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Harmless

James Grainger

2.68 · Rating details · 162 ratings · 33 reviews

Set over the course of a single day and night, Harmless is a tense, provocative, and psychologically astute first novel in the tradition of Herman Koch's The Dinner, Tom Perrotta’s Little Children, and Christos Tsiolkas’s The Slap, about a weekend reunion of old friends that takes a terrifying turn when two teenage girls go missing.

At a remote farm, a group of old frien ...more

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Paperback, 288 pages

Published May 5th 2015 by McClelland & Stewart

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· 162 ratings · 33 reviews

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Apr 06, 2015 C.M. Subasic rated it liked it

Shelves: couldn-t-finish, arc

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. My 3 stars is really 2.5.

What this writer is trying to do is challenging. It's a mash-up of genres. There's thriller, mixed with crime, psychological drama and literary indie press style. This book wants so hard to be an update of Deliverance, but for several reasons, misfires and strangles itself.

The writer's work on the page is stellar. The poetry and apt images spill from the pages with simplicity, honesty and beauty:

...but he felt his

...more

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May 20, 2015 Krista rated it liked it

Shelves: can-con, 2015

You read about these personal catastrophes, relieved that your kid wasn't missing, but also secretly disappointed to have missed out on the experience, because how often in this bloodless age do you get the chance to test your mettle against the elements, against the bad guys? You imagine what you'd do in the parents' situation, how you'd act with courage, sacrifice, and resolve right up until the final scene, when your dirt-streaked child jumps into your arms, crying, “Daddy you found me!”

Harml

You read about these personal catastrophes, relieved that your kid wasn't missing, but also secretly disappointed to have missed out on the experience, because how often in this bloodless age do you get the chance to test your mettle against the elements, against the bad guys? You imagine what you'd do in the parents' situation, how you'd act with courage, sacrifice, and resolve right up until the final scene, when your dirt-streaked child jumps into your arms, crying, “Daddy you found me!”

Harmless by James Grainger is an interesting look at what it means to be a man in this “bloodless age”; in a time when even real and pressing danger causes our hero Joseph to stop and scan his memory for appropriate reactions sourced from the action movies he has seen, because nothing from his actual life has prepared him for this. I just wish that Joseph was a more likeable or genuine character – he's about as useful in an emergency as the pricey hiking shoes he bought for the weekend based on their flashy reflective stripes.

The setup: Joseph and his moody teenage daughter Franny go for a weekend visit with old friends at a remote farmhouse. Joseph is an online journalist and arts editor (like Grainger himself), a former Party Boy, and currently, broke, divorced, and disillusioned. The owners of the farmhouse are Alex – a powerfully built man who left his city job as a documentarian for the authentic country life, where he now fashions rustic furniture with his bare hands – and his wife Jane – Joseph's former lover who wants a weekend of debauchery with her erstwhile high school friends, despite the presence of children and her disapproving husband. Two other couples attend the weekend, but they don't matter to the story. After getting wasted at the campfire, they realise that Franny, along with Alex and Jane's daughter Rebecca, have disappeared (that's on the back cover, so not really a spoiler) and their Dads must enter the never-ending woods surrounding the farm to find them. From here, the story becomes tense and dangerous, and even where the storyline strains credibility, it remains a thoughtful examination of modern masculinity.

Grainger stuffed so much into Harmless about modern life, as it affects young boys:

Bereft of ancestral lore, national myths, holy books, and rituals to bind the generations, Mike was initiating his sons in to the world of the Cool Geek, where aggressions and aspirations were channelled into superheroes, video games, movies, TV shows, and the right pop music.

And as it affects teenage girls:

They exuded self-denial and a sensual receptivity focused at the mouth, neck, and belly, their backs as rigid as aristocrats' wives in seventeenth-century portraiture. Time rushed forward and he saw each girl at eighteen, her body a map of tattooed Celtic knotwork, Chinese calligraphy, and Native American icons, a map for lovers, with piercings marking the erogenous zones.

