triggering sentiments, debilitating emotions and/or train of thought, or others; this is a book I would encourage you to put aside. The subject matter in this book deals entirely with the actions taken by sexual predators. Very little of this story does not impart mental reflection on the realities these children were forcibly subjected to throughout many years. Therefore, please be kind to yourself & do not pursue this book or my review if you are not in a position to be faced with this matter.
Our story opens in the middle of an instant, a ticking time slot on the clock, the discovery of the murdered corpse of The Man From Primrose Lane. What ensues is a delectably horrific, morbidly despicable story of David Neff—an author debonair who rose to fame from the single success of his non-fiction work which brought light to the inequities of the United States Justice System & its subsequent reliance on the death penalty. Throughout the time it takes the reader to become acquainted with David we learn that we have known him all along. He was, The Man From Primrose Lane, just as he was the victim of suicide off the Y-Bridge, as well as being Uncle Ira & most probably a jumble of the men our initial main character saw throughout his life.
I came upon this book, nestled snuggly, in my ever-growing list of books I want to read. This, after a long couple of weeks wherein I could not seem to get my hands on a good book; a story that would see me flying through the pages no matter the length, unaware of the passage of time. I am glad that a version of me in the past saw fit to add this book to the roster. Had I known there would be a time that my brain would be consumed by the fog of dreadfully dull stories, poor writing, terribly long-drawn-out premises without promise? I should like to say that yes, there I was wandering in the past, eager to give myself the chance to repose the streak of reading that drained me of the enthusiasm I have fostered all the years of my life.
In a way, I have become familiar with this book's essence—the premonition of intention for events yet to transpire as well as the precognitive ability to impart alterations in a line that is non-linear whilst remaining transparent to the human eye. The structure that this story takes to transmit its message is gloomy, & riddled with legitimately horrific sentences. Yet, Renner weaves a tapestry that glimmers alone in the dark; blissfully wafting in a stagnant air encumbered by the forgotten memories of a lonesome entity. What the author has accomplished is phenomenal. Renner’s story takes part in the present—the one as we know it—while sifting seamlessly to a time in the past which also imparts droplets of futures yet unknown. In all the travels that the reader undertakes, there was not a single instant in which the story became jumbled—Renner clearly states his intention & follows through in a mind-bending fashion.
With that being said, let us begin at the start. The Man From Primrose Lane is a man whom no one knows. He has been living at the house on Primrose Lane for a number of years uncalculatable by locals. He is seldom seen but, when he is, his hands are coated by the warm yarn of Irish knitting. His brutal murder leaves the local policing body muffled by the cause of such graphic violence. The opening scenes depict mounds of larvae swimming in the cavity forced by a bullet in the man’s chest. On the kitchen counter, squashed by razor blades of the subdued blender, are the ten fingers of the unidentifiable resident. Who would do this?
There are parts of this story that might require the reader to disregard the other options available to the investigation. Perhaps, one might wonder why fingerprints were the only aspect of identification the police force sought to access. One might wonder why they did not seek dental work or perhaps collect DNA material from the man’s ear. In essence, there are particulars of the plot that saw me pondering the course of action. I do not think this ruined my sense of enjoyment nor did it leave me curious if I should trust the narrative or not. One need not live in the town of this book to understand the complexities that transpire in real-life investigations. Seldom are criminal occurrences as swiftly sealed as they might appear by the brilliantly efficient minds of “Criminal Minds” (2005).
Because the identity of the deceased is hidden from the reader for the bulk of the story, the plot drives a swift left & becomes another story entirely. It was at this part where I became confused as to the length that the author was taking to recollect events that transpired during the legal proceedings of Trimble’s acquittal of the charges of the murder of a young child. Of course, everything in this story held a purpose & was certainly tied to something else, even if that particular aspect was not yet revealed. However, the middle section of this book was long—not boring or unpleasantly written but long. That being said, this sequence of events introduces the weaving through time that makes this story pointedly unique.
