Began reading: 25.4.2017
Completed reading: 30.4.2017
Overall rating: 3 stars
When Curtis Brooks starts receiving phone calls from his older brother Wilt, who's been dead for a week, he's sure there's a reason - to provide the necessary evidence that will lead to the murderer's arrest.
A plausible assumption, considering the circumstances.
But Wilt claims he wasn't murdered, that his calling is part of the therapy required for the newly deceased. Where is he? A place known unofficially as the Aftermart.
"Imagine the biggest Walmart you've ever been in, except you can't find an exit," Wilt says, "and all the stuff on the shelves is junk you've only heard about either from Mom and Dad or from people even more ancient. Black and white TVs with rotary dials that were around when our supposedly wise elders were kids or even earlier. Eight-track tapes, board games."
"So you're saying...?"
"Products they don't make anymore. Dead stuff."
After detectives rule Wilt's death a homicide, Curtis embarks on a dangerous plan to find the killer - a plan that soon has him scheming against an unsavoury billionaire and floundering toward love with his brother's ex-girlfriend Suzy, who might be a suspect. Meantime, he has to contend with his strangely grieving mother and narcissistic father, and with being "the dead guy's brother" at high school.
Who killed Wilt? In sleuthing out the murderer, is Curtis only hastening his own death? And why is Wilt helping Curtis win over Suzy, even as he organises a massive rebellion at the Aftermart?
#Static by Eric Laster is a young adult novel that contains mystery, fantasy and paranormal themes. I was drawn to this library book because of the blurb – I mean, a guy trying to solve the mystery of who killed his brother, while falling for his brother’s ex? Yeah, that’s interesting. Overall, I thought that the book was enjoyable, if a little dull.
A week after Wilt’s death, Curtis begins to receive calls from him and assumes that this is a sign that Wilt was murdered and he must find who was responsible; however, Wilt dismisses this until the detectives reveal that Wilt’s death was a homicide. Curtis is determined to solve this mystery and see that the murderer is held accountable, but things aren’t as simple as he thinks. Who hated Wilt enough to be driven to murder him? Could it be Suzy, Wilt’s ex-girlfriend who Curtis believes schemed against Wilt for money? Wilt’s former employer, a rich but dodgy man involved in a dogfighting ring? Or could it be someone completely different, someone not even Wilt could have suspected? During his phone calls with Curtis, Wilt says that he’s in an Aftermart – a shop where dead things go: old music players, ancient weapons, pet rocks, people – and he is already over how the place is run. Wilt plans a rebellion to change the way things are managed, but how will it end?
The book was well-written, with no spelling or grammatical errors. It was well-paced, and utilised a variety of literary techniques to add depth and a touch of realism to the plot. For example, tone, humour and conflict emphasise the major themes within the novel, making the plot and characters more realistic, as well as breaking up the tension. One instance of humour that I found pretty funny was this scene:
‘[…] I’m not going there again, and Curtis can figure if it’s dogfighting by how much they call in a vegetirarian.’
Lou snotted up some of his Slurpee. ‘A what? Is that a doctor who works on sick vegetables?’ (p. 108).
Also, there were some great quotes throughout the book, including:
People are always talking at each other, talking at each other all the time, but is anybody ever listening? (p. 60).
There’s the kind of person who lets disappointment make him weak and angry, the kind who lets it beat him down to the point where he doesn’t think he deserves anything else. Then there’s the person disappointment makes stronger. He fights as hard as he can against it to get what he needs from this world. I’ve always wanted to be the second kind of person. I can’t help it if too often I feel like the first (p. 70).
I remember what I thought weren’t good times, except now I realise they kind of were because I shared them with Wilt (p. 123).
[…] just because somebody hurt you doesn’t mean you can stop caring about them, even if maybe you should (p. 328).
As I have mentioned in previous reviews, a range of primary and secondary characters are important for including numerous plot lines, providing someone for the reader to relate to, and resembling diversity in reality. This book delivered, by including two protagonists and a variety of secondary characters for them to associate with. Each character provided a new plot line, such as a romance or rivalry, which made the plot more appealing. Some of the characters also created mystery, which had me suspecting that they could be responsible of Wilt’s murder. While some books with a sizeable collection of characters might create confusion, Laster did a great job with adding just the right amount to keep things uncomplicated.
Creativity is something that I look for in every book, primarily because it makes the book standout against the rest in the same genre. With that being said, I thought that the idea behind the Aftermart was original and clever. It was easy to imagine, as opposed to trying to picture Heaven or some other abstract form of afterlife. I would love to be able to wander the aisles and see things that had gone out of style and are considered ancient. Wilt also talks about meeting the Romans, so it would be pretty awesome to meet some of the historical figures in the Aftermart. The amount of thought that had been put into this paid off because I believe that it demonstrated a fair amount of creativity.
Another concept that some authors have difficulty portraying is the relationship between siblings. In my experience, I have come across such relationships that seem too unrealistic, with siblings being really generous and pleasant with each other. Yes, there are people out there who have a relationship like this but more often than not siblings are not so close and polite with each other. I get along with my brother and sister most of the time, but we do have our disagreements and tend to distance ourselves from each other until we’ve calmed down. Laster accurately portrayed such a relationship between Curtis and Wilt – Curtis mentions that he and Wilt barely talked to each other while Wilt was alive, but their phone calls after Wilt’s death resemble an authentic sibling connection. For example:
‘I think there’s something wrong with this connection,’ he said. ‘You sound like an idiot’ (p. 15).
When I’m reading a book, I like to be able to determine whether or not a big reveal was predictable or not. In other words, I don’t want to be left wondering about whether or not that big reveal or plot twist was predictable. Unfortunately, this was the case for this novel – I kind of suspected the character who turned out to be the murderer, but at the same time I was a little surprised. I just didn’t know how to react to the news, mainly because I kind of saw it coming.
As much as liked some of the components in the book, I found the plot to be dull. Don’t get me wrong, it was interesting but it didn’t pick up until towards the end of the book. That’s all I have to say about that.
My favourite character was Wilt because he was a cinnamon roll, protective, humorous and relatable. Being the eldest sibling, I could definitely see a bit of myself in him, especially the way in which he talks to Curtis. Everyone else either irritated me or I didn’t have much time to form an opinion about them.
I know that Curtis’s mum was grieving, but I thought that she was downright weird. Why didn’t she just explain where the kids were coming from? Why did we have to wait until the end of the novel to find out?
My favourite part of the book was the conclusion, in particular chapters 51 and 52. I thought that it was a great conclusion – it provided answers and closure, was slightly emotional and just plain heart-warming. Not all authors are good at producing a decent conclusion, but I think that Laster went above and beyond.
Recommendation time! If you like Sunset City by Melissa Ginsburg, The Story of Tom Brennan by J.C. Burke, and The Haunting of Emily Stone by Amy Cross, you will love this book. Also, I recommend this book to anyone who likes How to Get Away With Murder, Riverdale, Criminal Minds, and Bones.
Happy reading!
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