As a modern Dad, Joseph has a mental “Father's Worst Nightmare scrapbook” based on what he assumes porn-raised boys will one day expect of his daughter, and he even worries about those (apocryphal) “Rainbow Parties”. And yet, he doesn't feel the right to intervene when his fourteen-year-old wears slutty clothes or sneaks off to smoke a joint with her friends? Repeatedly, while Franny is missing, Joseph can imagine in graphic detail what various perverts might be doing to her, yet, early on, he can't imagine how to have a long overdue heart-to-heart with his only child. As a character, I had a hard time understanding Joseph, but from what he shares of himself and his history, I really didn't like him:

As Joseph nestled the stock in a convenient hollow between his shoulder and chest he hadn't known existed, he was startled by a sense of impending climax. He stared down the barrel at a pile of boulders outside. Imagine if a man was standing in front of them. Who did he want it to be? Everyone had a list of worthy targets these days – bankers, CEOs, hedge-fund managers, career politicians, religious fundamentalists, climate-change deniers. He squeezed the trigger, wanting the room to fill with sound, smoke, and broken glass. He handed the rifle back to Alex, disoriented by a sudden feeling of weightlessness. It had felt good to hold the gun in his hands.

That's his list of “worthy targets”? Career politicians and religious fundamentalists? No child-molestors or cop-killers? And Joseph isn't even the most liberal of the men, so the intermittent politicking didn't sit well with me either.

As for the writing, Grainger is simile rich and that has varying results:

• Because it was still light out, the flaming logs looked artificial, like a video installation commenting on the cultural practice of building bonfires on summer holidays.

• Martha withdrew his hand, and the sordid history of their break-up lay on the table between them like a platter of freshly eviscerated entrails: his wavering commitment to their marriage; his refusal to ‘prostitute’ his talents and settle for a nine-to-five job; his inability to quantify what he provided in place of financial and domestic stability.

• The forest towered higher with every few steps, pulling him into its wake like a ship passing silently in the moonlight, and when the wind picked up, the rustling treetops became the silhouettes of rats running along the decks.

And yet, and...yet, I can see what Grainger was writing about here. Overall, I appreciated the meditation on modern masculinity (even if he makes sure that Joseph is clueless about modern femininity), there were some genuinely tense moments in the second half, and much of the writing was really lovely. I was not disappointed to have spent time in this world. ...more

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Oct 26, 2019 Jennifer G rated it really liked it

This book did not get very good reviews from the Goodreads audience, however, I really enjoyed it. I think what I liked most about it is was that it is different from the usual books that I read.

First of all, this thriller takes place over a single day and night. Several families are visiting their friends at a farm in the country. There's some tension between the adults; most of the adults knew each other when they were young and wild, and some of them even dated each other. The father who owns ...more

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Sep 06, 2015 Debra Komar rated it liked it

2.5 stars, rounded up to 3

This is a tough one, as this book is one of the rare instances in which there is style and quality to the writing but serious issues with the storytelling.

Grainger has a very crisp style - the metaphors are fresh and the writing is tight. He is not afraid of compound, complex sentences and the book feels far more literary than popular as a result. All good.

The problem is the plot, which is thin at best. There is nothing wrong with a simple idea but you could sum up the ...more

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Apr 05, 2015 Mary Sue rated it liked it

I received this as a Goodreads First Reads ARC. I found it difficult to get into the book and struggled through the first part. It dragged for me and I felt the author was spending too much time setting up the rest of the novel. There were a lot of characters in the first section and I had difficulty keeping them all straight. Once the key event happened and the action started, the pace picked up and I found myself enjoying it much more.

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Jul 27, 2015 Cindy rated it it was ok

I picked up this novel because it was reviewed by another author I recently read and thoroughly enjoyed. Individual sentences were gorgeous but the overall story lacked direction and cohesion.

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Dec 16, 2020 Andy rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I read the advanced copy of this book so there were syntax problems, grammar problems, and honestly, spelling mistakes. This book takes place in Ontario and even Toronto is mentioned, so spelling words with American spelling is a no-no. I understand that it's an advanced copy, but still, I thought I should mention the issues regarding this book anyway.