As David Neff is faced with the possibility of endeavouring into a new crime; a new premise to include in a book, a new predator, & a new case file to solve, he remembers how all-encompassing it was for him to write his first work. Certainly, he has fond feelings of those times even if the reality differs quite starkly from the imagined experience. I would like to take this time to include the particulars of the criminal cases that take place in this story. The details of these events are severely unpleasant, dastardly, & revolting; reading about the particulars of the acts committed against children was severely disgusting. What renders stories like this to be so overwhelming is the reality that the instances depicted reflect a truth. They are not confined to the fictional world wherein we might find justice & reprieve. They exist alongside us in this world.
Just as the David that we know as the main character became obsessed with the Trimble child abuse case, so too did the David of the past. Every version of David saw him become, literally & technically speaking, obsessed with a young girl who was murdered by a serial killer & violent sexual predator of children. What draws interest within these moments is the oblivious nature that David—in all his alternatives—maintains. Just as we read about David’s overwhelming dedication to being linked romantically to Elizabeth, so too do we see him delve head-first into an aspect of reality for which he is unprepared.
Ultimately, the good that David seeks to achieve is what leads the reader to follow his actions. It is not appealing to read about a man bewitched with the details of sexually violent crimes against children, for no reason in particular. What renders these cases so inspiring as to lead David to travel through time with the intent of saving this child? Perhaps this question is better left unanswered for in a different timeline, we see David seek a sexual relationship with the girls who grew into women, having been saved by the alternative David.
This might be confusing but, simplistically speaking, Renner incorporates details of Chaos Theory into the plot that linger whilst asking the reader to face a constant overwhelm of moral dilemmas. If we are to follow some of the more condensed explanations of Chaos Theory we know that for every action there is a reaction—we know this thanks to Newton’s Law of Motion. Therefore, a child is killed which sets in motion the synapses in David’s brain that engage his desires for involvement; leading him to act in ways that promote travel through time. When David saves the child that he became obsessed with knowing, the equal & opposite reaction is, that in another timeline an alternative series of events takes place.
By saving the child David became obsessed with ultimately gifting himself the ability to fall in love—or infatuation, whichever way you choose to describe his behaviour—with this same person in an alternative timeline. The problem that arises with these scenarios is that we are faced with the impossibility of highlighting an antagonist. Is it wrong for David to love Elizabeth when he actively sought to save her & her twin sister, Elaine, for over 30 years in an alternative timeline? Does that make some form of his mental state as sick for, in all the time he knew Elizabeth for the bulk of his existence to ensure that she survived, she was a child? How can we grant ourselves permission to accept that David’s infatuation with Elizabeth was healthy & not as wildly inappropriate as the predatory stalking that took place by the serial killer? Elizabeth had no free will. Her actions were dictated by what David chose to do & how he chose to behave.
In every timeline, David is the driving force behind the explosive wingspan of the butterfly. As if to reinforce this, every interaction David has with a woman is drenched in sexual proclivities. This would be my main qualm with the book given I found the interactions to be as wildly unfounded as could be. For example, the first instance in which Elizabeth & David have a ‘proper’ conversation is during a debate in the class wherein the subject matter of the ‘American Dream’ is put forward & whether or not this is an achievable feat. After they both leave the classroom in a dramatic fashion, David proclaims his love for Elizabeth based solely on the aspects of her that he noticed—none of which are who she is.
Elizabeth’s actions are dictated by the world around her & given that David is flying through time a thousand times over, it is not wrong to deduce that much of her actions—coping mechanisms, reactions, behaviours—are founded as a result on a decision that David made. He is in love with the person he shaped Elizabeth to be. This is even more dreadful given the total lack of awareness that David sustains throughout his relationship with Elizabeth who exhibits severe levels of Depression. I am not in a position to comment on the accurate depiction of Depression from either a professional or personal standpoint. However, what I am trying to say is that the introverted nature of Elizabeth’s dissociation from the social world, her clearly necessitated daily structures, her habits, & her reliance on familiarity, all exude a mental state that does not foster calm & healthy living.
