Book Review via Goodreads: Layer Cake

Layer Cake by J.J. Connolly

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


In the tradition of "Ocean's Eleven" or Elmore Leonard novels,  Layer Cake's unamed first person narrator is a criminal the reader quickly admires. He is a good guy in a bad trade, a drug dealer who keeps a low profile, operating in the middle of the narcotics trade,  between mafia dons and street pushers. His goal is to make his fortune and retire by age thirty. As his birthday approaches, things get in the way of his plans...

Layer Cake is an enjoyable read. Those on the left side of the pond will need to plow through Brit slang, but you can still follow the dialogue through context.

Add this one to your summer reading list.

Note: I read a Kindle version with this paperback cover.



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Layer Cake  is available from Amazon.

Research When You Write!

I served for a few years as a graduate thesis adviser. During an introductory lecture,  I recommended to my students they pick a topic of which they are knowledgeable. This way they would have a strong foundation to start from.

Writing fiction is similar. There is a common phrase,  "Write what you know." Not every writer follows this rule. For example, I am always impressed with the literary skill, the imagination, of those who write fantasy and science fiction. Thus far,  I am not in this category. My first two novels are on subjects that I know intimately.  

Proximity follows a fictitious version of a  U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) detachment that I served on. The Recipient's Son takes place st the U.S. Naval Academy during the time that I was a midshipman there. The main character is even assigned to the same companies and lives in the same rooms where I dwelled. This is because for me, there are subtleties of living as part of 14th Company that are unique. Describing them served as a touchstone to my experience. It gave me a point to start from.

From that foundation,  it is important to maintain authenticity.This is accomplished through detailed research. For example, in The Recipient 's Son one of the main characters lives on a sailboat. To make sure even the most discerning eye is convinced of the stories realism,  I conducted exhaustive research on the sailboats available during this time frame. I started by looking at common boats of the right size and price. I wanted something that a JAG with a small inheritance could likely afford. After I settled on a Beneteau 43,  I searched for diagrams and photos on the internet.

A second layer of research that is important to the book's accuracy is verifying days and dates. For example, if an author writes that a character went to Mass on June 25, 1989,  it had better be a Sunday!

Finally, it is important to make sure that your writing does not include technology that was not yet available. For example,  I noted to a group of midshipmen in the class of 2012 that when I was a plebe we used an intranet at Navy,  and (at least I) had no knowledge the internet.

So,  do your research...it will make for a much more interesting book and prevent readers from thinking,  " Hey, wait a minute!"

FAQ: What job opportunities can an EOD tech expect after his time in the Navy?

Serving as a U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technician is about the best job on the planet. After all, we’re the guys who “Blow shit up!” Still, everyone must move on eventually whether it is after their first enlistment or upon retiring from a 30 year career. The skills one learns as an EOD Tech are invaluable, and thus make the individual highly sought after. Most important, “Blowing shit up!” does not have to end after Navy  life.

Here are perhaps the three most obvious examples.

Law Enforcement (LEO) – One can easily move into the law enforcement field at any level from federal to local. You can serve as a member of a police department bomb squad, dive team, or both. (Note: In some cases bomb squad and dive teams fall under the fire department) EOD Techs often serve as member of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Teams because they have a proven ability to all the required skillsets. Former Navy EOD Techs can serve in the FBI as Bomb Techs (http://www.fbi.gov/news/videos/mp4/bombtech.mp4/view) or in the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Bomb Appraisal Officer (BAO).  There are similar positions in the ATF, Secret Service, …and  myriad of other government agencies.

An important thing to recognize is that if you decide to join law enforcement, one may need to go through a police academy, and may need to spend time as a patrolman or “beat cop” before applying to a specialized unit. Similarly, the FBI may require you to work as a special agent before becoming a bomb tech.

Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) – The world is covered with unexploded ordnance – munitions that failed to detonate when expended or that are in a storage configuration and due to age or other necessity must be destroyed. UXO companies send teams to find and render safe and/or dispose of this ordnance. In many cases, the task is simply picking up ordnance from a post-war battlefield, gathering it to a single location, and detonating it. Naturally, one has to know how to handle each type of ordnance encountered. This work is similar to military life in that one is often on site in a foreign country for months at a time. Due to the danger involved, it pays very well.

Government contracting – First, U.S. Navy EOD Technicians receive a security clearance. This alone makes them valuable to government contractors.  Sometimes it is easier to train an individual who has a clearance than to get a clearance for someone who has the needed skills. Naturally, the possibilities are multiplied if the former Tech decides to work for a contract that does EOD work, like providing equipment or training to EOD Techs whether foreign or domestic.

These are just three major categories...there are a wide variety of opportunities for EOD Techs in the civilian world.

Like a Good Sermon, Succinct but with Impact.

 

Mark Mallon is a complicated guy, a former seminarian turned unemployed blogger, who revels in sex and wrestles with diabetes. Mallon’s devotion to the precepts of Roman Catholicism make him judgmental. To be fair, he is self-aware, and thus recognizes his own foibles which are blogged in a viscerally exposed writing style he calls ‘unzipped.’ When combined with his genuine honesty, Mallon’s analysis of others is brutally blunt. Thus, his friends sense that they can never live up to his expectations.

Post Marked by Mark Trost lacks a recognizable plot arc and at times feels repetitive until the reader realizes it is a mantra, like a rosary that must be completed to fully realize its benefit. Additionally, Trost weaves Mallon’s life through first and third person narratives, and the aforementioned blog entries. The format stands as a metaphor for the book as if Trost is saying, “I am not like other writer’s... deal with it, but don’t bitch to me about it.”

The writing is Post Marked’s strongest, most enjoyable feature. Each chapter is like a well crafted sermon, succinct but with impact. They develop Mallon’s character through intimate interactions in the bedroom, on the bar stool, and on web entries where he plays the role of both penitent and confessor. Another facet central to Mallon’s life is his diabetes, but like his friends the reader may come away nonplussed by this fact.

Though Post Marked is not traditional, and is delivered through a non-traditional platform and publisher, Mallon’s journey does reach an eventual conclusion that leads the reader to hope for more books by Mark Trost.

EOD Memorial Blog via New York Times

The first Saturday in May is when the EOD community solemnly places names on the EOD Memorial of those who made the ultimate sacrifice during the previous year. C.J. Chivers wrote a great piece in the New York Times about this event entitled "Remembering the Dead: New Names for a Wall that Keeps Growing"

I recommend spending a few moments to read this blog, and remember those who served to the end.