Generation Loss

By: Elizabeth Hand

Narrated by: Carol Monda

Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Cass Neary made her name in the 70s as a photographer embedded in the burgeoning punk movement in New York City. Her pictures of the musicians and the hangers-on, the infamous, the damned, and the dead, earned her a brief moment of fame.

Thirty years later she is adrift, on her way down and almost out when an old acquaintance sends her on a mercy gig to interview a famously reclusive photographer who lives on an island in Maine. When she arrives Down East, Cass stumbles across a decades-old mystery that is still claiming victims, and she finds one final shot at redemption.

©2008 Elizabeth Hand (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Dark, Beautiful, Weird

This author has an awesome style. It is a very visual, and there is little question about the picture she is painting at any given moment.

However I think at times she gets bogged down a little in the details about photography processes, avante guard art, and the main character's own self destructive behavior.

There are two "apexes" to this story and the first one is sooo flippin' creepy, as she takes pictures while someone dies. Fortunately the second one, near the end, generates the kind of kind of tension and excitement to pull all of the points together.

Overall a very good story, performed by a very good reader.

It has its moments

I was relatively engaged until about 2/3 in, then I stopped caring. I realized that, beyond basic human empathy, I didn't have any interest in what happened to any of the characters. I felt like the author would periodically remind the reader that Cass was edgy, just in case we forgot. I toughed it out to the end, because it must have some redeeming qualities to have been rated so high, but the last third of the book offered a bit of closure, not much more.

Dragging on like a tooth being pulled slowly

35 minutes left, and we finally get more information.

I heard mostly chatter. I understand people love this book. Tis not for me.

Binge- listened

What drives an artist to create? Like the work of her characters, Hand creates memorable images that straddle the analog and digital worlds.

A terrific read

Imaginative and dark, Generation Loss features a tough, self-destructive character. It's brilliantly written, atmospheric, and memorable. A terrific read

Unbelievably good

I lived on the lower East Side in the 80's, and Hand just nailed it.
Couldn't stop listening; stayed up all night til the story finally let me go.

Thoroughly enjoyed

I'm not sure when we started passing moral judgment on fictional characters, but if you can only read about perfect, moral, proper people you're going to get bored quickly. I was fascinated by this character, she was more like real people that I actually know. Not in the gritty details, but with human foibles and character defects. The narration was perfect. I immediately downloaded the rest of the series.

Slow burn with a great lead character

I will warn you that not much happens in this book until the very last chapters. Mainly it's a character story about Cass Neary a former hard living punk rocker who's time and brief fame has passed her by. Once an ascending photographer during the 70's punk era in NY, she is now a forgotten blip that still drinks and does drugs like she did in her early days. She is asked by a friend to interview a similar photographer that became a recluse, living on an island off the coast of Maine. From the moment she arrives, she is thrust into a mystery spanning decades. Like I said, most of the book is just Cass going from place to place pissing people off and stealing little objects...all the while high as a kite. She is frustrating, funny and very captivating and Carol Monda is perfect at bringing her to life. Overall, very entertaining freebee so I will move on to books 2 and 3.

Fascinating

Found this when I searched for mysteries without a murder.. Intriguing and beautifully crafted story about nature, art, photography damaged lives, redemption.

WOW!

So glad I found this. I can relate to the main character with her darkness and pain. I couldn't stop listening and am looking forward to getting into the other instalments.

I am a hooked fan now. It's just great and gritty and non apologetic!

On to the next...