When Elizabeth’s mother asks David how he hadn’t known that she was mentally ill, he said he just thought she was sad because ultimately, David is not here—in any capacity—because he cares for the people these women are. David is here because he wants to solve a mystery, he wants to be right, & he wants to feel fulfilled in the face of a challenging opponent. The women in this story are calamities that simply get abused, killed, married, deranged, etc.
Katy’s character is simply a caricature of Elizabeth. I’m still unsure as to whether or not I was meant to believe that Katy’s blatant talk about ‘jerking off to her Facebook pictures’ was said in irony or earnest. What was the purpose of including Katy’s character in the story except to have a person who grovelled at David’s feet, always wanting to be around for no reason in particular? What aspect of David’s character enticed her in the least? I suppose that what I found to be annoying about these interactions was the fact that all the women were empty—that is probably the goal of this story. Regardless, it was tiring to read about because I wanted the plot to move forward, I didn’t want to have to try & figure out why Katy would be naked with a man who was experiencing medical withdrawal.
In tandem with the exploration of moral conundrums posed by the ability to change devastating events, the reader is shown the disparity between what people view as a sober mind & a rotting carcass—the mind of the mentally ill. David is initially accused of murdering his wife—whom we are told was found dead in a car crash but whose neck was evidently strangled…bizarre that no one noted that during the original autopsy but, I digress—because he is not emotionally evocative when told that she has died. During this time, David is on medication set to regulate his emotions due to being diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
While in court, in an attempt to bring justice to the crimes of continued child abductions & murder, David’s testimony & research is invalidated because he was experiencing PTSD throughout the research process & it is therefore deemed inadmissible because he was not in his ‘right mind’. Though some of the aspects of this discourse are presented in extreme ways they are not untrue. There remains a stigma about mental illness that sees people ostracized for things that are set against them, literally what is stuck in the membrane of their most important organ.
It is not wrong to admit to needing help, such as David did in court. The jury deemed it wrong in the face of a person for whom circumstantial evidence pointed in excess to their involvement in violent crimes against children. Yet, those crimes were less important than defaming someone who was experiencing mental illness. How much do we value the freedom we have in this life? If we could, what would we change? Would our alterations be accepted? Or would our efforts for a better world be scoffed at by those who view the world in a different way than us?
Ultimately, I found this book to be grisly, repugnant, vulgar, & sickening, in the most enthralling way. I am glad to have read this story. I am glad for the effort that is done in this life; those moments of déjà vu. The instances wherein the moral high ground is simply a stilt to the left rather than a Goliath hill to climb. Just as David returned hundreds of times to fix the past, & alter the occurrence of terrible crimes, so too did those around him restart. A new portrait to paint, a new story to write, another day on the job, another missing person.
In all the days of our lives, there will be presented to us, riddles, poems, illustrations, & melody, a demand to decode a series of events that have not yet been exposed to us; hidden in the tomorrow of yesterday by the version of ourselves that remembers familiarity, hoping that the intentions we take set the precedence for a more enjoyable today.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 30, 2019
James Renner is a GDMF amazing storyteller. His books are so alive and fun and imaginative that it seemed like the sun was shining a little brighter while I was reading this and the colors of the world were that much more vivid when i looked up from these pages. He is an amazing storyteller and not only is he that that but you can also tell how much he cares about his characters. Each one has their own little "things" and there is "stuff" he tells us about every one of them that make them seem real, like stuff you would only know if you knew them in real life. And it is this level of realness that leads ME to actually care about them and what happens to them in the course of events. The Great Forgetting was my first foray into a fictional world he had created and I thought that was going to end up being my favorite book of the year. I honestly did not think anything would be able to top that as it had hit all of my sweet spots and was filled with everything I love about reading. Until I picked this up, which happened to be written before TGF. I tip my hat and thank the reviewers who came before who did not reveal too much about the twists and turns other than to say to expect them, because this is one best experienced in ignorance of what is to come. One of the greatest books I have ever read and worthy of the highest praise I can give.
