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Furnass #6
The Pattern Maker
Paul Slater, a mill worker in Furnass and former Green Beret sniper in Southeast Asia, travels upriver ten miles to Pittsburgh for a little adventure. There in the city’s Golden Triangle, coincidence—or maybe Fate, or Blind Chance—take over. Paul’s path crosses that of a local hippie panhandler who acts as a spirit guide to the big city; he becomes infatuated with a pretty, blond intern with a movie company filming in town; and he unwittingly becomes a suspect in a number of recent murders. The story reaches its violent conclusion when perception takes the place of reality.
298 pages, Paperback
Published May 1, 2020
2 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Richard Snodgrass
23 books34 followersRichard Snodgrass is the critically acclaimed author of the “Books of Furnass” Series, an eleven-volume set of novels that explores the hopes, disappointments, relationships, and betrayals that make up life in a fictional Western Pennsylvania mill town and its surrounding farmlands from the time of the French and Indian War to modern day. The eleventh book in the series, Torn, will be released on September 17, 2025.
Snodgrass is also the author of There’s Something in the Back Yard, published in 1989 by Viking, and praised by Jack Stephens of the Washington Post Book World who wrote, “Observe this mysterious book and be changed.” Other works by Snodgrass include: An Uncommon Field: The Flight 93 Temporary Memorial, published in September of 2011 by Carnegie Mellon University Press, and Kitchen Things: An Album of Vintage Utensils and Farm Kitchen Recipes, published in 2013 by Skyhorse and named one of the year’s “best books to get you thinking about food” by the Associated Press.
Snodgrass’s short stories and essays have appeared in the New England Review/Bread Loaf Quarterly, South Dakota Review, California Review, Pittsburgh Quarterly, and elsewhere. He is also a master photographer who has been artist-in-residence at LightWorks (University of Syracuse) and at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, New Mexico. He is the recipient of a fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
Richard Snodgrass lives in Pittsburgh, PA, with his wife Marty and two indomitable female tuxedo cats, raised from feral kittens, named Frankie and Becca.
Snodgrass is also the author of There’s Something in the Back Yard, published in 1989 by Viking, and praised by Jack Stephens of the Washington Post Book World who wrote, “Observe this mysterious book and be changed.” Other works by Snodgrass include: An Uncommon Field: The Flight 93 Temporary Memorial, published in September of 2011 by Carnegie Mellon University Press, and Kitchen Things: An Album of Vintage Utensils and Farm Kitchen Recipes, published in 2013 by Skyhorse and named one of the year’s “best books to get you thinking about food” by the Associated Press.
Snodgrass’s short stories and essays have appeared in the New England Review/Bread Loaf Quarterly, South Dakota Review, California Review, Pittsburgh Quarterly, and elsewhere. He is also a master photographer who has been artist-in-residence at LightWorks (University of Syracuse) and at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, New Mexico. He is the recipient of a fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
Richard Snodgrass lives in Pittsburgh, PA, with his wife Marty and two indomitable female tuxedo cats, raised from feral kittens, named Frankie and Becca.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 16, 2020
This is the second Richard Snodgrass novel I have read and once again I am surprised at how little attention he seems to have garnered on Goodreads or Amazon, because he’s a very good writer and deserves a wide readership. I hope my review will encourage some other readers to check out this series of books about the steel mill town of Furnass in Pennsylvania. In this latest volume we meet Paul Slater, once a Green Beret in Vietnam and now trying to adjust to life back in his small town. He’s happily married to his high school sweetheart but the fall of Saigon in 1975 seems to trigger a crisis in him and restless and discontented he spends more and more time in nearby Pittsburgh, searching for he knows not what, and where a series of chance encounters involve him in the dangers and intrigues of city life. Gradually back stories of all the characters, including Paul’s, are revealed and the reader is drawn into their lives as the novel becomes a page-turning drama. Although I very much enjoyed the book I do have a few quibbles, as I found the sexual violence overdone, and the constant reference to “crotches” and “panties” distasteful, although I accept it’s a novel set back in the 70s when different standards applied. However, although the plot becomes more and more convoluted I felt that the author kept control of his material and the pacing was spot-on. Well worth a read and I hope to read more of Snodgrass’s work in the future.
