Neo-noir of Philosopher on the Run

Review of Philosophy of Ruin

This debut novel starts the reader on a wild run from the first pages; a thrill ride with the

modern-day noir of existential angst and the creeping menace of death. The main character confronts the reason for his dissatisfaction with his life. This results in a desperate attempt to regain control over bewildering events that have upended his life. The author performs this magic trick using healthy doses of philosophy, gun violence, and fatal love. A twenty-nine-year-old professor of philosophy, receives the devastating news that his mother has died mid flight on a commercial airliner. His father forced to sit by her corpse for hours until the plane can land at its destination. They have been in Hawaii at some ‘feel good” guru’s compound, and were making a surprise visit to Oscar’s. Then there is the startling development that his parents have also managed to lose most of their life savings. It’s a double-barrelled blast that upends Oscar’s life in unexpected ways.

Oscar grieves his loss by attempting to resume his normal activities. His father ‘s grief response and the history of his mother’s depression are more than he wants to bear. Oscar attempts to deal with his own grief falls into an ill-advised one night stand that leads to the most important decision of his life and to an existential crisis. The struggle between what a person believes to be true about the self and the real-world actions embarked on is on grand display here. What drives us to actions completely alien to our previous life? For our protagonist, grief and depression slice open that quick and clean divide like a scalpel wielded by a practiced surgeon.

These two powerful emotions also present themselves in the lives of the people around Oscar. They reveal their ability to apply both the long acting pressure that wears us down,about and the lightning-quick smashing of psyche. The dialogue is true and crackles with tension throughout the story. Highest recommendation for this crime story with the philosophical depth of its characters.