Bue let's get down to the actual review. One reviewer pointed out that the title "HARMLESS" is misleading because this book is anything but harmle I read the advanced copy of this book so there were syntax problems, grammar problems, and honestly, spelling mistakes. This book takes place in Ontario and even Toronto is mentioned, so spelling words with American spelling is a no-no. I understand that it's an advanced copy, but still, I thought I should mention the issues regarding this book anyway.

Bue let's get down to the actual review. One reviewer pointed out that the title "HARMLESS" is misleading because this book is anything but harmless. But, if we're reading between the lines, I don't believe the title "harmless" refers to Joseph or Alex but to their children: Franny and Rebecca. Why? Because nothing actually happened to them. Alex and Joseph go on this wild goose chase to find their missing daughters who are safe at home when they head back. Harmless, get it? No harm was done to their daughters, but vicious harm was done to both Alex and Joseph. But you need to get some backstory for that.

The story begins with Joseph believing he is not a great father. He and Franny are staying at Alex and Jane's cottage for the weekend. Joseph used to be Jane's lover so there is tension between the two men. Joseph obviously believes that Jane is too good for Alex and probably too good for him. But, later, when everyone gets high, Jane and Joseph have sex which Alex witnesses. And given the fact that Alex and Jane are married and together, he's quite peeved about it so he creates this bogus story that Franny and Rebecca are missing when really the two girls are just at a party and will be back before dark.

As Joseph and Alex look for the girls, Joseph begins to suspect that Franny and Rebecca witnessed Jane and his sexual encounter. It's not until much later that Joseph learns the truth.

Now, what you need to understand about this book is that as the two men get deeper and deeper into the forest, Joseph goes a little bit mad. He starts suspecting that the girls aren't missing and Alex took him on this wild hunt to kill him. For me, this was the only good part of the book.

Every reader has a reason they want to finish the work and not put it down and up above is my reason. But, overall, this book was not for me. Am I happy I read it? Yes. Would I read it again? No. Would I recommend it? Nope. And that hurts because it takes place in Ontario and I like reading books that are about my province or better yet, my city: Toronto. ...more

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Mar 07, 2017 Kylie rated it liked it

Shelves: my-library

only meh. I found the writing odd how it switched between narrative styles without any indications. it also over described some things that really didn't seem to matter. the story did end somewhat entertaining. but again, only meh. ...more

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Sep 13, 2019 Dale rated it liked it

More like 3 and a half stars mostly because the writing was as luminous as the story was dark. After almost losing me with a very slow start, the tension ratcheted up quickly and effectively in the testosterone fuelled second half of the book. I found it more of a treatise on middle aged disillusionment than on toxic masculinity - but both played major roles in the plot.
I look forward to the writer's next book. ...more

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Sep 06, 2017 Kendra rated it liked it

A very, very masculine/manly story. Not my typical thing, however a great literary psychological thriller.

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Jun 18, 2018 Marni Lee rated it it was ok

Found this an aimless, rather dull story. The prose itself felt self-conscious and over-wrought.

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Oct 30, 2015 Deanna rated it it was ok

WARNING : ANIMAL ABUSE/VIOLENCE FOR NO REASON. Oh yeah it's one of those books.

From the start I hated this book. Too many characters. Parents, kids, friends, who was related to who?? Which person WAS this?? Why was there no tree or anything showing who was connected in the beginning? Well, as it turns out it barely mattered. A lot of them were pointless.