May 29, 2020
This is the first Richard Snodgrass book I’ve read, and now I’m a fan. The Pattern Maker was set in a small mill town south of Pittsburgh in 1975. Paul Slater, a former Green Beret sniper, works in a mill and leads a boring life. Looking for some kind of change, or fulfillment, he begins to ditch work and drive to Pittsburgh, where his path crosses with the other central characters.
The book begins Paul’s work partner telling Paul about a newspaper account of a brutal murder. The battered body of a woman was found tied to a tree in a Pittsburgh park. It’s being investigated by detective partners, McCarron and White. Another, and actually central, story line is that of a movie director, Nicko, and his wife Fran, in Pittsburgh to film a low budget movie. Nicko has previously been mildly famous for his “sexploitation” films that have a strong similarity to the Pittsburgh murder. Nicko’s minor fame has faded, and he’s attempting to get back in the game. Nicko’s sexy intern, Suzy, and a young, wannabe actor, Jeff Berner, are also central to the story line. The is also Sam Connor, a colorful hippie who panhandles downtown, and seems to know everything and everyone in the downtown area, selling some of his information to the police.
I felt the character development was very well done, and I could picture each one from the descriptions, and interactions. Also realistic was the weaving of the relationships between these disparate characters, how they intersected through the book until the final high stress ending.
There were so many real life themes in the book,: The boredom of a predictable job, and a predictable life. Physical and sexual abuse of women. PTSD. Racism. Class struggle. Insecurity. Drug abuse. Mental illness. Struggle for fame and success, as well as the lengths to which people will go to obtain it, keep it, and regain it when it’s lost.
Although one of the central characters, Paul Slater, was a pattern maker in a mill, that was the only reference to the title aside from drawings at the beginning of each chapter
I definitely enjoyed the book, and thought it had a well written plot. I was never bored. Nothing was a given, so I didn’t guess how the book would end.
I received a copy of The Patternmaker free as an ARC from Netgalley. This is my unbiased review of a book I truly enjoyed
The book begins Paul’s work partner telling Paul about a newspaper account of a brutal murder. The battered body of a woman was found tied to a tree in a Pittsburgh park. It’s being investigated by detective partners, McCarron and White. Another, and actually central, story line is that of a movie director, Nicko, and his wife Fran, in Pittsburgh to film a low budget movie. Nicko has previously been mildly famous for his “sexploitation” films that have a strong similarity to the Pittsburgh murder. Nicko’s minor fame has faded, and he’s attempting to get back in the game. Nicko’s sexy intern, Suzy, and a young, wannabe actor, Jeff Berner, are also central to the story line. The is also Sam Connor, a colorful hippie who panhandles downtown, and seems to know everything and everyone in the downtown area, selling some of his information to the police.
I felt the character development was very well done, and I could picture each one from the descriptions, and interactions. Also realistic was the weaving of the relationships between these disparate characters, how they intersected through the book until the final high stress ending.
There were so many real life themes in the book,: The boredom of a predictable job, and a predictable life. Physical and sexual abuse of women. PTSD. Racism. Class struggle. Insecurity. Drug abuse. Mental illness. Struggle for fame and success, as well as the lengths to which people will go to obtain it, keep it, and regain it when it’s lost.
Although one of the central characters, Paul Slater, was a pattern maker in a mill, that was the only reference to the title aside from drawings at the beginning of each chapter
I definitely enjoyed the book, and thought it had a well written plot. I was never bored. Nothing was a given, so I didn’t guess how the book would end.
I received a copy of The Patternmaker free as an ARC from Netgalley. This is my unbiased review of a book I truly enjoyed
August 15, 2021
At the center of this brooding mystery set in 1975 is a Vietnam veteran whose untreated PTSD is exacerbated by the beginnings of a midlife crisis. Paul Slater is a pattern maker (metal templates) in a mill, he becomes increasingly dissatisfied with his life and begins drifting into nearby Pittsburgh where he connects with a streetwise hippy and a film crew in the process of making a movie.
The story changes perspective among several characters trying to build a moody, enigmatic murder mystery among a sort of collective village within the bigger city. It doesn't quite succeed.
The style is different/unique. That's neither a positive nor a negative it's simply an adjustment that must be made on the part of the reader. It's a bit long-winded and meandering and requires concentration, not really something you can casually read. None of those things, in and of themselves, is a deal breaker for me but... when the author begins referencing events that have not yet happened within the timeline of the book it started to lose me.