January 24, 2015
Firstly, I'll apologize for the fact that this review will be incredibly vague to ensure it is entirely spoiler free. In fact, I will not mention the plotline at all. I went into this book with no idea what I was getting into and I believe that is the best way to do it. To that end I am not even shelving it appropriately on here to avoid giving anything away.
If you want to know what it is about I'm sure there are spoiler laden reviews out there to read. This won't be one of them.
Renner's The Man from Primrose Lane is a novel unlike anything you have ever read. It weaves in and out of genres in a way I have never experienced before. Renner's skill at this is uncanny. With everything that is going on in this novel it would be very easy to get lost in the chaos. However, Renner managed to keep me grounded in this novel both with his amusing and simple prose and his nifty little character quirks. He is one of few writers who gets that you need to understand, or at least attempt to, the characters in "thrillers" to even bother keeping the chaos of a plotline in order. This is done incredibly well. Also, he has this unbelievable knack for using all available methods of shock. Be it the toddler smashing the piano during a delicate piece, or as I call it the true shock. The slow building dilemma scene or the machine gun procession. He uses all of these methods and more importantly uses them at the right times.
I have a lot of respect for a writer who can truly surprise me and Renner has done that.
June 16, 2016
Read? Well, mostly. And I gave this book three stars, but if you read on, you will understand why I almost refused to rate it at all. I will be presenting a SPOILER, so if you intend to read this novel, then you may want to reconsider finishing this review. . .
OK. Still with me? I really liked the early portions of this book, which kept plopping down an array of mysteries that orbited the kidnapping/murder of three little girls, the disappearance of a twin, mysterious individuals who seemed determined to harm/or protect, a driven dedicated journalist trying to uncover truths and rectify injustice, etc, etc. . .and then, even with a hint of the fantastic earlier in the book, there it came: time travel. I hate time travel. Notwithstanding the fact that I am a devoted Trekkie and even enjoyed Vonnegut, I simply hate time travel. Had I known beforehand, I probably would not have picked up this book. So I am warning you. I couldn't even finish it, and I really wanted to know what happened. I liked the main character, felt for him, wished him well in his pursuit, suffered with him as roadblocks and mental issues clouded his way, and still. . .fucking time travel. Excuse my French. Oh, well, off to something new. . . And I ain't coming back to change this review, either.
OK. Still with me? I really liked the early portions of this book, which kept plopping down an array of mysteries that orbited the kidnapping/murder of three little girls, the disappearance of a twin, mysterious individuals who seemed determined to harm/or protect, a driven dedicated journalist trying to uncover truths and rectify injustice, etc, etc. . .and then, even with a hint of the fantastic earlier in the book, there it came: time travel. I hate time travel. Notwithstanding the fact that I am a devoted Trekkie and even enjoyed Vonnegut, I simply hate time travel. Had I known beforehand, I probably would not have picked up this book. So I am warning you. I couldn't even finish it, and I really wanted to know what happened. I liked the main character, felt for him, wished him well in his pursuit, suffered with him as roadblocks and mental issues clouded his way, and still. . .fucking time travel. Excuse my French. Oh, well, off to something new. . . And I ain't coming back to change this review, either.
August 25, 2015
As time travelly complexy as you're likely to find in what is ostensibly a popular thriller crime novel, tells a tale similar to Predestination - the recent movie adaptation of the Heinlein short story All You Zombies.
Renner grips you with an incredibly fascinating prologue and sustains the page turning readability through 450+ pages thanks to some top quality descriptive prose and an approach to revealing information that would put Quentin Tarantino to shame. For a popular thriller unit shifter that seemingly failed to shift units it's as good as I would ever expect. I wanted more noir, I wanted more science fiction but instead I got a vaguely metafictional, self referential attempt at literary true crime with a convoluted time travel plot that amazingly enough works. It really works.
