Cover Image: The Pattern Maker

The Pattern Maker

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A very intriguing synopsis, but this book was not what what thought it would be. I had a hard time getting into it. I gave it a chance, but I couldn't do it.

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This is book 3 of the Books of Furnass Series. This is the story of Paul, a man on an adventure in Pittsburg. There he runs into several people who turn his life in a different direction and he becomes a suspects in several murders. This book reaches a violent conclusion when perception becomes reality.

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At the center of this brooding mystery set in 1975 is a Vietnam veteran whose untreated PTSD is exacerbated by the beginnings of a midlife crisis. Paul Slater is a pattern maker (metal templates) in a mill, he becomes increasingly dissatisfied with his life and begins drifting into nearby Pittsburgh where he connects with a streetwise hippy and a film crew in the process of making a movie.

The story changes perspective among several characters trying to build a moody, enigmatic murder mystery among a sort of collective village within the bigger city. It doesn't quite succeed.

The style is different/unique. That's neither a positive nor a negative it's simply an adjustment that must be made on the part of the reader. It's a bit long-winded and meandering and requires concentration, not really something you can casually read. None of those things, in and of themselves, is a deal breaker for me but... when the author begins referencing events that have not yet happened within the timeline of the book it started to lose me.

It's not just one or two things but enough that it actually took me out of the narrative to the point where that became my focus rather than the plot. Example: A woman listens to a song on the radio, feeling that it must have been written just for her - a neat trick since that particular song had not yet been written at the time. It's things like that, things meant to create a "vibe", that fall hard and flat. It's lazy writing.

I get that the author was likely trying for something a little more experimental or introspective than the norm, but once my frame of mind became "Wait. Can that be right? That hadn't happened in 1975". the game was over and the experiment failed. Sadly, I think with a little more effort put into the accuracy of the cultural history and a strong editor this might have been something special.

I can't recommend this one.

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After reading 50 pages I gave up!!! There were parts where one sentence would run on for 5 pages! Unfortunately this book was not for me.

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The book begins with Paul being told about a newspaper account of a murder. The battered body of a woman was found tied to a tree in a Pittsburgh park. This book gives beautifully written descriptions of the Philadelphia area. The characters are realistic for the area and the seventies time frame. However, the plot is slow over the place. I found it difficult to relate to all characters and follow the many plot lines.

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A complex multi-layered tale of facades in an improbable industrial setting. A movie-maker bluffing through his last chance, an ex Army sniper with an unhealthy obsession, two cops -one black, one white - who may or may not have each others backs. Skilful writing brings these disparate characters to vivid life as the motives for a brutal murder are gradually revealed. The city, Pittsburgh at its most industrial, is not only the setting but another character. A can't put it down read!

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The Pattern Maker was a difficult book to get into and I kept getting lost so was unable to read after several tries. Thank you Net galley for giving me this opportunity to try it. the Star rating I didn't feel was fair as I did not truly read

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Interesting sounding plot line but I had a hard time with the story. I couldn’t relate to the characters and had a hard time keeping track of the plot and what, if anything, it was doing. While other reader will love this book, it was not one for me.

Thank you NetGalley, Richard Snodgrass and Calling Crow Press for this edition and hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partner

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Anything but an HEA!
This was like watching a PBS mystery with so many potential persons of interest that it was literally hard to keep up. Taking place in 1975 we are introduced to a sad man, the pattern maker, Paul whose life is boring after having been in the CIA in Viet Nam and who suddenly develops an obsession for a young woman. And then there is Lt. Nathan White, an African American officer new to his partner because his former partner had issues with him. They are called out on an awful crime of a bludgeoned and tied up young woman.
There are so many times I thought we were getting close to a resolution and then to come to a dead end. No pun intended! Snodgrass throws so many unlikely people together or in each other’s orbit to give you lots of potential victims or killers. I’m still trying to figure out if I really liked this book or did I keep reading to see if they figure out “who done it”? There are the Nicolettis, Paul Slater, Suzy Konecki, Sam Connor, Jeff Berner, Carla, Ianni and the dead girl Sandy Love. And, other mentioned but less important people.
Snodgrass had one of the characters say, “Funny ol’ world, sweet ol’ world, serendipitous ol’ world, we are drawn together by forces and ties of which we have no concept and no control.” This is a pretty succinct description of this book. Lots of people and few come out of it unscathed. I volunteered to review this book through NetGalley and I give it 4 stars because I couldn’t stop reading it…

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This book was frustrating for me. Its premise -- a girl is found mutilated and murdered in a downtown Pittsburgh park -- is never really followed up. Instead, we are presented with the inner workings of its four main characters. Three men: a washed-up horror-movie producer, an engineer working at a metal foundry who has lost his way, and a young wanna-be and unstable actor. All of these men interact with the director's lover and intern who flits about the novel oblivious to the dangers of this trio. There is a lot to like in this book, but sadly the overly flowerly descriptions and revelations of the characters inner thoughts and motivations just get in the way. The author never returns to the opening scene and left me unsatisfied. In the end, I couldn't overlook its flaws.

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I could not make myself finish this in spite of making it 3/4 of the way through. I felt as though the story was going nowhere. I could not find a character I understood or cared about. The author obviously knows Pittsburgh, but that was not enough to keep me involved. How the pattern maker could keep leaving home as though he were going to work but never actually returning to his job just gave me a sense of unease. Meanwhile where he did go made no sense. Perhaps the story finally pulls it all together, but I needed to move on.

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I started this book, and it was quite intriguing, but the story was so dark and depressing that honestly, I had to put it down to complete it later. The characterization is well done - I'm curious about the characters and want to learn more about how the characters will end up intersecting. The Pittsburgh area of that period is described in great detail - we can almost smell the smog of the smelters.

I'll happily come back and update my review once I have the emotional fortitude to read this story. Thank you for the opportunity to NetGalley and the publisher.

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The Pattern Maker doesn't make sewing patterns. The Pattern Maker isn't a psychologist, studying people, looking for patterns in their behavior or their acquaintances or their families. No, he works in a steel mill. One Saturday, he takes off for Pittsburgh, for a change of scene, and finds himself enmeshed in crime and murder. From start to finish, one surprise after another!

I read this EARC courtesy of Calling Crow Press and Net Galley. pub date 05/01/20

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Search for Adventure Turns Deadly

Paul Slater, a former Green Beret sniper, now works at the steel mill outside of Pittsburgh as his father and grandfather before him. He has a skilled job as a pattern maker, but it offers little stimulation. He’s married to his high school sweetheart and has two children. In the evenings he attends the men’s clubs around the mill, but on a whim he decides to try the night life in Pittsburgh.

One day after his work partner tells Paul about the murder of a young woman in a Pittsburgh park, he unaccountably leaves work and heads to Pittsburgh. There he stumbles on a film crew making a movie. He becomes entranced with a young intern, Suzy, and begins to see her. Then the director of the movie and his wife are killed. Suzy is questioned and Paul is pulled into the investigation.

This book gives beautifully written descriptions of the Philadelphia area. The characters are realistic for the area and the seventies time frame. However, the plot is convoluted. I found it difficult to relate to the diverse characters and follow the several plot lines.

The book does have somel important themes. Paul’s overriding problem is the boredom of living a predictable life. He also appears to suffer from PTSD. Racism and drug abuse as well as the sexual abuse of women are secondary themes. The surprising violence at the end comes as rather a surprise.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

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This is the first Richard Snodgrass book I’ve read, and now I’m a fan. The Patternmaker was set in a small mill town south of Pittsburgh in 1975. Paul Slater, a former Green Beret sniper works in a mill and leads a boring life. Looking for some kind of change, or fulfillment, he begins to ditch work and drive to Pittsburgh, where his path crosses with the other central characters.

The book begins Paul’s work partner telling Paul about a newspaper account of a brutal murder. The battered body of a woman was found tied to a tree in a Pittsburgh park. It’s being investigated by detective partners, McCarron and White. Another, and actually central story line is that of a movie director, Nicko, and his wife Fran, in Pittsburgh to film a low budget movie. Nicko has previously been mildly famous for his “sexploitation” films that have a strong similarity to the Pittsburgh murder. Nicko’s sexy intern, Suzy, and a young, wannabe actor, Jeff Berner, are also central to the story line. And then is Sam Connor, a colorful hippie who panhandles and seems to know everything about the downtown area, selling some of his information to the police.

I felt the character development was very well done, and I could picture each one from the descriptions, and interactions. Also realistic was the weaving of the relationships between these disparate characters, how they intersected through the book until the high stress ending.
There were so many real life themes in the book,: The boredom of a predictable job, and a predictable life. Physical and sexual abuse of women. PTSD. Racism. Class struggle. Insecurity. Drug abuse. Mental illness. Struggle for fame and success, as well as the lengths to which people will go to obtain it, keep it, and regain it when it’s lost.

Although one of the central characters, Paul Slater, was a pattern maker in a mill, that was the only reference to the title aside from drawings at the beginning of each chapter

I definitely enjoyed the book, and thought it had a well written plot. I was never bored. Nothing was a given, so I didn’t guess how the book would end.
I received a copy of The Patternmaker free as an ARC from Netgalley. This is my unbiased review of a book I truly enjoyed.

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The Pattern Maker was not my favorite read of the COVID crisis. Perhaps since I have not read other books by Richard Snodgrass, I do not know his style of writing. The plot is somewhat confusing but I finished it and then was left hanging again.

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Was transported through his writing...

At times, in this story, I felt I was there,
just looking over their sholders...

Well written with a clever plot.

An enjoyable read !

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This is one useless story. There area no characters to love, none to cheer. No one wins. The plot is pointless. I want my wasted time back.

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It has been a while since I spent time in Pittsburgh, but this book provides such a loving description of the area that I remembered and wished I could stop back. The writing is almost lyrical in creating the images of the three rivers area. The main characters are unique and weird. The book captures their environments and forces in their lives. I wish I felt the same about the plot. It would be difficult to say what the book is about. When it ended, a number of loose ends remained. Hopefully they will be addressed in subsequent books in this series. I'm sure you will enjoy the many wild and wonderful characters, and you will definitely learn to admire the Pittsburgh area. The story itself ends suddenly and somewhat strangely. I loved the book , but felt unfulfilled.

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This is the second Richard Snodgrass novel I have read and once again I am surprised at how little attention he seems to have garnered on Goodreads or Amazon, because he’s a very good writer and deserves a wide readership. I hope my review will encourage some other readers to check out this series of books about the steel mill town of Furnass in Pennsylvania. In this latest volume we meet Paul Slater, once a Green Beret in Vietnam and now trying to adjust to life back in his small town. He’s happily married to his high school sweetheart but the fall of Saigon in 1975 seems to trigger a crisis in him and restless and discontented he spends more and more time in nearby Pittsburgh, searching for he knows not what, and where a series of chance encounters involve him in the dangers and intrigues of city life. Gradually back stories of all the characters, including Paul’s, are revealed and the reader is drawn into their lives as the novel becomes a page-turning drama. Although I very much enjoyed the book I do have a few quibbles, as I found the sexual violence overdone, and the constant reference to “crotches” and “panties” distasteful, although I accept it’s a novel set back in the 70s when different standards applied. However, although the plot becomes more and more convoluted I felt that the author kept control of his material and the pacing was spot-on. Well worth a read and I hope to read more of Snodgrass’s work in the future.

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