The main character was so unlikeable. Think of one of those guys you just can't stand that seems to idolize himself but everyone else kind of k ...more

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Feb 20, 2015 Wanda rated it liked it

Shelves: books-i-own, first-reads, giveaway

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

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Apr 04, 2016 Justin Lahey rated it liked it

James Grainger's debut Harmleas was a good read, a good tale of grown-ups seeking fulfillment and some form of life redemption of self-proclamation. The pace could have been better - it crawled forward at a snail's pace. The character development and various plot twists were good, but often either predictable or a bit underwhelming. The premise was so promising, and it certainly started out like this would be a very solid "social drama" as I like to refer to such stories. But I felt it never del ...more

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Apr 07, 2015 Noelle Walsh rated it liked it

Shelves: first-reads

Wow, this book was a little weird. I did like the characters. I did like how things were described and it felt like the author was painting incredible landscapes in my imagination. The first half felt a little jumbled on occasion, and on occasion it did feel unbelievable. It wasn't what I was expecting and I'm not sue that's a good thing at the moment.

*won on GoodReads First Reads* ...more

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Jun 07, 2015 Clare rated it really liked it

A very good, fast-paced literary thriller. It reminded me in tone of The Devil You Know by Elisabeth de Mariaffi but I was less able to find my way in to the male-protector angst than I was into Evie's perspective, perhaps naturally. Still, the fear of a parent is familiar and so too are the tensions held and released in complicated relationships. Recommended. ...more

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Oct 17, 2015 Jovdb rated it it was ok

A rather odd book about odd people.

A group of friends gather one weekend at a farm house owned by one of the couples.. Two daughters go missing and their fathers go hunting for them.

Then the tale gets bizarre as Joseph, be of the fathers, keeps having an internal dialogue about what might have happened to his daughter. He also imagines ulterior motives for Alex's actions.

Weird. ...more

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Jun 01, 2016 Dale rated it liked it

A dark and interesting read. Haunting - even after time passes, it continues to cause me to think back and review the events over the course of this one day / night in this book. Surprising and unexpected in many parts of the book.

Read Koch's The Dinner and this left the same feeling of uneasiness ...

Well done! ...more

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Apr 04, 2015 Denise Williams rated it liked it

Shelves: freebies

This book was ok. The beginning was good, but it lost me a bit towards the end. Also, don't want to spoil anything - there was one section that seemed very unnecessary to me, an excuse to have too much graphic sexual content. Didn't work for me.
Just OK. ...more

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May 05, 2015 Natashya KitchenPuppies rated it really liked it

This is a fascinating book. The genre does seem to twist and turn as you read on, keeping you alert and guessing.

See my full review here - http://livinginthekitchenwithpuppies.... ...more

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Dec 30, 2015 Alyson rated it liked it

Set over the course of one long evening, family and old friends gather to find themselves slide into a night of tension and terror. James Grainger never lets up on the suspense while the woods and the dark consume more than the teenage girls who have gone missing. Well done debut novel!

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Jan 18, 2016 Kari rated it really liked it

One part psychological thriller, one part meditation on modern masculinity. Main character is an unlikeable selfish jerk but the author manages to make him sympathetic to the reader by the end. The thriller part was only mildly thrilling but the psychology part was pretty good.

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Feb 20, 2015 Lisa Henderson-Farr rated it it was ok

Shelves: first-reads

I really didn't like this. The story felt very jumbled to me but maybe that was intentional as the characters were all suppose to be high. ...more

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Apr 27, 2015 Judy LeBlanc rated it liked it

Not what I expected, a good read, strange ending, must admit skipped parts - but just the gory stuff. Interesting cast of characters.

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Jul 14, 2015 Stefania Vani rated it did not like it

Not my cup of tea. Not my anything.

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Aug 03, 2015 Kristy Fletcher rated it liked it

i liked it, definately took a while to figure out everything, plotwise. Does mess with your mind a bit, ending slightly anticlimatic.

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Oct 07, 2015 Crissy Calhoun added it

A very accomplished novel, but ultimately not my cuppa. I was intrigued by the first half, repulsed by the second. And now I need to wash some images out of my brain.

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Dec 09, 2015 Jim Allan rated it it was ok

sometimes even plausible.

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Jan 11, 2017 Doriana Bisegna rated it liked it

While I appreciated the writing, I have to say that this is more of a literary thriller for men. The storyline really didn't play to my taste! ...more

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