All the Beautiful Sinners in The Velvet

Jan 14, 2010 Gordon rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I knew this one was gonna be complex and I wanted to reduce the confusion I often suffer from smaller reading doses, so I embraced masochism and read this in three days.

Absolutely amazing. Rich prose, verby — full of velvety goodness. Even some of the subplots that at first only seem to serve as character-building devices end up being plot-relevant, so pay attention throughout. This may be the most character names ever introduced in one book, Bible excluded. . . Part of me wishes AtBS were about ...more

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Jan 06, 2009 Colin Miller rated it did not like it

Shelves: novels

I really wanted to like All the Beautiful Sinners because I really like Stephen Graham Jones. Not just the man—he’s really nice in person—but the idea of the man: He’s incredibly prolific and writes over several genres, this book being a thriller. By the end though, all the desire I had to enjoy All the Beautiful Sinners had morphed into disappointment.

Deputy Sheriff Jim Doe, a Blackfeet Indian, chases after a killer who gunned down the town’s sheriff and has a history of abducting children. Th I really wanted to like All the Beautiful Sinners because I really like Stephen Graham Jones. Not just the man—he’s really nice in person—but the idea of the man: He’s incredibly prolific and writes over several genres, this book being a thriller. By the end though, all the desire I had to enjoy All the Beautiful Sinners had morphed into disappointment.

Deputy Sheriff Jim Doe, a Blackfeet Indian, chases after a killer who gunned down the town’s sheriff and has a history of abducting children. This man is Indian himself, causing several people to confuse the cop with the killer (a point that is amusing and well done). Three FBI profilers also join the hunt, but when Jones isn’t playing the interesting Indian angle, the characters dissolve into stereotypes: There’s the old profiler, Tim Creed, who is full of department credibility and a burning desire to solve the case that got away; the young profiler, Cody Mingus, who brings fresh eyes and fresh mistakes; and Special Agent Sheila Watts, who stands in the middle of their ages and experience. It all feels like a movie that should star Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd (or different actors who were willing to take their roles). Granted, Jones expands the plot beyond a lean script, makes it fit far better into a book than a movie, but there’s still that annoying thriller quirk of being stuck one step behind until the good guys figure out the killer’s convoluted logic. Whether it’s character history you don’t know until later or dialogue that doesn’t quite make sense, I always feel like thrillers unfairly turn over puzzle pieces too late, leaving a confusion that you can’t learn your way out of until the writer lets you. Having a novel full of that trick just ended up rubbing me the wrong way.

Though Jones can convey very specific descriptions, it soon becomes overdone, adding unnecessary points to unnecessary points. Too many words, sometimes syllables of words, get italicized creating too much emphasis. I did like the novel’s commentary on fathers though, what it means to recreate yourself in another person. Jones’ ability to make you feel empathy for victims late in the novel is also impressive. Additionally, there were action sequences so well written that my face contorted in admiration of the oft gory descriptions. The novels sprawls over several dates and locations—marked as chapter headings—and the flashback chapters are among my favorite. Overall though, All the Beautiful Sinners reads like a novel you have to read several times to fully “get it,” but I didn’t get enough the first time around to warrant the repeat treatment. One star.
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