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The Acid Diary

Dan Spencer
Lulu.com (2008)
ISBN 9781435719989
Reviewed by Tina Avon for RebeccasReads (9/08)

I had not previously read any of Dan Spencer's books, however, I got a wonderful introduction to his work by reading his latest novel, The Acid Diary.

The Acid Diary is billed as an historical thriller and it is that. But, what I found to be this books strongest asset was definitely the fact that the author was willing to go well beyond the standard formula found in most thrillers.  In fact, the 'thriller' part of the book, while entertaining and certainly a main focus of the book, was secondary, in many ways, to the richly developed characters, especially the Evan character who spent most of his time trying to figure out why his 'good guy' brother would suddenly be found dead and also be accused of selling drugs.  

As Evan read pages from his brother's diary, you began to get a bit of a feel for whom this person was, yet none of it answered any broader questions.  The entries did make me actually like the brother a lot more, which is an interesting way for the author to get his readers to become more personally acquainted with the dead brother.  Again, this to me shows that the author had an emotional tie to his characters and that he felt the need to make sure that the reader understood them.

As mentioned, this book is historical; it is set in the late 1960s, which were certainly turbulent times in the US.  While I was a very little girl in the 60s, I do have vague memories of that time, and the effect of the Vietnam War on families. Spencer did a fine job of setting his novel in this time period, that the reader feels as though they are living everything right along with the characters.  At one point, Evan is reading his draft notice and as I was reading the passage, I could almost feel the emotions coming off the page!  The imagery is vivid and all too real.

The writing is fast paced, but the overall story is never sacrificed for the sake of a cheap ploy to advance the book.

I really enjoyed this book and if you like your thrillers to have some 'soul,' then I highly suggest this book.  As a bonus, it was also a fun read with a bit of a surprise ending.

     

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