Book Review: Man Is a Disaster, Air Conditioning Is Divine

Man Is a Disaster, Air Conditioning Is Divine. Mitchel Karbin. Black Rose Writing September 4, 2014, Kindle and Trade Paperback, 276 pages.

Reviewed by R. H. King, Jr.

A man is being treated at a hospital for the criminally insane. He thinks that he is an immortal – the creator of God and the devil – and has named himself “Purevil.” He professes all-powerful, unbounded by concepts of good or evil, and capable of the most heinous acts without fear or regret. Purevil brutally kills a fellow patient and escapes, seeking revenge on Charles Winters, whom Purevil hates, and his wife Cleva, who previously had an affair with Purevil but then jilted him. To exact his revenge, Purevil kidnaps the couple’s fourteen-year-old daughter Chloe. A private detective, Sam, is retained to find Chloe. With the help of his longtime secretary/paramour, Sam sorts through the clues and soon discovers that the Winters are far from an ordinary family, and that Purevil is no ordinary madman. 

Despite its somewhat playful title, this novel is dark and macabre, with a dash of the erotic thrown in for good measure.  Much in this novel is not what it initially appears to be, which keeps the reader guessing and wanting to discover the reality of the situation. The writing style is clear and concise. Some of the dialogue, particularly between the private detective and his secretary/paramour, seems labored and contrived. Several times, I noticed that the author ended sentences in such dialogue with a preposition (such as “of”) – something for which my English professor would have rapped my knuckles. 

As a prologue to each chapter, the reader witnesses either a Purevil monologue or an exchange between Purevil and his psychiatrist. Initially, I found these prologues distracting, making it difficult to get the rhythm of the story for the first few chapters. In retrospect, these glimpses into Purevil’s mind appear designed to first confirm the utter lunacy that consumes him, and then later as the plot unfolds, make one wonder whether there is some truth to Purevil’s claims or whether Purevil is the only one who is insane. The novel concludes with some surprising revelations, but leaves these questions unanswered, suggesting a sequel will follow. 

This book will appeal to fans of Alfred Hitchcock (think Psycho) and the exploits of Hannibal Lector.  It is not for those who walked out in the middle of the Silence of the Lambs movie.