It's always interesting when an author is actually an expert in a completely different skill, such as a doctor or nurse writing a book about a hospital, or a police office about a crime. In the case of Don't Look Down by David Laing Dawson, it's a forensic psychiatrist writing about four men that could very easily have been reflections of his own clients. His four primary characters are all serving time in a secure psychiatry ward as roommates, and they have their separate reasons and crimes to consider.
Frank just finished a prison sentence for manslaughter; he is a scary sociopath with a brutal outlook on life. David is a young man plagued with schizophrenia who likes to keep his hair wet and may have had something to do with the death of a woman named Sal. Henry is an 81 year old man with a memory problem and in trouble for mercy killing his long-time girlfriend. Finally, there is Joseph, a paranoid man who was convinced his wife was sleeping with everyone around him and started to savagely beat her for it. How these men manage to live somewhat harmoniously together is anyone's guess, but I guess they have bigger things to worry about then getting along with a roommate!
The main character is more than likely Henry, who is the first person introduced in the short book (174 pages) and the last character to speak. He's certainly an interesting study as a very old man who can barely remember his name half of the time, let alone how to present his case in court. After watching one lover die from a wasting disease, he took it upon himself to end his second lover's illness with a bullet to the head. The most interesting of them, however, seems to be the confused and genuinely crazy David.
Article comments
1 - Sahar
Great review Chelsea - and I'm quite intrigued now! I'll add this book to my ever-increasing pile and let you know what I think of it when I actually do read it ;)