One of the greatest pitfalls of modern American literature is the curious occurrence of the cookie-cutter novel. A cookie-cutter looks like a novel, has a snippet of a positive review from a major newspaper on the cover, and includes an intriguing synopsis on the back cover that tells you nothing about the plot of the book.
Paul Griner's Collectors, newly released in paperback from Picador USA, is one such novel. Collectors tells the story of Jean Duprez, billed on the cover as "strong, self-confident, but with a dark past." She meets an intriguing and handsome man named Steven Cain (now there's an idea _ give the villain a name allegorical to one of the darkest figures in Judeo-Christian lore), and things "spiral out of control."
Unfortunately, while reading the novel, the only thing spiraling outwards for this reviewer was her attention.
Jean Duprez turns out to be a common staple of the cookie-cutter novel _ the woman who is strong, self-possessed, and independent. She immediately comes off to the reader as unlikable, stubborn, and aloof, although her way of turning down men hitting on her at the beach (by strewing broken champagne flutes on the ground before their bare feet) was one of the few amusing points in the novel. In fact, the reader feels more sympathy towards the mysterious and charming Steven Cain as the novel progresses, painting him as the equally cookie-cutter "likable boy who gets a screw loose and turns scary" featured in innumerable suspense novels.
As the novel continues on from the opening chapter, the reader comes to find that the plot is as simplistic and patterned as the meager offerings of characters. Jean's "dark past" turns out to be a stalking incident, revealed to the reader just before the reader finds out that Steven is stalking her now. She becomes trapped on a sailboat just outside of Marblehead, MA with Steven, and a series of incidents far too reminiscent of Stephen King's Misery play out.
Steven gets crazier, Jean tries to fight back or escape using a variety of easily thought-of and predictable methods, and it all ends in the "final, shocking conclusion" that the reader sees coming about halfway through the novel.
The one saving grace of Collectors is the fast-paced, Hemmingway-esque prose of Griner, coupled with a series of very simple yet vivid descriptions. His light, terse style makes reading the novel an incredibly easy and quick task. The ability to almost see some of his scenes taking place is perhaps the only thing that kept this reviewer from throwing the novel into the waste basket. It would seem that Griner, unlike many modern novelists, is actually a good writer _ he just has no imagination and saw a certain Kathy Bates film one time too many times.
Collectors is a good example of the mediocrity that floods bookstores these days. Its cookie-cutter plot might have been suspenseful in the 1960s when it was new, and its cookie-cutter characters are almost laughable. It may be worth the read, however, for anyone who enjoys a good writer's take on a bad story.
