The Dead of North Ganson Street was generously provided to me as a review copy by Suhrkamp Publishers. Even the cover makes it clear that this thriller isn't your typical crime novel.

The Dead of North Ganson Street

S. Craig Zahler

Following an extremely unpleasant incident at his previous police station in sunny Arizona, Jules Bettinger finds himself transferred as punishment to the frigid climate of Missouri. Upon arrival, he quickly discovers that the weather isn't the only thing that's cold and unwelcoming here. The local police force is completely overwhelmed by the volume of crimes and can barely manage to investigate even the worst cases with any degree of competence. Bettinger is partnered with Dominic Williams, a recently demoted officer. Since Bettinger outranks him, he must take the lead—something Williams deeply resents. Their first case together is the brutal murder of a sex worker.

Soon they had left Shitopia behind and entered Toilet, where the pale sun bathed the potholed streets and destitute people in a urine-colored light.

My Thoughts

Welcome to Hell

After a help-seeking man—who happened to be related to the mayor—commits suicide at his police station, Jules Bettinger is transferred as punishment. His new posting is Victory, located geographically in Missouri but might as well be at the edge of the world—or perhaps beneath it. Victory's reputation is so terrible that Bettinger chooses Stonesburg, a good 80 miles away, as the place for his family to live. His new police department also has a dreadful reputation, and Bettinger tries to figure out why.

Worse Than Its Reputation

It quickly becomes evident that Victory's bad reputation is well-earned. The crime rate exceeds all imagination, the police force is chronically understaffed and equally chronically demoralized. They're far from being in control of the situation and are known not just for being brutal—they actually are. But Bettinger is shocked not only by the brutality of his new colleagues but also by the city itself. Abandoned buildings, torn-up streets, garbage and devastation everywhere he looks, and people who have long since accepted it all because they have no hope for anything better.

Realization

Nevertheless, he makes an effort to solve the sex worker's murder, though his new partner is hardly helpful and more of a hindrance. Bettinger actually makes progress in the investigation, but then events spiral out of control. Two colleagues are murdered and mutilated, marking the beginning of a series of police killings. During the investigation, Bettinger learns what led to Williams' demotion, and to his own surprise, he finds himself with a certain understanding for what his colleagues did back then.

Wave of Violence

As events unfold, the wave of violence expands ever wider. It doesn't stop with the two murdered police officers, and Bettinger's own family doesn't remain untouched. At this point, Bettinger switches sides and joins his colleagues' revenge campaign. Having previously rejected vigilante justice, he now has only one goal—those who got too close to his family must pay in blood. Together they head into "the Heaps"—a neighborhood even more abandoned and desolate than the rest of Victory.

Dystopian World

The Dead of North Ganson Street is brutal, dark, cynical, apocalyptic—but above all, incredibly gripping. Thanks to S. Craig Zahler's writing style, I truly feel transported to the bitterly cold and filthy (fictional) Victory. The book is really more of a dystopia than a thriller, in my opinion. It shows where society can drift when racism, lack of perspective and empathy, corruption, and criminality take over. The pigeons that repeatedly fall dead from the sky and whose carcasses are omnipresent in Victory's streets symbolize for me the death of anything good in this scenario, this fictional world.

My Verdict

The Dead of North Ganson Street is a highly unusual thriller that paints a dark and cynical picture of our potential future world—a world I would never want to live in. Not a traditional thriller, but definitely worth reading.