Wednesday, May 31, 2017

BOOK: Knucklehead by Matt Lennox

Knucklehead by Matt Lennox, 320 pages 

Kuncklehead came to my attention when it was on the longlist for Canada Reads this year. There weren't a lot of books that caught my attention, but this one had mystery associated with it, so I decided to give it a try.

Ashley Rosco is a small town Ontario young guy, going no where. He's bouncing at the local club, working out and competing in body building. He's in love with his best friend's girl who also happens to be his cousin. Yeah, things get a bit icky here because they fool around too. 

And yet, I liked Ashley and hoped he could get his life together. His family is messed up and Ash has his own issues. He's that young guy with no ambitions, just hanging out with his old life, doing drugs, on the edge of society, but senses that he could be doing better.

The mystery is when his cousin, Chastity, goes missing. He gets a bit obsessed, and the story he narrates goes back in forth, growing up times, present time, and times with Chastity. His friend Darren is definitely heading in a dangerous direction with his really bad news father. 

Things get pretty gritty - guns and drugs and fights. Somewhere around half way through I really got into the story, and the mystery of Chas started ramping up. 

Certainly not a book I would have ever found myself or picked up, but I ended up liking it quite a lot.