The opening half (at least) is phenomenal and that I feel let down by it is as much a product of having such a strong opening and the absurdity of time travel as a concept as it is any inherent weakness in the story. I could easily have read another 500 pages of this story though.
Renner grips you with an incredibly fascinating prologue and sustains the page turning readability through 450+ pages thanks to some top quality descriptive prose and an approach to revealing information that would put Quentin Tarantino to shame. For a popular thriller unit shifter that seemingly failed to shift units it's as good as I would ever expect. I wanted more noir, I wanted more science fiction but instead I got a vaguely metafictional, self referential attempt at literary true crime with a convoluted time travel plot that amazingly enough works. It really works.
The opening half (at least) is phenomenal and that I feel let down by it is as much a product of having such a strong opening and the absurdity of time travel as a concept as it is any inherent weakness in the story. I could easily have read another 500 pages of this story though.
February 24, 2016
What a page-turning heart pounding fun book! I classify this book under "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride". Nothing more can be said without spoilers.
May 2, 2019
What can I say?
Just read the damn thing? But I like writing reviews (something my wife can’t understand as something enjoyable) so I’ve got to say something.
Ironically, the first thing I could say is avoid reviews if you can. I just blocked one of my very long-term Goodreads friends for spoiling the last third of this story with the first line of his review. If only I hadn’t seen that…
Oh well, regret is such a wasted emotion, and I’ve fixed the problem even though the horses have long left the barn.
Incidentally, Publishers Weekly also saw fit to mention the same spoiler in their starred review.
The one thing I can say is that James Renner is a magnificent writer and this story is something that will stick in your head while you’re not reading it, and will linger on after finishing it, as it is doing to me now.
In a lesser writer’s hands, some of the things in this story may lose you, and I thought he was going to, but as I went on things became clearer (or as clear as I could have hoped to grasp).
The Man From Primrose Lane stayed on my to-read list for six years. I almost took it off because the average rating hovered around 3.6, not a ringing endorsement, and for the life of me I can’t understand why it's not higher.
This is a huge five star read for what he did, and how he made it digestible for a dimwit such as I.
James Renner mentions Stephen King, John Irving, and Donald Ray Pollock as influences and the best qualities of these fine writers, namely engaging narrative and dialogue, show up in Renner’s writing.
I am so glad I kept this on my list and decided to read it on a whim. It just goes to show you, doesn’t it?
Now I have to return to working while this story refuses to slip out of my mind.
Just read the damn thing? But I like writing reviews (something my wife can’t understand as something enjoyable) so I’ve got to say something.
Ironically, the first thing I could say is avoid reviews if you can. I just blocked one of my very long-term Goodreads friends for spoiling the last third of this story with the first line of his review. If only I hadn’t seen that…
Oh well, regret is such a wasted emotion, and I’ve fixed the problem even though the horses have long left the barn.
Incidentally, Publishers Weekly also saw fit to mention the same spoiler in their starred review.
The one thing I can say is that James Renner is a magnificent writer and this story is something that will stick in your head while you’re not reading it, and will linger on after finishing it, as it is doing to me now.
In a lesser writer’s hands, some of the things in this story may lose you, and I thought he was going to, but as I went on things became clearer (or as clear as I could have hoped to grasp).
The Man From Primrose Lane stayed on my to-read list for six years. I almost took it off because the average rating hovered around 3.6, not a ringing endorsement, and for the life of me I can’t understand why it's not higher.
This is a huge five star read for what he did, and how he made it digestible for a dimwit such as I.
James Renner mentions Stephen King, John Irving, and Donald Ray Pollock as influences and the best qualities of these fine writers, namely engaging narrative and dialogue, show up in Renner’s writing.
I am so glad I kept this on my list and decided to read it on a whim. It just goes to show you, doesn’t it?
Now I have to return to working while this story refuses to slip out of my mind.
May 5, 2013
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, afford me peace and allow me to march away from the memory of this book.
I wanted to like the book. I won't spoil such. Sweet stars above, afford me peace and allow me to march away from the memory of this book.
