Review: Jack Strong by Walter Mosley

In a Las Vegas hotel room, a man awakes to confront his destiny.

Dreaming, Jack hears voices: a frightened child in a hospital, a woman cheating on her husband, a death row inmate. When he wakes, the voices recede, but they do not vanish. He is in a luxurious hotel room on the Vegas strip, and his body is covered in scars. Jack Strong is a patchwork man, his flesh melded together from dozens of men and women, and his mind is the same way. Countless lifetimes are contained within him: people whose lives were cut short, and who see their place in Jack as a chance to make things right.

On behalf of one of them, Jack reignites a feud with some corrupt casino bosses. Drawing on the skills of another, he beats the life out of two bodyguards. Jack fights for control as he lurches from impulse to impulse, certain that somewhere within him lies a soul. The answer may lie with whoever is tailing him in a sleek black car--if Jack can somehow confront him.

*I received a copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Jack Strong is a novella/very short story and we all know how I feel about those. The whole setup of the story is what spoke to me. We have a man who is a compilation of many different men and women, even children. Some of those were good people and some not so good.

Now this is mostly mentally, so you can see it as a very bad case of schizophrenia. Though it's not just different personalities, he also inherited their memories. Physically her reminded me of Frankenstein, though not that extreme. The guy has some serious scars and is patched together from different people. To me this seemed very interesting and screamed government secret soldier.

After finishing this though I still don't really know what is going on. It feels like this was a short introduction of the character and that we would get a full novel later. There's a constant struggle in Jack's head of the people wanting to take over. He uses their memories to clear up some unfinished business. The interesting fact though is that Jack barely has any clue of what is going on himself. He doesn't know who he is and how he came to be.

On it's own this story didn't do much for me. The main character is fascinating though and I just hope he gets a full length novel.

2.5

Buy book:

The Author

Walter Mosley (b. 1952) is the author of the bestselling mystery series featuring Easy Rawlins, as well as numerous other works, from literary fiction and science fiction to a young adult novel and political monographs. His short fiction has been widely published, and his nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times Magazine and the Nation, among other publications. Mosley is the winner of numerous awards, including an O. Henry Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, a Grammy, and PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He lives in New York City.

Connect with Walter Mosley:

Website - Facebook - Goodreads