Review for Slow Down by Lee Matthew Goldberg

Slow Down by Lee Matthew Goldberg

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Publication: New Pulp Press

Publication Date: Jan 08, 2015

Format: Pdf

Price: $5.19

Pages: 270

Amazon Link: Click Here

Rating on:

• Trigger Warnings and Disturbances: Nil
• Erotic/Sexual content: 4/10
• Gore and Dismemberment: Nil

“So, how true are all the rumors?” 

He noticed her staring at the giant painting hanging on the wall. A blank white canvas with a yellow circle in the center and traces of red splattered across the bottom in the shape of a handprint. 

“The painting caught your eye?” 

“Yes… I’m trying to understand the significance of the red handprint. Obviously, the yellow circle represents… ”

“Not everything has to have a meaning.” 

“No, of course not! It’s just the yellow circle resembles the tattoos the different girls had in Slow Down, so I thought the red handprint might symbolize blood or death.” 

“I’m ready to begin…” 

***

When you take a stroll through a bookshop, you'll find yourself facing endless sources of books in forms of different shapes, sizes, and colors. And at times, you will be drawn to their breathtaking covers and enchanting smells that’ll spellbind you for eternity. It will keep you in the heart of a burning bright flame that never ceases to exist, and trap you within the time that slips away from your fingers no matter how much you try to stop it. In this fleeting imaginary world, Slow Down by Lee Matthew Goldberg is a pen-dropping read that demands attention, which is one of a kind. 

Catapulting as a 270-pager, Goldberg makes his star debut within these 22 chapters plus an epilogue and a prologue. It is a cross between the noir styling of James M. Cain and the dark satire of Bret Easton Ellis. Majoring under the genres of dark thriller and suspense, Goldberg opens you to a deranged society with people striving for career gain through sexual bribing, drug cronies, and the dark side of media success.

Vengeance, illicit desires, and scorching avarice play a key role in keeping this plot alive. Written from the narrative third-person perspective, the dialogues take place from the first-person. What’s distinguishable in Goldberg’s masterpiece is its unfailing providence and never-ending narrative mysticism. This plotline has an ineffable tight grip that will keep you observing the story as its characters play their respective roles. Goldberg manifests over the ideology of negligent parents, broken families, and misdirected children of the backstabbing rich society in New York ― not every family.

As a content-driven read, the structure of this novel is befuddling: why was the first sentence in every chapter in capitals? The beginning passage of the prologue is cluttering with information, hence, it's incoherent. But this problem fixes itself as you gradually read along. Just like the drug “Fast,” Goldberg’s punchy style is addictive: you may find yourself swimming after words to continue your lucid imaginations. What’s eloquent in Goldberg’s work is his detail descriptive writing on expressing every situation, such as she called me over, my name never sounding so good. She drew it out, making it two long syllables, No-Ahhhhhhh, refreshing like a good sip of bubbling cola. (39)

As a noir thriller, Goldberg’s characters are emotionally broke, callous, diabolical, falsifiers, and stand-offish: they are mostly subject to abominable adversities. The storyline focuses on Goldberg’s protagonist, Noah, and he describes him as “a rich brat with a trust fund and an aimless future, a New York City sob story of decadence and banality like so many others.” Goldberg has used all black characters except for Noah who’s continuous change can be seen. It’s fascinating to notice the inner conflict in Noah’s consciousness: the fight over what he feels and what he tries to say will incite your interest. But one thing is certain: they are devious in their own ways.

The ending leaves you with so many unanswered questions, but it may indicate that Noah’s story may continue as you please. As a fast-paced read, you may leaf through these pages with such ease that may lead you to ignore grammatical and punctuation issues. The significance of this title, Slow Down, is base on Noah’s film production which he stole from his mentor. There are many sentence structure and punctuation hindrances, hence, I would recommend another round of editing.

Goldberg doesn’t fail to explore the dark caves of the media-saturated society with a flair of noir and dark satire.