Review: The End of Nightwork by Aidan Cottrell-Boyce

Pol has a rare hormonal condition that ages him incongruently and without warning. He’s also obsessed with an obscure 17th-century Puritan prophet and a radical politic movement.

It’s an interesting premise, and what drew me to the book in the first place. The novel is formatted in a series of short, separated paragraphs - much like this and every other blog post you’ll find - that vary between memory, reflection, and a vaguely chronological narrative.

Pol, however, is insufferably self-indulgent, self-focused, and maudlin in his first-person narration. And I don’t mean this in the love-to-hate sort of unsufferable. Pol is that guy at a party no one really knows who’s cornered you with a long, drawn out monologue on an obscure topic only he knows about. Which isn’t too far from the truth, actually.

The three major lures - Pol’s strange disease, the obscure prophet, and the radical movement - could have been removed and replaced with anything else without altering the overall narrative too much. Weaving together the trifecta of these themes had the potential of producing an incredible study of contemporary fears, perceptions, misperceptions, and the self-indulgence of a man who just couldn’t get his shit together at any age he was or any age he appeared to be.

Generally speaking, I’m an advocate for being brave rather than safe - even if that means something doesn’t work they way you want. Nightwork is unquestionably an ambitious novel, and Cottrell-Boyce possesses an equally unquestionable talent for setting a scene and saying what’s not said. However, Nightwork reads like a debut novel that hasn’t been sketched out quite enough.

Aidan Cottrell-Boyce includes some fantastic descriptions and evidences a strong sense of style. On the wordsmithing level, the novel consistently exceeds expectations, and I’ll read his next book in a heartbeat.