I'm no Carrie Bradshaw, but I have discovered my own Mr Big. No, he's not a TV star, but he has as much wit, charm and machismo as Carrie's Mr Big from the HBO hit TV series Sex and the City. My Mr Big is the hero-or the villain, however you want to look at it-in Ty Batson's novel Mr Big-a Crime Thriller Set in Trinidad and Tobago. I must confess that I resisted reading this novel even when I had a chance to read it in manuscript form. I didn't see how I could read a novel about Mr Big and not be reminded of the bigger-than-life character from Sex and the City. There really was no need to worry because Batson created his own bigger-than-life Mr Big.
As it turns out, it's cool to see how different Batson's character is from the hit TV show character because it proves that Trinidadians can be equally creative when it comes to creating bigger-than-life characters. In Batson's novel, Mr Big is a hitman who reminds me of someone out of a Dashiell Hammett detective novel, like The Thin Man. He's smart, funny, observant and unpredictable. He's a tough former cop who glides in and out of the underworld. Mr Big is totally unscrupulous and quite enigmatic. He listens to jazz and he has a cat named Dorothy that he feeds Bumble Bee tuna, chocolate milk and rum and raisin ice cream in a pink bowl.
Mr Big looks out for his cat more than most people look out for their families, but Mr Big is a decent father to his teenage daughter, who plays a major role in the novel. There is more than enough suspense as Mr Big teams up with a top politician for a hit that he is sure he's being set up for. Mr Big already knows that he can't trust anyone, and this makes for tense reading. There's no way to tell the "good" guys from the "bad" guys in this fast-moving plot peppered with wry humour, puns and brilliant observations. All together, this makes Mr Big a fast and enjoyable read.
Although Batson uses a lot of description, it does not bog down the plot. Instead his observations serve as a keen and indeed a heightened sense of awareness that aids the character development of Mr Big. Never heavy or didactic, the plot manages to reveal a gem of wisdom now and then that compels the reader to think about Trinidad culture, especially the crime-ridden society that we face today. I particularly like how Batson handled setting using renowned restaurants and landmarks that draw the reader into the novel. There are no cheap gimmicks, no last-minute redemption of Mr Big. As a matter of fact, his hand is forced. He must go through with his "job." This means that Batson has to credibly work his way through the plot, and he does this by setting up an ending that highly suggests a most welcome sequel. In a small, crime-ridden society, it's difficult to write about crime in novel form and not come off as flippant or insensitive to real social and political issues. It's a literary task I would not feel capable of handling.
Batson manages to pull it off with a style that is all his own yet also reminds me of Raymond Chandler. My one complaint is the thinly disguised references to people-or in this case political parties-that so many Caribbean authors feel compelled to use. The political parties in the novel are the PNN and the UNP. Although this is obviously meant to cover one's literary backside, it just doesn't work in my opinion. I understand making up new political parties has issues of credibility in terms of the time component of setting, so I would just find a way to leave such veiled references out. That was a good place to allow readers to use their imagination.
Still, I find this a small flaw in the scheme of things. The pros far outweigh the cons (no pun intended) in this novel, and that is mainly because Batson is a master at witty, realistic dialogue. His narrator is credible and most importantly unapologetically Caribbean. Equally important is his conflict development, which keeps the reader on edge at all times. All-in-all Mr Big is a fun-filled, action-packed read, a welcome addition to Caribbean literature. It fills a huge gap in the detective/crime genre and takes its place admirably well by one of my all-time favourite novels in this genre: Alonso and the Drug Lord by Jamaican writer Evan Jones. This is the start of something big, really big, and I hope Batson has more novels in this style coming our way. Check your favourite bookstores for this riveting read. If we want teenage boys to read, try putting this novel on the CXC syllabus. It has all the literary elements we want students to learn about at CXC level. Let's see how brave those CXC people can truly be.
THOUGHTS
• In Batson's novel, Mr Big is a hitman who reminds me of someone out of a Dashiell Hammett detective novel, like The Thin Man. He's smart, funny, observant and unpredictable.
• There's no way to tell the "good" guys from the "bad" guys in this fast-moving plot peppered with wry humour, puns and brilliant observations. All together, this makes Mr Big a fast and enjoyable read.
• Never heavy or didactic, the plot manages to reveal a gem of wisdom now and then that compels the reader to think about Trinidad culture, especially the crime-ridden society that we face today.
