An Unsuccessful Reworking of a Classic
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Leopards Kill desperately wants to be seen as a modern reworking of Conrad's Heart of Darkness (the inspiration for Francis Ford Coppola's movie Apocalypse Now). It wants it so badly that one of the characters is even named Conrad.
As with Heart of Darkness, Leopards Kill is the tale of one man's descent into the chaos and madness of a warzone as he pursues an individual who has taken on a stature of semi-mythical proportions (in HoD it was Kurtz. Here its Conrad). As with HoD this journey has a profound psychological and physical impact on the lead character as he leaves civilisation behind and enters a world were chaos reigns. Different aspects of this chaos are represented by the characters he meets, from cynical soldiers, to a crazy gung-ho wannabe warrior who finds that combat is not all he thought it would be to the world weary veteran who has knows he can never escape his demons. There are also series of vignettes that illustrate the random, brutal, violence of warfare and its after effects. All this is seen from the point of view of the lead character and narrator, named Jack Pilgrim.
The lack of subtlety in this choice of surname (Pilgrim; as in traveller. Geddit?) is indicative of one of the major flaws of Leopards Kill that mean it will never be held in the same esteem as the book it emulates. A lack of subtlety. This is a book that hammers home its imagery and ideas with sledgehammer-like approach. Yes, war is hell & madness. We get that very quickly, but the book seems intent on repeating the message ad infinitum.
Jim DeFelice is best known as a writer or co-author (along with the likes of Larry Bond and Stephen Coonts) of average or above average airport thrillers. Leopards Kill is a departure for him in every possible respect; style, theme, tone and depth. Frankly however, his skills as a writer really aren't up to the task he has set himself. This sort of book needs a writer who can conjure up beauty amongst all the violence and death, who has a feel for the exotic, who can give even the most minor character depth and can impart fresh ideas with subtlety. DeFelice is not that writer.
As a result Leopards Kill is book with great aspirations that it fails to realise. You never really care about any of the characters. Pilgrim, an ex-special forces soldier, appears by turns to be incompetent, naive or self-indulgently introspective. Its hard to warm to him, which leaves a hole at the heart of the book.
One of the strengths of Conrad's Heart of Darkness (and Coppola's Apocalypse Now) was its depiction of place; the Congo in Conrad's case and a fictionalised Vietnam in Coppola's. The environment was as much a character as the people that populated it. The same cannot be said for DeFelice's Afghanistan. It lacks colour and depth. Events move at such a pace that atmosphere is inevitably sacrificed. It doesn't help that DeFelice has decided to set the book at some unidentified point in the future just prior to a withdrawal by US troops (annoyingly never correctly referred to as NATO forces. A case of a US author ignoring the contribution of foreign forces). This robs the depiction of the country of any vestiges of realism. What we're shown is the author's idea of what Afghanistan might be like in a few years time, rather than what it is actually like, which further reduces the impact of what little we are shown.
Finally and most damagingly the central plot strand of the book lacks real punch. This is a book about a man searching for his friend. Irrespective of any other weaknesses the book may have the central plot needs to hold the reader's attention and unfortunately it doesn't. We simply don't care enough about the hunt for Merc Conrad. For much of the book, despite some flashbacks, he's too much of cypher and when we do finally meet him its hugely underwhelming and considering the time spent looking for him, far too brief an acquaintance. Afterwards you can't help but think 'was that it? Was that what I've invested my time for?'.
I like Jim DeFelice's airport thrillers. Threat Level Black is up there with anything by Coonts or Clancy and his co-authored books with Larry Bond are great. He deserves a higher profile but will not earn one with books like Leopards Kill. Its not going to appeal to those looking for uncomplicated thills and spills but isn't going to win plaudits from the literary crowd. I recommend he goes back to what he does best and leaves the Heart of Darkness to Conrad.
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