PPEcel
cope and seethe
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- Joined
- Oct 1, 2018
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Fair Warning is typically the kind of novel that a bored traveller would pick up at an airport convenience store, read on a cross-country flight, and leave on the plane once he's done with it. It's somewhat entertaining but not particularly memorable. This book stands out amongst other thrillers for its treatment of multiple contemporary social issues: the decline of print journalism, the lack of regulatory oversight concerning genetic data, and incels. So I read it.
Amazon product ASIN B07YSNB24GView: https://www.amazon.com/Fair-Warning-Jack-McEvoy-Book-ebook/dp/B07YSNB24G/
The plot features a disgraced university professor (accused of raping a foid student) who jumps to the private sector and starts his own DNA testing company, GT23. Two incel lab technicians purchase data from GT23 and run a forum (Dirty4, where membership costs $500/yr) on the dark web, where they profile and list femoids with a genetic proclivity for risky sexual behaviour. Dirty4 is supposedly geared towards incels, PUAs, assorted creeps who can then use this data to target these particular femoids for hookups.
We're first introduced to our protagonist, Jack, a journalist who also happens to be a murder suspect; the victim is a femoid who he had a one-night-stand with months ago. Jack and his ex-girlfriend Rachel (who also happens to be an ex-FBI agent, of course) quickly figure out that it's the work of a Chad serial killer (the Shrike) who chooses his victims from Dirty4, violently snapping their necks after having consensual sex with them. In the ensuing cat-and-mouse chase, Jack, Rachel, and the cops try to take down the Chad whilst the Chad desperately tries to cover his tracks by murdering the two sciencecels who run Dirty4.
There's also an awkward, out-of-place subplot where incels on online forums praise the serial killer and one ends up getting gunned down by the FBI after he is caught stalking Rachel.
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If you think that this doesn't make any sense, that's because it doesn't. I was going to rant about how stupid the premise of Dirty4 is, but this reviewer on Amazon already says most of what I wanted to say:
I didn't have high expectations for the novel's portrayal of incels but it was, quite frankly, comical. The incels in the story are essentially evil geeks with biology degrees who hate femoids and happen to work in forensic testing labs. That's about it. They're about as one-dimensional as any fictional character can get -- though, to be fair, that description would apply to most of the characters in this novel.
4/10
Amazon product ASIN B07YSNB24GView: https://www.amazon.com/Fair-Warning-Jack-McEvoy-Book-ebook/dp/B07YSNB24G/
The plot features a disgraced university professor (accused of raping a foid student) who jumps to the private sector and starts his own DNA testing company, GT23. Two incel lab technicians purchase data from GT23 and run a forum (Dirty4, where membership costs $500/yr) on the dark web, where they profile and list femoids with a genetic proclivity for risky sexual behaviour. Dirty4 is supposedly geared towards incels, PUAs, assorted creeps who can then use this data to target these particular femoids for hookups.
We're first introduced to our protagonist, Jack, a journalist who also happens to be a murder suspect; the victim is a femoid who he had a one-night-stand with months ago. Jack and his ex-girlfriend Rachel (who also happens to be an ex-FBI agent, of course) quickly figure out that it's the work of a Chad serial killer (the Shrike) who chooses his victims from Dirty4, violently snapping their necks after having consensual sex with them. In the ensuing cat-and-mouse chase, Jack, Rachel, and the cops try to take down the Chad whilst the Chad desperately tries to cover his tracks by murdering the two sciencecels who run Dirty4.
There's also an awkward, out-of-place subplot where incels on online forums praise the serial killer and one ends up getting gunned down by the FBI after he is caught stalking Rachel.
-------------------------
If you think that this doesn't make any sense, that's because it doesn't. I was going to rant about how stupid the premise of Dirty4 is, but this reviewer on Amazon already says most of what I wanted to say:
I’m not sure Connelly even wrote this: it’s so bad I think it was done by a ghostwriter. The first McEvoy book, The Poet, was brilliant. The second, The Scarecrow, was very good. This was awful. Badly written, badly plotted and silly. It was also boring, which Connelly never is. Thin, insubstantial, no depth or emotion to any of the characters: just a bald procession of names and unlikely events. The whole on-off thing with Rachel was just annoying too but the plot was worse. Who would pay 500 a year for the names of ‘loose’ women? When you can sign up to tinder and have them contact you? These men still had to approach and seduce the women: it was still the woman’s choice whether or not to bed them. Why pay for names when you could hire a prostitute with the money? Or go to any singles bar and meet women who are seeking men? It makes no sense: Having a list of names won’t do you much good if you’re repellent to women or unlikable: however ‘loose’ they still won’t sleep with you. And if you’re in any way attractive you don’t need the list. So it made no sense. Same with the Shrike: if you want to murder ‘loose’ women, prostitutes are traditional prey, or women on tinder or in singles bars or online or whatever. There are a million ways to pick up women you want to prey on. He didn’t need the dna or the lists either. It was all just silly and ill-conceived. If Connelly really wrote this he should retire.
I didn't have high expectations for the novel's portrayal of incels but it was, quite frankly, comical. The incels in the story are essentially evil geeks with biology degrees who hate femoids and happen to work in forensic testing labs. That's about it. They're about as one-dimensional as any fictional character can get -- though, to be fair, that description would apply to most of the characters in this novel.
4/10