Rem’s Probability
by Dave J. Andrae
Style: Literary Fiction / Thriller
Print Size: 236 pages
Reviewed by Nick Rees Gardner
The peace and quiet of middle-age is disrupted by an irrational assassin and a revived teenage punk band in Dave J. Andrae’s Rem’s Probability.
Again in highschool, Rem Bruxvoort and his greatest pal Gene Pawlus have been in a punk band. However whereas The Effervescent Samovars as soon as rocked the Better Milwaukee DIY scene, and even recorded an album, their fame petered out with maturity.
Now it’s 2021, the pandemic is kind of underneath management, and whereas Gene has discovered his place as a fortunately married tech entrepreneur, Rem is within the midst of a midlife disaster and a tough separation along with his ex-fiancee. When Gene’s dad dies in his retirement dwelling, the 2 bandmates reconnect. And Gene’s sister, Julie, a quiet poet deep within the indecision of midlife as nicely, strikes into her lifeless father’s home and strikes up a detailed friendship with Rem.
Because the story unfolds by these three characters’ shifting factors of view, one other standpoint character, recognized solely as “The Man,” lurks in his van on the periphery, swearing to enact revenge on Gene for a perceived slight years prior to now. Whereas Rem and Julie hit it off over lengthy philosophical meanderings and dissertations on the humanities (a basic love story), “The Man” interjects the strain of a thriller into the quiet city of Palmera Cay.
Andrae’s second novel is a masterclass on shifting views, a seamless slide from one character’s consciousness to a different. Although Rem, Gene, and Julie are usually in settlement on factors each aesthetic and philosophical, every provides a singular character. Rem is fed up with sq. middle-class life whereas Gene is comfortably married, pleased in his profitable profession. Julie, like Rem, can also be caught in a second of questioning her trajectory, a time of life when she is prepared for drastic change. Although Rem stays the main target character, all three protagonists emerge as complicated people with comparable however intricate methods of seeing the world.
Nonetheless, the agreeableness between these three characters tends to gradual the pacing of the story and makes conversations comparable to Rem and Julie’s monologues about lesser-known movies flag. Battle takes a backseat a lot of the time when Rem, Julie, and Gene work together. And whereas Rem’s factors on society and politics could also be legitimate and his description of esoteric movies correct, they often come off as didactic asides or exposition directed on the reader fairly than constructing pressure or furthering the story itself. Whereas Rem’s asides might gradual the tempo, the ominous character of “The Man” serves up sufficient pressure to hold the story.
Opposite to Rem, Gene, and Julie’s agreeableness, “The Man” is slovenly, pushed by a bizarre logic towards violent acts. Armed with a gun and his pothead side-kick Dino, his standpoint appearances change into extra frequent because the guide winds on. He turns from distant menace to disturbed psychopath chapter by chapter, making the second half of Rem’s Probability an edge-of-your-seat nail-biter. Whereas Rem, Gene, and Julie are the main target of the guide, “The Man” emerges as the first driving drive that turns a quiet story about midlife crises right into a life-or-death thriller.
Dave J. Andrae’s Rem’s Probability is an excellent mix of each quiet and loud, at occasions as placid as a Sunday morning stroll, however with a background din raucous sufficient to wake a neighborhood. It doesn’t harm that his writing is clear and clear and that the understanding and empathy he holds for his characters goes soul deep. Whereas Rem’s Probability strikes slowly and the array of factoids might not be each reader’s cup of tea, it’s nonetheless simple for a reader to reenter the fictive dream and dive headlong right into a world of middle-aged weirdos all attempting to slap collectively a significant life.
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