It's not just one or two things but enough that it actually took me out of the narrative to the point where that became my focus rather than the plot. Example: A woman listens to a song on the radio, feeling that it must have been written just for her - a neat trick since that particular song had not yet been written at the time. It's things like that, things meant to create a "vibe", that fall hard and flat. It's lazy writing.
I get that the author was likely trying for something a little more experimental or introspective than the norm, but once my frame of mind became "Wait. Can that be right? That hadn't happened in 1975". the game was over and the experiment failed. Sadly, I think with a little more effort put into the accuracy of the cultural history and a strong editor this might have been something special.
I can't recommend this one.
The story changes perspective among several characters trying to build a moody, enigmatic murder mystery among a sort of collective village within the bigger city. It doesn't quite succeed.
The style is different/unique. That's neither a positive nor a negative it's simply an adjustment that must be made on the part of the reader. It's a bit long-winded and meandering and requires concentration, not really something you can casually read. None of those things, in and of themselves, is a deal breaker for me but... when the author begins referencing events that have not yet happened within the timeline of the book it started to lose me.
It's not just one or two things but enough that it actually took me out of the narrative to the point where that became my focus rather than the plot. Example: A woman listens to a song on the radio, feeling that it must have been written just for her - a neat trick since that particular song had not yet been written at the time. It's things like that, things meant to create a "vibe", that fall hard and flat. It's lazy writing.
I get that the author was likely trying for something a little more experimental or introspective than the norm, but once my frame of mind became "Wait. Can that be right? That hadn't happened in 1975". the game was over and the experiment failed. Sadly, I think with a little more effort put into the accuracy of the cultural history and a strong editor this might have been something special.
I can't recommend this one.
May 31, 2020
Search for Adventure Turns Deadly
Paul Slater, a former Green Beret sniper, now works at the steel mill outside of Pittsburgh as his father and grandfather before him. He has a skilled job as a pattern maker, but it offers little stimulation. He’s married to his high school sweetheart and has two children. In the evenings he attends the men’s clubs around the mill, but on a whim he decides to try the night life in Pittsburgh.
One day after his work partner tells Paul about the murder of a young woman in a Pittsburgh park, he unaccountably leaves work and heads to Pittsburgh. There he stumbles on a film crew making a movie. He becomes entranced with a young intern, Suzy, and begins to see her. Then the director of the movie and his wife are killed. Suzy is questioned and Paul is pulled into the investigation.
This book gives beautifully written descriptions of the Philadelphia area. The characters are realistic for the area and the seventies time frame. However, the plot is convoluted. I found it difficult to relate to the diverse characters and follow the several plot lines.
The book does have somel important themes. Paul’s overriding problem is the boredom of living a predictable life. He also appears to suffer from PTSD. Racism and drug abuse as well as the sexual abuse of women are secondary themes. The surprising violence at the end comes as rather a surprise.
I received this book from Net Galley for this review.
Paul Slater, a former Green Beret sniper, now works at the steel mill outside of Pittsburgh as his father and grandfather before him. He has a skilled job as a pattern maker, but it offers little stimulation. He’s married to his high school sweetheart and has two children. In the evenings he attends the men’s clubs around the mill, but on a whim he decides to try the night life in Pittsburgh.
One day after his work partner tells Paul about the murder of a young woman in a Pittsburgh park, he unaccountably leaves work and heads to Pittsburgh. There he stumbles on a film crew making a movie. He becomes entranced with a young intern, Suzy, and begins to see her. Then the director of the movie and his wife are killed. Suzy is questioned and Paul is pulled into the investigation.
This book gives beautifully written descriptions of the Philadelphia area. The characters are realistic for the area and the seventies time frame. However, the plot is convoluted. I found it difficult to relate to the diverse characters and follow the several plot lines.
The book does have somel important themes. Paul’s overriding problem is the boredom of living a predictable life. He also appears to suffer from PTSD. Racism and drug abuse as well as the sexual abuse of women are secondary themes. The surprising violence at the end comes as rather a surprise.
I received this book from Net Galley for this review.
July 13, 2020
Anything but an HEA!
This was like watching a PBS mystery with so many potential persons of interest that it was literally hard to keep up. Taking place in 1975 we are introduced to a sad man, the pattern maker, Paul whose life is boring after having been in the CIA in Viet Nam and who suddenly develops an obsession for a young woman. And then there is Lt. Nathan White, an African American officer new to his partner because his former partner had issues with him. They are called out on an awful crime of a bludgeoned and tied up young woman.
