These Violent Delights – Micah Nemerever
Expectation: A dark and twisted gay “Bonnie and Clyde.”
Reality: Despite its intriguing premise and well-written characters, "These Violent Delights" is a super slow-burning thriller with too many unresolved plot points that left me wanting more.
My Take:
Micah Nemerever's "These Violent Delights" is the slowest of burns, a character-driven coming-of-age thriller that explores the murkier sides of human nature — envy, desire and brutality.
Paul, a teenage loner grappling with the recent suicide of his father, and Julian, a wealthy and confident classmate are drawn to each other despite their contrasting personalities.
They see the otherness in each other — burgeoning queerness and a shared obsession with violence — and spend a year using both covert and overt manipulation tactics to further pick at the scabs that scarcely cover the darkness lurking beneath the surface of their seemingly ordinary lives.
While it may not be to everyone’s tastes due to its bloat — easily 100-pages could’ve been shaved off — pacing and lack of clear resolution, it was still an expertly written and engrossing descent into all-encompassing madness viewed as love. The narrative is effective in creating a sense of isolation and frustration, mirroring the characters' emotional turmoil.
Nemerever was clearly influenced by the Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb murders that also inspired Alfred Hitchcock's fantastic "Rope." In many ways the novel is a cousin to that film, building on the themes of narcissism and murder for sport — even borrowing the “long take” idea with extended scenes and various monologues — but, thankfully, leaves no doubt that our killers are lovers, even though the “romance” is rather chaste.
My main complaint is that it is excessively slow. I found myself pushing through rather than being eagerly invested. This is despite being intrigued by the psychological games and a lingering curiosity about how their first murder — which we are teased in the first chapter — takes shape.
The final third picked up the pace, but the ending got sloppy. While it makes you question who played who, there were too many plot points unresolved.
There’s also a fair amount of gay shame hinted at as motivation for Paul’s and Julian’s dysfunctional relationship and cruelty. While I’m not denying that happens with couples, especially during the 1970s when this is set, but these excuses feel trite, especially coming from a queer author.
My biggest complaint however, besides the length, is that we never got Julian’s perspective. While he still came richly to life through Paul’s POV, this is a one-sided story of a relationship gone bad, and we know there are at least two sides to every situation.
Michael Crouch is one of my favorite underrated audiobook narrators, and he didn’t disappoint here. He is adept at providing a detached clarity to his characters that helps bring their mania to life in a reserved way. His performance helped keep me going when the text would’ve put me to sleep.
If you’re a reader that likes your thrillers — gay or otherwise — to have characters with a hefty amount of arrogance and sense of superiority that ultimately leads to their downfall, this novel will “Delight.” If you want more pep in each chapter, steer clear.
Rating (story): 3.5/5 stars
Rating (narration): 4/5 stars
Format: Audiobook (personal library)
Dates read: May 27 – June 2, 2024
Multi-tasking: Okay. The narration and writing are both solid, but this is the slowest of burns, so it’s easy for your mind to wander during the longer chapters.
