Book Review: Connections

Connections. Darren Musial, Self-Published, 1 December 2022, Paperback and eBook.

Reviewed by David Steven Rappoport.

In Connections, Darren Musial delves into a contemporary thriller subgenre that might be called “slacker noir.” He’s written a captivating page-turner about today’s 20-somethings that reanimates dark crime tropes from the 1940s and 1950s.

Miles Hollander, a 20-something non-entity who works as a Transportation Security Administration screener at O’Hare Airport, plays video games, drinks too much, and is secretly infatuated with Brooke, a co-worker. He also pilfers items from passengers, out of boredom and to supplement his inadequate income. He gets caught and blackmailed by a criminal, Dalton, who enlists a femme fatale, Vicky, to further tighten the noose. Miles is forced to participate in escalating crimes until he realizes he’s been set up and is being used. This leads to double-cross, revenge, FBI scrutiny, and finally violence. Fortunately, Miles turns out to be smarter and luckier than he at first appears. He manages to get shot but seems to avoid jail time. He even gets the girl, briefly. And the reader gets the required twist ending.

The characters are up-to-date, and so are the crimes. The thieves focus on data: cell phones, thumb drives, and laptops. At heart, Musial’s characters are no more moral or likable than their archetypal antecedents. But it doesn’t matter. Like any good noir, Connections is a fast-paced and compelling thriller where venial sins inevitably lead to cardinal ones. The tension builds page by page and the major plot twists come like sledgehammers at just the right times.

The plot is complicated – particularly the ending. It may leave some readers with unanswered questions. More importantly, it is regrettable that the book has such a lackluster title, as it is a far better novel than its title might suggest.

Connections is a slick, rapid-fire contemporary noir that mixes time-honored crime fiction memes with modern technology and culture. It is a breathless combination.