1949: Rudy, A Jewish New Yorker snatches a briefcase of cash from a dead man in Los Angeles and runs away from his old life, into the arms of the Boston mob.
1966: Hinako, a young Japanese girl runs away from what she thought was the suffocating conformity of a life in Japan. Aiming to make a fresh start in America, she falls into the grip of a Hawaiian gang dubbed 'The Company'.
1967: Rudy and Hinako's lives collide in the city of Honolulu, where there is nowhere left for either of them to run, and only blood to redeem them.
Say Goodbye When I'm Gone is a gritty noir thriller with echoes of classic James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy.
I know we're not supposed to judge a book by its cover but I couldn't fail to be tempted by the stunning cover for Say Goodbye When I'm Gone. I'm ashamed to say I've had this – as well as Stephen J. Golds' equally as eye-catching novels, Always the Dead and I'll Pray When I'm Dying – adorning my bookshelves for far too long. Having finally almost inhaled this outstanding debut in just a few hours, I've definitely learned my lesson and will be reading his subsequent books soon.
At only 169 pages, this is likely to be one of the shortest novels I've read this year but its emotional impact belies its relative brevity. It comes as no surprise to learn that Stephen J. Golds is a poet because despite the ugliness he describes here, the writing is beautifully lyrical. Viscerally graphic, although not gratuitously so, the storyline switches back and forth through time, and mostly between two characters – Rudy, an older Jewish-American man and Hinako, a young Japanese girl.
In both cases, chasing their dreams has led to their respective nadirs; Rudy is punished in the most harrowing manner for crossing the wrong people while Hinako's desire to swap the stagnant dreariness of life with her withdrawn single mother in Japan for America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, inevitably results in terrible violence and pain. It doesn't come as a shock to readers but is still almost too unbearably difficult to bear witness to and in one of the the most upsetting scenes in the book, the Mamas and Papas song, California Dreamin' is used to ironically horrific effect.
Their separate paths eventually culminate in their meeting one another in an antique shop in Honolulu, and flashbacks explain how this nihilistic old man and frightened, broken young addict are brought together. Meanwhile, there's a bleak subplot which follows a young boy and his unspeakable metamorphosis into a fearsomely brutal man; some authors may allude to the horrors which take place but Stephen J. Golds lays them bare on the page and this character is a particularly sickening individual. Nevertheless, for all the evil he inflicts, readers cannot forget that he was shaped by the barbarity of war.
From the bloody, unforgiving streets of New York City and Boston to the stultifying monotony of Hinako's life in Nagoya, Japan to the nightmarish Hawaiian island which is the grim antithesis of the paradise it promises, the unequivocally raw sense of place is mesmerising, complementing the searingly perceptive characterisation throughout. Say Goodbye When I'm Gone is an unflinching exploration of greed, lust and power; a relentlessly dark, unvarnished portrayal of the worst excesses of humanity. It's soul-piercingly explicit yet this pitch-black tale of atonement and perhaps even hope is an empathetic, exquisitely crafted story which will linger long in my memory. Very highly recommended.
Say Goodbye When I'm Gone is published by Red Dog Press and can be purchased from their website. It is also available from bookshop.org, Waterstones, Kobo and Amazon but please support independent booksellers whenever possible.
About the Author
He writes primarily in the noir and dirty realism genres and is the poetry editor of Close to the Bone Press and editor of Punk Noir Magazine. Some of his writing influences are Charles Bukowski, John Fante, James M. Cain, Tobias Wolff and Jim Thompson.
He enjoys spending time with his daughters, reading books, traveling the world, boxing and listening to old Soul LPs.
He is the author of Say Goodbye When I’m Gone, I’ll Pray When I’m Dying, and Always the Dead, (Red Dog Press) as well as Poems for Ghosts in Empty Tenement Windows and the story and poetry collection Love Like Bleeding Out With an Empty Gun in Your Hand.
He has had stories and poetry published in a wide variety of online magazines and anthologies.
Comments
Post a Comment