The Cul-de-sac

The book begins with a really strong beginning, a burial, where a shallow grave simply won't do.  It immediately got my attention and intrigue. My curiosity built through the book as the backstory of the characters was developed.

The story itself follows an ensemble, but Eliza is the main character in a sense. Her family has moved into a sleepy suburb, a cul-de-sac to be exact. Most of the neighbors hardly know each other there. That is all about to change, as Krause, the man doing the burial in the first few lines of the book, seeks to… well, get to know some of his neighbors better. The story also follows Eliza’s life as she sells wrapping paper door to door, develops a friend, and adjusts to her new life outside of the city.

The book consists of generally short chapters, each a perspective change, moving from one character to another. In the beginning, I think there were quite a few characters, but as the book progressed, I quickly adjusted and tracked them pretty well. Oftentimes, the perspective changes were quite slight. For example, if there was a scene involving two characters, like Peg and Alex (two of the neighbors in the Cul-de-sac), if Peg was the perspective character, the next chapter would often be Alex and pick right off where the last chapter ended. 

This results in a fast paced and quite interesting novel. Personally, I really enjoyed the short chapters, as it was easy to pick up the book and read a bit. I think the very quick POV changes were refreshing and innovative. This sometimes resulted in me reading a bit more than initially planned, as the book was quite good. 

The author has a great way of articulating ideas in the voice of his characters. One line I particularly liked was, “Anyway, after dialysis I usually feel great, so it’s a good time to go to the market or get an oil change or do whatever errands I have to do that don't involve just buying something on Amazon and waiting for some minimum-wage flunky to throw box at on doorstep.” I felt each character had a unique voice and character of their own. Just the changes in writing style from view to view helped me keep reading the book.

Regarding plot, the exposition starting the book is quite long. By this, I mean the act/event that pushes the book into what I could consider the second act, doesn’t take place until about half way through the book. Granted, with all the different characters, there is more than one story arc. It was done really well and the characters were engaging and interesting for their own sake. The plot starts with the murderer, Klaus, plotting his next attack. But things take a rather unexpected turn, which I won’t talk about here. I will say, I don't think I've read a book that has a premise like this one. 

Ok, I think I will share some spoilers now. As I read the book, I kept wondering where it was going and how the book would end. I just have trouble even conceiving an ending for the book. And well, perhaps the author did too, because the ending was just a touch of a non-ending. Well, it ends just as, well something was going to happen. It isn't entirely clear what was going to happen. Sometimes an ending like this is really fun, like wondering what really happened. An ambiguity. To me though, it felt more like the final scene of the book was just omitted. 

That said, maybe the ending will grow on me. I enjoyed the rest of the book quite a bit. I really read it in just a few sittings. The characters were quite good and it was an enjoyable reading experience.  

Perspective: 1st person

Tense: Simple Past

Length: 390 pages

Kindle Unlimited: No

https://www.amazon.com/Cul-sac-Christopher-Null/dp/1965640761/