There are so many times I thought we were getting close to a resolution and then to come to a dead end. No pun intended! Snodgrass throws so many unlikely people together or in each other’s orbit to give you lots of potential victims or killers. I’m still trying to figure out if I really liked this book or did I keep reading to see if they figure out “who done it”? There are the Nicolettis, Paul Slater, Suzy Konecki, Sam Connor, Jeff Berner, Carla, Ianni and the dead girl Sandy Love. And, other mentioned but less important people.
Snodgrass had one of the characters say, “Funny ol’ world, sweet ol’ world, serendipitous ol’ world, we are drawn together by forces and ties of which we have no concept and no control.” This is a pretty succinct description of this book. Lots of people and few come out of it unscathed. I volunteered to review this book through NetGalley and I give it 4 stars because I couldn’t stop reading it…
This was like watching a PBS mystery with so many potential persons of interest that it was literally hard to keep up. Taking place in 1975 we are introduced to a sad man, the pattern maker, Paul whose life is boring after having been in the CIA in Viet Nam and who suddenly develops an obsession for a young woman. And then there is Lt. Nathan White, an African American officer new to his partner because his former partner had issues with him. They are called out on an awful crime of a bludgeoned and tied up young woman.
There are so many times I thought we were getting close to a resolution and then to come to a dead end. No pun intended! Snodgrass throws so many unlikely people together or in each other’s orbit to give you lots of potential victims or killers. I’m still trying to figure out if I really liked this book or did I keep reading to see if they figure out “who done it”? There are the Nicolettis, Paul Slater, Suzy Konecki, Sam Connor, Jeff Berner, Carla, Ianni and the dead girl Sandy Love. And, other mentioned but less important people.
Snodgrass had one of the characters say, “Funny ol’ world, sweet ol’ world, serendipitous ol’ world, we are drawn together by forces and ties of which we have no concept and no control.” This is a pretty succinct description of this book. Lots of people and few come out of it unscathed. I volunteered to review this book through NetGalley and I give it 4 stars because I couldn’t stop reading it…
May 19, 2020
It has been a while since I spent time in Pittsburgh, but this book provides such a loving description of the area that I remembered and wished I could stop back. The writing is almost lyrical in creating the images of the three rivers area. The main characters are unique and weird. The book captures their environments and forces in their lives. I wish I felt the same about the plot. It would be difficult to say what the book is about. When it ended, a number of loose ends remained. Hopefully they will be addressed in subsequent books in this series. I'm sure you will enjoy the many wild and wonderful characters, and you will definitely learn to admire the Pittsburgh area. The story itself ends suddenly and somewhat strangely. I loved the book , but felt unfulfilled.
June 4, 2020
The Pattern Maker doesn't make sewing patterns. The Pattern Maker isn't a psychologist, studying people, looking for patterns in their behavior or their acquaintances or their families. No, he works in a steel mill. One Saturday, he takes off for Pittsburgh, for a change of scene, and finds himself enmeshed in crime and murder. From start to finish, one surprise after another!
I read this EARC courtesy of Calling Crow Press and Net Galley. pub date 05/01/20
I read this EARC courtesy of Calling Crow Press and Net Galley. pub date 05/01/20
September 19, 2020
Interesting sounding plot line but I had a hard time with the story. I couldn’t relate to the characters and had a hard time keeping track of the plot and what, if anything, it was doing. While other reader will love this book, it was not one for me.
Thank you NetGalley, Richard Snodgrass and Calling Crow Press for this edition and hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partner
Thank you NetGalley, Richard Snodgrass and Calling Crow Press for this edition and hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partner
May 16, 2020
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy for an honest review. This book takes place in the 70's, Paul who is restless goes home and as a veteran wants to retain his status of a hero. While in Pittsburgh, gruesome murders occur and Paul fights to clear his name. Well written, great book!
May 10, 2020
Very complex, but carefully constructed, plot line. The author uses obvious location cues to draw the reader into the locale and to tie the setting and timeline into historical perspective. The writing is finely crafted. A very thoughtful read.
May 22, 2020
This is one useless story. There area no characters to love, none to cheer. No one wins. The plot is pointless. I want my wasted time back.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews