Bloodlist - Chapter Ten - Flashback
Aug. 4th, 2019 12:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kalinara posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
i_read_whatSo we made it to the penultimate chapter of Bloodlist. It's kind of nice to have a shorter book or two in the mix, I have to admit.
Now this is likely to be a very short recap, because we've got a lovely head injury induced flashback to Jack's initial death. And I'm not sure we need to get into THAT much detail. Let's just say there's a reason Jack blocked this shit out.
BIG Content Warning for torture here, folks.
So Jack's flashback starts on the train to Chicago. He is waking up from a dream of Maureen, something he used to hate, but has started to appreciate because it's a reminder that he'd "once loved her and felt alive". He thinks this dream might be more of a goodbye though, since by moving to Chicago, Jack's basically closing the door of that chapter of his life.
I really like this bit actually, because it makes it clear that Jack isn't just moving on from Maureen because he met Bobbi. He's not just replacing one woman with another.
So anyway, we see his arrival in Chicago (which is not windy today). There's a nice bit where Jack thinks that he'll hunt up a hamburger and read the papers to decide which one deserved to employ me. Vampirism put the kibosh on that plan, I suppose.
Anyway, Jack's taking a bath at the hotel when the phone rings, and as one of those people who have to answer the phone no matter what (I feel you, man), he answers. To his surprise, it's an old acquaintance/informant, Benny O'Hara. He needs Jack's help and he's desperate. Jack goes out to meet him, noting that Benny looks pretty wrecked and haggard. And he doesn't extort money from Jack, telling him that he can take it or leave it after Benny finishes his story. Jack is alarmed.
Long story short, Benny ended up stealing from Lucky Lebredo. He'd meant to just steal cash, but as it turned out, the envelope he used to steal it contained a coded list. Benny likes puzzles, so he decoded it: it's a blackmail list, full of big names, where they live, and the location of the stuff against them. Benny wants to get rid of the list, fast, and he thinks that Jack, as a new face in town, might be able to help him out of the city in exchange for it.
Jack tells Benny to go to the cops, but unfortunately, there are cops, judges, and a whole shit ton of other people on that list. Jack agrees to help (noting that he'd always been an idiot when it came to thinking out the long-term consequences of snap decisions). Benny's plan is that he'll give Jack money to buy a car for him, in Jack's name, and they'll drive out of town. Jack drops Benny off, keeps the car and the list. And since no one knows who Jack is, he'll be safe. They slip into an alley, and Benny hands over a thousand dollar bill and the list. Not a moment too soon, as Jack suddenly hears three coughs from his left, and Benny is suddenly full of holes. Jack narrates that he won't defend his reaction, but I don't really think he needs to defend himself. He books it.
Jack realizes that the police won't be of much help. He saw Benny die, but he didn't see the killer. He runs through crowds, storerooms, and so on for nearly an hour. He even manages to jump a taxi (they follow in a dark green Ford). He does manage to lose them by ducking into the Chicago Public Library. Jack stashes the list on one of the shelves, and slips out again. He gets hungry and stops at a cafe for food, and jots notes on a napkin in shorthand. After it gets dark, he leaves and heads back to his hotel, figuring that there's no way that the men would know where he was staying.
And that's probably true, but they do know where they killed Benny. And they were waiting. They grab Jack.
And this is where things start to get really bad. I hope you'll forgive the general lack of detail in this next part.
They get Jack subdued as they drive him to the yacht. Ms. Elrod isn't as cavalier with head injuries as a lot of writers are. Jack gets whacked pretty good early on and is clearly disoriented. Then they get him restrained, empty his pockets, and study his wallet and the notes on the napkin.
This does explain something I'd wondered about: how they'd known his real name. Jack hadn't had time to plan anything.
Jack tries to pass the napkin notes as brainstorming for a story, but no one is buying it. They don't find the list, obviously, and Jack's not talking. And then we get a pretty graphic and in depth retelling of how exactly Jack got all those bruises and marks we saw in the first chapter. Morelli, Paco, and Fred are the main people involved and I start to wonder if Jack's "loss of control" when it came to the latter two (killing Fred by mistake, burning out Paco's mind) wasn't more of a subconscious lashing out. I can't really say I blame him.
Jack knows that if he talks and gives them the list, he'll die. So he stays quiet. It goes on for days.
There's a point where Paco suggests they get Gordy to help, but Gordy's busy looking for Benny. (We learn Paco got rid of Benny's body.)
The torture session is disturbingly well-written and it's very easy to follow Jack's pain, disorientation, and confusion as it continues. And the part where he drifts, dreaming of escape or even just drowning to get away is heart-wrenching.
Another particularly horrible bit is when Jack, left alone and semi-conscious, tries to get over to a window for some air, and isn't really even able to crawl. He makes it halfway. Paco is impressed.
And it's very clear when Jack has reached the end of his rope, and the listlessness at the new, more creative threats, is alarming. Jack gets a tiny bit of fire back when he realized that he's probably going to die either way, but he'll keep the secret out of spite.
Actually, I'm wrong. There's one more day after that. Thankfully, Jack is sparing with details, as he's not really all there anymore. (A nice bit is when Morelli makes "his little speech", but we don't get any of the words this time. He apparently had to repeat it a few times before Jack understood. Nice by a certain definition anyway.)
By the end, they realize that he's too far gone. He can't track enough to follow their questions even if he wanted to. FINALLY, FINALLY, they shoot him, and drop his body into the water. Instinct gets Jack to shore, and the chapter ends where the story started, with Jack waking up on a beach.
So yeah, that was grueling. And far more graphic than I really expected in a book like this. Definitely well written, but it was pretty much a mercy for me as much as it was for Jack when Paco finally pulled the trigger.
That very tiny glimpse we get of Jack, pre-vampirism, is kind of sad too. He reads a bit differently than the Jack we know. A little more lost (though not without some plans). He hasn't had his winter yet.
And well, now we see what's behind Jack's flashbacks and trauma. I bet Charles would have some interesting insight. And would suggest that Jack could have, and should have, taken a lot longer to get his revenge from Paco and Fred. He's earned it.
So, next chapter's the last. Back in the present day, with Jack, presumably remembering everything (including where the list is). Could be fun. As long as there's no more torture.
Now this is likely to be a very short recap, because we've got a lovely head injury induced flashback to Jack's initial death. And I'm not sure we need to get into THAT much detail. Let's just say there's a reason Jack blocked this shit out.
BIG Content Warning for torture here, folks.
So Jack's flashback starts on the train to Chicago. He is waking up from a dream of Maureen, something he used to hate, but has started to appreciate because it's a reminder that he'd "once loved her and felt alive". He thinks this dream might be more of a goodbye though, since by moving to Chicago, Jack's basically closing the door of that chapter of his life.
I really like this bit actually, because it makes it clear that Jack isn't just moving on from Maureen because he met Bobbi. He's not just replacing one woman with another.
So anyway, we see his arrival in Chicago (which is not windy today). There's a nice bit where Jack thinks that he'll hunt up a hamburger and read the papers to decide which one deserved to employ me. Vampirism put the kibosh on that plan, I suppose.
Anyway, Jack's taking a bath at the hotel when the phone rings, and as one of those people who have to answer the phone no matter what (I feel you, man), he answers. To his surprise, it's an old acquaintance/informant, Benny O'Hara. He needs Jack's help and he's desperate. Jack goes out to meet him, noting that Benny looks pretty wrecked and haggard. And he doesn't extort money from Jack, telling him that he can take it or leave it after Benny finishes his story. Jack is alarmed.
Long story short, Benny ended up stealing from Lucky Lebredo. He'd meant to just steal cash, but as it turned out, the envelope he used to steal it contained a coded list. Benny likes puzzles, so he decoded it: it's a blackmail list, full of big names, where they live, and the location of the stuff against them. Benny wants to get rid of the list, fast, and he thinks that Jack, as a new face in town, might be able to help him out of the city in exchange for it.
Jack tells Benny to go to the cops, but unfortunately, there are cops, judges, and a whole shit ton of other people on that list. Jack agrees to help (noting that he'd always been an idiot when it came to thinking out the long-term consequences of snap decisions). Benny's plan is that he'll give Jack money to buy a car for him, in Jack's name, and they'll drive out of town. Jack drops Benny off, keeps the car and the list. And since no one knows who Jack is, he'll be safe. They slip into an alley, and Benny hands over a thousand dollar bill and the list. Not a moment too soon, as Jack suddenly hears three coughs from his left, and Benny is suddenly full of holes. Jack narrates that he won't defend his reaction, but I don't really think he needs to defend himself. He books it.
Jack realizes that the police won't be of much help. He saw Benny die, but he didn't see the killer. He runs through crowds, storerooms, and so on for nearly an hour. He even manages to jump a taxi (they follow in a dark green Ford). He does manage to lose them by ducking into the Chicago Public Library. Jack stashes the list on one of the shelves, and slips out again. He gets hungry and stops at a cafe for food, and jots notes on a napkin in shorthand. After it gets dark, he leaves and heads back to his hotel, figuring that there's no way that the men would know where he was staying.
And that's probably true, but they do know where they killed Benny. And they were waiting. They grab Jack.
And this is where things start to get really bad. I hope you'll forgive the general lack of detail in this next part.
They get Jack subdued as they drive him to the yacht. Ms. Elrod isn't as cavalier with head injuries as a lot of writers are. Jack gets whacked pretty good early on and is clearly disoriented. Then they get him restrained, empty his pockets, and study his wallet and the notes on the napkin.
This does explain something I'd wondered about: how they'd known his real name. Jack hadn't had time to plan anything.
Jack tries to pass the napkin notes as brainstorming for a story, but no one is buying it. They don't find the list, obviously, and Jack's not talking. And then we get a pretty graphic and in depth retelling of how exactly Jack got all those bruises and marks we saw in the first chapter. Morelli, Paco, and Fred are the main people involved and I start to wonder if Jack's "loss of control" when it came to the latter two (killing Fred by mistake, burning out Paco's mind) wasn't more of a subconscious lashing out. I can't really say I blame him.
Jack knows that if he talks and gives them the list, he'll die. So he stays quiet. It goes on for days.
There's a point where Paco suggests they get Gordy to help, but Gordy's busy looking for Benny. (We learn Paco got rid of Benny's body.)
The torture session is disturbingly well-written and it's very easy to follow Jack's pain, disorientation, and confusion as it continues. And the part where he drifts, dreaming of escape or even just drowning to get away is heart-wrenching.
Another particularly horrible bit is when Jack, left alone and semi-conscious, tries to get over to a window for some air, and isn't really even able to crawl. He makes it halfway. Paco is impressed.
And it's very clear when Jack has reached the end of his rope, and the listlessness at the new, more creative threats, is alarming. Jack gets a tiny bit of fire back when he realized that he's probably going to die either way, but he'll keep the secret out of spite.
Actually, I'm wrong. There's one more day after that. Thankfully, Jack is sparing with details, as he's not really all there anymore. (A nice bit is when Morelli makes "his little speech", but we don't get any of the words this time. He apparently had to repeat it a few times before Jack understood. Nice by a certain definition anyway.)
By the end, they realize that he's too far gone. He can't track enough to follow their questions even if he wanted to. FINALLY, FINALLY, they shoot him, and drop his body into the water. Instinct gets Jack to shore, and the chapter ends where the story started, with Jack waking up on a beach.
So yeah, that was grueling. And far more graphic than I really expected in a book like this. Definitely well written, but it was pretty much a mercy for me as much as it was for Jack when Paco finally pulled the trigger.
That very tiny glimpse we get of Jack, pre-vampirism, is kind of sad too. He reads a bit differently than the Jack we know. A little more lost (though not without some plans). He hasn't had his winter yet.
And well, now we see what's behind Jack's flashbacks and trauma. I bet Charles would have some interesting insight. And would suggest that Jack could have, and should have, taken a lot longer to get his revenge from Paco and Fred. He's earned it.
So, next chapter's the last. Back in the present day, with Jack, presumably remembering everything (including where the list is). Could be fun. As long as there's no more torture.