The Jackals

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S THE JACKALS ABOUT?
Years ago, Jack was in a band with his brother and two close friends from school. They were playing regularly, and had a big event coming up. A major fight occurs between Jack and Mark, his best friend since childhood and bandmate. Jack leaves town, the band falls apart, and they don't speak for seven years.

Now Jack's living in a new town, has a career on the verge of going somewhere, a girlfriend out of his league, and a dog that the author doesn't spend enough time on.* Which is when he gets the news that Mark was killed.

Robbed of the chance to make amends, Jack joins his brother and another bandmate to help clean out Mark's house and attend the funeral. Hopefully giving him the opportunity to mend fences with everyone still living.

It does not go according to plan.

* It's been a while since I got to geek out over a dog, and I thought for a minute that this would be my chance.

PROPORTIONAL RESPONSE
Around the time that Jack left town, Mark's life took a turn. The next several years were marked by a series of poor choices and their ramifications (I'll keep it vague on that point). Many/some of those close to Mark blamed Jack for this direction in his life. When presented with the opportunity to pay Jack back for this, they do so.

But it's not a proportional response—what's done to Jack is over the line, and will have long-reaching consequences for Jack's life.

I found Jack's response to this both hard to believe and disappointing. The more I think about this part of the novel, the less I like it. No matter what Jack's ultimate response to everything that happens may be, no matter what personal development may be triggered by this—ultimately for the good (quite possibly)—I just don't buy this part of the book.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE JACKALS?
I'm not 100% that the official description is correct, and I wonder if the novel was revised a bit after it was written. But that's okay, the things that didn't quite match up were better this way.

The ending wasn't what I expected from this story—both from the way the novel was moving and from the kind of story Shaw was telling. It was a little unsatisfying in the moment, but the more I thought about it, the more I appreciated what Shaw did. He went against expectations provided the kind of ending that was most fitting for Jack.

The best takeaway from this novel was what it had to say about friendship—the real, enduring kind. Both the friendships that were forged in childhood/adolescence and how they morph into something different in adulthood—whether or not there's frequent contact.

It had comedic moments, but could've been funnier. It had some good drama, but could've used some more depth. I thought the characters were well-thought-out, but we needed a little more from each one. I liked the story, but I wasn't sure it was resolved right. Essentially, on just about every front I can think of the novel missed the promise it shows. Just by a hair. I wanted to love this, but in the end, I could only like it.

However underwhelmed I was with the book as a whole, and whatever issues I might have with parts of the plot—I did enjoy the book and am glad I read it. I'm curious to see what Shaw will do next, and I'll definitely grab it. Your results may vary, of course, and I can easily see readers enjoying this more than I did (and I did like it!).