re:mote voices

Title: The Third Person
Author: Steve Mosby
Publisher:Orion

The publisher Orion have created a series of crime novels under the banner of New Blood - a group of novels by first time writers, which is being given a promotional and design boost. The series is currently getting it's own space in bookshops across the UK - distinctive designs, in terms of the package as well as art work, which also allows for a lower cover price of £4.99 (following the initial hard backs which were published at the lower price of £9.99).

A few of these novels sound as though they could be quite interesting, based on their sleeve descriptions. But it is the first published novel by 26 year old Steve Mosby that plays most to my interests - like several of the other thriller/crime novels I've covered recently - there is a technology aspect which sparks my initial interest. However it quickly becomes clear reading The Third Person that this is something special.

We are introduced to the narrator Jason Klein as the book starts, in such a way that we are given someone that appears to be a very dark hero. In the first 50 odd pages we have a man who is downloading rape and snuff mpegs, flicking through the photos of Jeffrey Dahmer's mutilated victims, and hanging out as a woman in rape chat rooms. From there he sets up a woman from his work to meet a rapist, and is taken in by the police when a woman he has had cybersex with is found dead.

In some ways from the launch point the character starts to become a better person, and a worse one! Slow revelations come about his missing girlfriend, and the fact that by looking at all these dark materials from the internet he is actually following in her footsteps. But at the same time, we have a running commentary of cynicism - a rejection of reality as everything is filtered down to pixels and sound bites, a scathing rant about the insurance job he is no longer turning up for. Which as the book goes on, and the violence levels mount, starts to bleed into a distinct paranoia, but one with a seething desire to lash out.

On the surface, and from the promotion, The Third Person is a crime novel, but it isn't long before we detect other influences creeping in. There is a distinct science fiction edge, references to advertising levels projected forward from the current, repeat mentions of a monopolising software company that has blown microsoft away, and a system called Liberty which is obviously sprung from the likes of Napster. On top of that there is discussion of tower block gardens linking together until they have created a new artificial Uptown, and a grey, destitute Downtown below, and then there is the suburb sponsored by Coke. This aspect of the book is pretty subtle, woven into the text rather than standing out and blatant, but even so is part of the core of how the novel develops.

Other influences make their presence known throughout, even if crime and science fiction are the two most blatant. There is a real dark edge, which straddles the boundaries of the really violent crime fiction and horror. Then coupled with that, and the challenges to reality that horror can bring there is an increasing tendency to weirdness, aspects of the text stepping well out there.

Comparisons are varied. The biting commentaries and contemporary edge initially suggest a certain parallel to Chuck Palahniuk, though the voice that is speaking to us certainly comes across with a different tone. With progression, I get a certain feeling of Michael Marshall Smith - combining many of the elements that are present in something like Only Forward - the real dark edge, the sense of real violence, and the science fiction tones. I even get a little Jeff Noon vibe going on the more Mosby twists his plot around. Regardless of any comparison The Third Person is vivid and distinct, sinking claws into the reader and gripping hard. A surprising debut that is definitely worth reading, and creates a promise that Steve Mosby is going to be a name to watch!

orion's" new blood - feature i came across on each of the orion new blood writer's including steve mosby.