One of the quotes on the back of my copy of Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand describes the novel as a literary thriller, but that hardly does the book justice. Take a cast of wonderfully eccentric and completely original characters with more than their fair share of personal demons, stick them on a Maine island in the midst of a bitter cold November, throw in some mystery and murder, and you have an absolutely riveting novel.
My problem with traditional thrillers is that they aren’t always so thrilling. The plot twists are often far too predictable in my opinion, but as I entered part 2 of Generation Loss, the plot took a twist I wasn’t expecting, and from there on out the book continued to offer up surprises.
By the time I entered the second half of the book. I found myself making up excuses for why I needed to read just a few more pages, even when I probably should have been doing something else instead. It’s one of those books that’s hard to put down once you get into it. Even the ending fit perfectly.
Generation Loss is dark and disturbing, with a not entirely likable main character, who you will find yourself rooting for despite yourself. It’s a thriller without all the cheesiness and predictability of too many thrillers out there. It is a very good book.
Below is a video interview with Hand on Generation Loss. Picture quality is pretty poor, but the interview is worthwhile enough to ignore the grainy, poorly lit film:
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