Teresa's Reviews > The Expendable Man

When I first heard of this book, it was accompanied with the caveat that nothing could be said about it without it being a spoiler. After finishing the book, I believe what the speaker meant is that the first fifty pages or so could be spoiled. In this beginning Hughes masterfully creates unease for the reader, as the reader goes about her business negotiating the unease of the main character Hugh (I just realized how similar those two names are), and all done with a serious point.

Based on "a clue" outside the text, I’d figured out the source of Hugh’s unease before starting it. With that knowledge, I could see how clever — and sensitive — Hughes’s prose is without rereading the early pages (not that that would’ve been a problem). In comparison to In a Lonely Place, the only other book of hers I’ve read, this is a more straightforward “mystery.” Especially near the end, it includes some tropes that generally keep me away from the genre, but the book holds as much depth as the other, if not more.

Throughout my read, I imagined how early readers might’ve felt as they experienced the book — and it is an experience. I’m reminded of Lolly Willowes only in that I have the same advice for maximum impact: Stay away from reviews.