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Slide in All Direction by David Laing Dawson
A tale of crime, addictions, love and family set in the decaying heart of an old industrial city.
Paperback
First published October 8, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 4, 2017
This crime novel by Canadian author David Laing Dawson brings together a couple of interesting characters operating on the fringes of society, and involve them in an entertaining story that has a predilection for taking all kinds of unexpected detours in order to prevent the reader from second-guessing the next plot twist.
Albert Wesnicki is the main protagonist, a young man who has had his fair share of drug abuse and run-ins with the law. He finds himself inexorably trapped in a bleak situation as far as any hope for a normal crime-free future is concerned. Adding to his problems is his father's death by suicide, which event has affected him adversely. While in the Hamilton Detention Centre, serving a five-month sentence for attempted assault of a police officer, resisting arrest, possession and breach of probation, he makes the acquaintance of the slightly older inmate Jerome Waverley. Once Albert is out on probation, he is determined to put any involvement with drugs or the sordid world of petty crime behind him, especially as his long-suffering mother has decreed him persona non grata until he indubitably proves his intention to stay clean.
Soon he gets roped into a plot hatched by Jerome, involving the theft of a Jamaican dealer's drug proceeds with the dubious assistance of Arlene, ostensibly the Jamaican's live-in girlfriend. As is to be expected, the plan is not the simple one envisaged by Jerome, and soon the ill-advised scheme goes wrong with an unexpected death thrown into the mix. From this point on the story turns into a minor roller-coaster ride as the drug money changes hands at least twice, and dishonor among thieves causes bad blood between Albert and Arlene on the one hand, and the hard done by Jerome on the other hand.
Dawson's style is gritty and realistic. He attempts to make much more of his characters than the paper cut-outs they might so easily have become. There is always the sense that we are dealing with real people, and in this regard the authentic dialogue adds to that impression. There is excellent usage of the Hamilton, Ontario, backdrop -- to the extent that the city becomes a major player in the telling of the story. The author has made Albert Wesnicki a very likeable character. I was rooting for him from page one, and hoping fervently for a way in which he could ultimately redeem himself. On the negative side, I felt that the ending was a tad contrived and unconvincing. But this observation did not detract from the enjoyment of reading this funny and moving novel.
Albert Wesnicki is the main protagonist, a young man who has had his fair share of drug abuse and run-ins with the law. He finds himself inexorably trapped in a bleak situation as far as any hope for a normal crime-free future is concerned. Adding to his problems is his father's death by suicide, which event has affected him adversely. While in the Hamilton Detention Centre, serving a five-month sentence for attempted assault of a police officer, resisting arrest, possession and breach of probation, he makes the acquaintance of the slightly older inmate Jerome Waverley. Once Albert is out on probation, he is determined to put any involvement with drugs or the sordid world of petty crime behind him, especially as his long-suffering mother has decreed him persona non grata until he indubitably proves his intention to stay clean.
Soon he gets roped into a plot hatched by Jerome, involving the theft of a Jamaican dealer's drug proceeds with the dubious assistance of Arlene, ostensibly the Jamaican's live-in girlfriend. As is to be expected, the plan is not the simple one envisaged by Jerome, and soon the ill-advised scheme goes wrong with an unexpected death thrown into the mix. From this point on the story turns into a minor roller-coaster ride as the drug money changes hands at least twice, and dishonor among thieves causes bad blood between Albert and Arlene on the one hand, and the hard done by Jerome on the other hand.
Dawson's style is gritty and realistic. He attempts to make much more of his characters than the paper cut-outs they might so easily have become. There is always the sense that we are dealing with real people, and in this regard the authentic dialogue adds to that impression. There is excellent usage of the Hamilton, Ontario, backdrop -- to the extent that the city becomes a major player in the telling of the story. The author has made Albert Wesnicki a very likeable character. I was rooting for him from page one, and hoping fervently for a way in which he could ultimately redeem himself. On the negative side, I felt that the ending was a tad contrived and unconvincing. But this observation did not detract from the enjoyment of reading this funny and moving novel.
November 26, 2008
The writing was a little rough, but this was a good story. The characters were very believable and while I did not relate to all of them, I found myself rooting for most of them all the same. I was reminded a bit of "A Million Little Pieces" here and there, but this story was not quite as dark and Albert was a much more sympathetic character. His good intentions and his true nature were revealed gradually as the book progressed, and it was so nice to leave him and the story as things were looking up.
July 2, 2025
I love reading books set in my hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, and this writer does not try to disguise Hamilton at all, it is here in all of its gritty glory. The story is about a young man who makes some bad choices, ends up in jail, and back in the streets of Hamilton he runs into some of the same guys he knew in jail, and makes some more bad choices. I cared enough about the characters that I was having a lot of anxiety about how all these bad choices were going to end up, but it was not a bad ending. That's all I will say without giving any spoilers. And I happen to know that the author is the former chief of psychiatry at the Hamilton psychiatric hospital (although there are no blurbs about the author on the book cover!), and you can see his psychiatric expertise in his character development.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews