Reading like it's my job #21: Those Who Wish Me Dead; 1917 (movie)
Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta (388 pages)
I read this decent little thriller while on vacation for MLK weekend. It kept my interest until the end, but I do want more from my thrillers. It didn’t fully satisfy or fully thrill.
The premise is simple enough: Boy witnesses murder, killers come after boy to silence him, good people step in to protect boy. Ever heard of the movie Witness with Harrison Ford? Or the book The Client by John Grisham? It’s like that.
What’s different is the setting: The boy is sent to a wilderness camp for troubled youth in Montana to get him off the grid and protect him. Murder mystery AND wilderness survival are two things I love in the same story! My expectations were sky high for this book.
But probably too high. Don’t get me wrong – I’d recommend this if you’re looking for a quick little thriller to pass the time while chilling on the beach or something to listen to on a long car ride or to read on your next Montana camping trip. It had its moments of genuine surprise and excitement, I was just hoping for a little bit more. The book never explained why the killers committed that murder in the first place or why their best strategy to silence a kid who witnessed them committing a murder was to murder all the people who stood between them and the kid, thus creating more potential murder witnesses…it just didn't strike me as a well thought out plan. I never believed they were the criminal masterminds that the book told me they were. I gave the book 3/5 stars.
1917 (movie)
I have to briefly talk about this movie because I want everyone to go see it. Think of the last great war movie you saw – how did it make you feel? Perhaps the cost of war left you feeling dumbfounded and a little angry. Perhaps you felt proud of your country and its military heroes. Or maybe you felt grateful that we don’t have a draft and fighting isn’t required of you. All the feels, right? A good war movie puts things in perspective for me.
It's highly likely that war movie you thought of had a travel montage or a 'round the campfire scene or moments where the characters are mostly out of harms way. The movie cuts and moves forward in time and gives you a moment to breathe a little.
But imagine you’re watching a war movie that doesn’t cut away. It stays with the main characters for every muddy step across no man’s land and around every potentially fatal corner. You are always right there with the same two guys. No cuts, no time jumps, it's all experienced together in real time as if you’re a third party on the mission.
That’s what 1917 is like and I thought it was brilliant. I was moved and inspired, horrified and humbled. It was intense! I’d encourage you to not watch any trailers because they give away a lot. I’d prefer you be surprised like I was. I'd also suggest that you don't let the R rating discourage you. The film is tasteful, respectful, and not gratuitous or crass in any way.
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading.
Kyle