March 22, 2016
Wow, talk about launching me right on out of my reading slump! What a book!
There were things I wasn't crazy about. I didn't like the back and forth of the timelines at the beginning of the book. David's perspective felt like a gleeful, gritty crime novel, so when it jumped back into the past it was quite jarring. It did end up that it had to be done that way and I can see why he chose to do that. It was still not something that I liked.
The nature of the story means that I actually can't shelve this how I want without it being a spoiler! How will I survive? This was an especially fun book because it combined mystery/thriller with sci-fi in a completely and totally unique way. For sheer ingenuity this book deserved four stars. It's so cool!
I will say no more, even though I've really said nothing about the book's content, because I really don't want to spoiler anything. This was fantastic, brilliant, and deserves to be enjoyed without any hints that might spoil the shocks.
There were things I wasn't crazy about. I didn't like the back and forth of the timelines at the beginning of the book. David's perspective felt like a gleeful, gritty crime novel, so when it jumped back into the past it was quite jarring. It did end up that it had to be done that way and I can see why he chose to do that. It was still not something that I liked.
The nature of the story means that I actually can't shelve this how I want without it being a spoiler! How will I survive? This was an especially fun book because it combined mystery/thriller with sci-fi in a completely and totally unique way. For sheer ingenuity this book deserved four stars. It's so cool!
I will say no more, even though I've really said nothing about the book's content, because I really don't want to spoiler anything. This was fantastic, brilliant, and deserves to be enjoyed without any hints that might spoil the shocks.
February 24, 2016
Highly enjoyable and twisty thrill ride. Gets maybe a little convoluted towards the end, but I'm willing to forgive that in light of the crazy stunts that Renner is pulling off for our amusement. You really want to just read this book without knowing anything about it.
May 21, 2012
If this wasn't a library book, I would have stuck my gum in it.
February 21, 2016
This book was so much fun! It's pretty much impossible to say anything about this book without it being a spoiler. The less you know about this one the better it is.
Read
January 8, 2024'The Man From Primrose Lane' is a very likeable book. It's well-written, original, tramples genre boundaries, has an intriguing mystery (maybe more than one) at its heart and is populated with memorable characters that are more than plot devices. It's filled with scenes that are little works of art on their own: the visit to the robot factory, the incident with the pianist on the cruise ship, the bookshop meet-cute that isn't or shouldn't be a meet-cute, the discovery of the body, the first interview with the detective in a smoke-filled windowless room that smells of stale hot dogs. These scenes grabbed my imagination and demanded that I pay attention, maybe even applaud.
So, if it has all those good attributes, why am I abandoning this fourteen-hour book after three and a half hours?
This is going to sound odd, but I don't trust this book. If I'm going to spend fourteen hours reading a novel, I need to be confident that both the journey and the destination are worthwhile. I suspect that 'The Man From Primrose Lane' is heading off towards a complex but improbable territory that I'm not going to find satisfying, I feel like I watching a very long magic act or perhaps a Long Con, where the author is distracting me with good quality mainstream scenes so that the flourish at the end will come as a surprise.
What's wrong with that?
Nothing, if I'm reading an Agatha Christie novel where it's all part of the fun, or even if I reading a Science Fiction mystery with a murder at its heart.
So why is it a problem here?
It's probably just me but I feel about this book the same way that I feel when I'm introduced to a charming, charismatic person with an agenda: defensive, untrusting, mildly offended. I see why other people admire the person but that just reinforces my aversion.
For some reason, I feel like the contract between writer and reader in this book is, well, dishonest is to strong a word, perhaps unbalanced in the author's favour says it better.
Anyway, all I know is that the more I read, the less I believe and the more I'm looking for the lie behind the smile. That's not fun so I'm setting this aside.
Here's an extract from the start of the audiobook, so you can form an impression of the book for yourself.
https://soundcloud.com/bolindaaudio/m...
So, if it has all those good attributes, why am I abandoning this fourteen-hour book after three and a half hours?
