Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Book Club: Chance by Kem Nunn



"Chance 1. The absence of any cause or series of causes of events as they actually happen that can be predicted, understood, or controlled. Sometimes granted agency, as in Chance governs all"

This is how the novel Chance, by Kem Nunn, starts out the June pick for the book club I'm in. 

Nunn authored Tijuana Straits and The Dogs of Winter among other books and wrote for the TV shows Deadwood and Sons of Anarchy. I enjoyed Tijuana Straits and I liked that this book was set in Northern California. 

Here's a description of the book:

The antihero of this book, Dr. Eldon Chance, a neuropsychiatrist, is a man primed for spectacular ruin. Into Dr. Chance’s blighted life walks Jaclyn Blackstone, the abused, attractive wife of an Oakland homicide detective, a violent and jealous man. Jaclyn appears to be suffering from a dissociative identity disorder. In time, Chance will fall into bed with her—or is it with her alter ego, the voracious and volatile Jackie Black? The not-so-good doctor, despite his professional training, isn’t quite sure—and thereby hangs his fascination with her. 

But when you get Jaclyn, you get her husband, Raymond, a formidable and dangerous adversary.

 Meanwhile, Chance also meets a young man named D, a self-styled, streetwise philosopher skilled in the art of the blade. It is around this trio of unique and dangerous individuals that long guarded secrets begin to unravel, obsessions grow, and the doctor’s carefully arranged life comes to the brink of implosion.

Here's my review:

The writing is easy to read and pulls you into the story immediately as the main character, Dr. Eldon Chance, makes bad decision after bad decision. He is definitely an anti-hero and some of the people in my book club do not like anti-heros as a rule. I enjoyed the book. It was hard to put down and while many of the events probably would not happen in real life, they aren't meant to appear that way, which is why the book, in my opinion, is called Chance. 

It's a quick read that makes you think. It's not a traditional thriller or mystery, but it does have elements, especially as Chance deals with Jaclyn's alter ego, Jackie, and her pretty evil husband. 

If you're up for an anti-hero and a quick read, then you should pick up Chance. I enjoyed the book and look forward to Nunn's next book. 

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