First novel a taut thriller

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This article was published 24/03/2002 (8856 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“OUTSIDE, he realizes he is not drunk enough.” Victoria’s Clint Hutzulak sets the tone of his riveting first novel with this first line. What follows is a taut neo-noir thriller that is simultaneously an engaging page-turner and a literary contemporary novel, showcasing a visually arresting style.

The Beautiful Dead End defies categorization, breaking new literary ground while still retaining the attention-holding qualities of a pulp-fiction thriller. Twenty-two pages into the novel, Stace, the hard-drinking, tough-loving protagonist, dies of a drug overdose.

He continues to be the central character, waking up as a ghost stuck in a sort of purgatory while his physical body remains undiscovered. While in this interzone, Stace is compelled to examine his life and to attempt to reconnect with his ex-wife, Lillis Rae, with whom he shared a powerful bond before his criminal pursuits led to deserting her.

Hutzulak’s writing has a visceral and sensual quality that enables the reader to inhabit the characters, to feel what they feel, good and bad. There are passages of such startling brilliance that the words seem to rise from the page: “Her eyes hazel, flecked with gold, staring upside down into his, amazed at the shocking intimacy of the thing, the kiss.”

Eloquent moments

The novel is filled with so many eloquent moments that one is constantly torn between the desire to savour each paragraph and the urgency to turn the page.

At the culmination of Stace’s quest near the end of the novel, Hutzulak affects an unexpected change in tone, switching to first-person.

These final scenes represent some of the strongest and most evocative writing in the book. The sensual love scene between Lillis Rae and Stace remembered from better days finishes with: “Maybe one day I will be able to come back to this afternoon and see it for the first time and know none of what comes after. Like you, reading it now on this page.”

Addressing the reader directly is a risky choice, but it is also an effective tool in intensifying the reader’s empathy.

The Beautiful Dead End is so startlingly fresh it is hard to believe it is a first novel. Apparently, it took Hutzulak 12 years to complete the book — a fact that underscores the precision and confidence that is woven throughout.

It is a brilliant debut, and coming from a small publisher, it is bound to sell out quickly.

Former Winnipegger Joe Wiebe is a freelance writer in Vancouver.