This is going to sound odd, but I don't trust this book. If I'm going to spend fourteen hours reading a novel, I need to be confident that both the journey and the destination are worthwhile. I suspect that 'The Man From Primrose Lane' is heading off towards a complex but improbable territory that I'm not going to find satisfying, I feel like I watching a very long magic act or perhaps a Long Con, where the author is distracting me with good quality mainstream scenes so that the flourish at the end will come as a surprise.
What's wrong with that?
Nothing, if I'm reading an Agatha Christie novel where it's all part of the fun, or even if I reading a Science Fiction mystery with a murder at its heart.
So why is it a problem here?
It's probably just me but I feel about this book the same way that I feel when I'm introduced to a charming, charismatic person with an agenda: defensive, untrusting, mildly offended. I see why other people admire the person but that just reinforces my aversion.
For some reason, I feel like the contract between writer and reader in this book is, well, dishonest is to strong a word, perhaps unbalanced in the author's favour says it better.
Anyway, all I know is that the more I read, the less I believe and the more I'm looking for the lie behind the smile. That's not fun so I'm setting this aside.
Here's an extract from the start of the audiobook, so you can form an impression of the book for yourself.
https://soundcloud.com/bolindaaudio/m...
March 30, 2020
Whew, clearly very deeply in the minority with my opinion of this book. My experience of reading this almost exactly mirrored how it went down for me with The Great Forgetting - a very strong start, then a random twist from out of left field accompanied by a vague explanation (in this book we get, memorably, "blah blah blah, science, science, science, right?") and a struggle to put the pieces back together in a way that I can bear. There is so much going on here! On top of the pedophilia and child murder, there's demonic (?) possession, time traveling eggs, perspective shifts from third to first person, and some hilariously casual, almost sexist asides that are usually centered around main character David's inexplicable, wish fulfillment-esque sexual relationship - my personal fave is "Sitting in the passenger seat of a woman's car -- that's intimacy," and also ". . . but he could see she was, in some very basic feminine way, quite shook up over their sudden and weird first sexual encounter" during which David has sex with Katy, who looks just like his dead wife and calls her his wife's name (said sex act happens during an extremely short-lived taper off a drug David's been taking for PTSD because why not). Someone invents a collar (?) that can be wrapped around a beam of light (?) that gets mentioned once and I don't recall it being a meaningful part of the plot afterwards nor do I understand what bearing it was supposed to have. I think at this point in my life I can part ways with Renner, knowing that probably none of his books are going to be for me and that's fine. I finished this and I'm moving on with fond, confused memories of time traveling eggs to keep me warm.
May 2, 2022
After the second time trying (the first was over a year ago)- I finished. The entire read was difficult but the last 100 pages is a conundrum in a puzzle taking place within a cyclone carnival ride.
Over the top. Women with Elizabeth's personality are no go's for me. But beyond that the fractured plotting framed in sci fi just took two stars off the top.
2.5 stars rounded up for bizarre imagination and clever descriptive skills. But time travel needs far more up front world building and a whole lot less crude crews of side characters.
Truthfully, I had no warning that this would switch genre and nature after 2/3rds of the book. Didn't expect the horror or woo woo aspects either. Not a fan. Too abrupt with vast departures from former lengthy character or era context. To the extent that most embedding became trashed for me.
Over the top. Women with Elizabeth's personality are no go's for me. But beyond that the fractured plotting framed in sci fi just took two stars off the top.
2.5 stars rounded up for bizarre imagination and clever descriptive skills. But time travel needs far more up front world building and a whole lot less crude crews of side characters.
Truthfully, I had no warning that this would switch genre and nature after 2/3rds of the book. Didn't expect the horror or woo woo aspects either. Not a fan. Too abrupt with vast departures from former lengthy character or era context. To the extent that most embedding became trashed for me.
November 14, 2020
Well-constructed, well-written, and mind-blowing. Surprised me in many ways--its twists and the smooth genre transition from mystery thriller to science fiction. Mindfuck at its finest.
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