Dig two graves

Author : Zoran Drvenkar
Title : Sorry
Published : 07/10/2011
Pages : 297
Format : Paperback
Publisher : Blue Door






    

     Kris, Tamara, Frauke, and Wolf are four friends who are drifting through their twenties, underemployed and unfulfilled. Sick of being treated badly at work, they decide to start a business of their own: Sorry, an agency that brings the human touch back to corporate life by offering to apologize to those who've been unjustly accused, unfairly dismissed and otherwise mistreated. The corporate clients are more than happy to let someone else handle their emotional dirty work, making Sorry an instant success. But one client hides a darker agenda. Expecting an ordinary apology job, Wolf is dispatched to the scene of a crime. In an abandoned apartment, there is a dead woman nailed to the wall. Then his phone rings and the nightmare begins: The client wants to make sure his apology is properly delivered.

     For me this was a reread I had been looking over my self trying to work out what to go with next and came across my copy. I was given this along time ago and read it as soon as I could. I remember it staying with me for along time after id finished it. But with most things as time pasted the story had slipped away and I had pretty much forgotten everything that happened. So when it caught my eye I figured it was time to go back and reacquaint myself with it.

     For the most part this is a book about what friends will go though for one another. How far we will all go to make right things that happen to each other. Most of the book is spent switch between our four friends point of view. This is easily achieved as each time we swap the name is given first. Our hero's show a great deal of loyalty to each other all willing to go the extra mile to protect those they hold dear. As you can imagine they don't always agree with the group but that doesn't in any way force them to pull apart. Not much time is spent in the background of these four but for me it wasn't really a problem. Enough is given to show the reasons for them being together. In a strange turn of events the author brings the reader into the story as our main antagonist. At first it felt a bit odd as we are told what we are doing. But after a short while I settled into it.  Although I could see this putting some people off. In this way we get to see how we manipulate the sorry agency into doing our bidding and gaining revenge on those we perceive to have done us wrong. Without wanting to give anything away we do come to understand the actions of this character and at times sympathise with at least the reasons behind what he is doing even if you may not real agree with his methods.  The final person to enter the story is referred to as the man who wasn't there. He is some one who you can only feel disgusted by. For me he has absolutely no reading features. I cant really say much about him as he only feature in a small percentage of the book and to say anything would give his purpose away.

     This is a book the delves way down to the depths of human depravity. The topic of child abuse is the main driving force behind what takes place. The details given by the author where enough to make my stomach churn. For anyone kidding them selves the action these people  take are solely about power over another individual.  And this is shown by the way the author talks about the manipulation of the minors that are in the story. Telling them that if the don't follow the rules they are given they will come and kill there family's. A ploy that is used in real life to scare victims into not talking.  The book moves between the past and the present this allows us to get behind the motivation of the character who hires the sorry agency. When we switch back to the present is how we learn that some things can't be apologised for. For the most part the idea of saying sorry is treated like a joke between the friends not think anyone would real take it seriously. It is only as our tale of revenge spreads out that you can see why someone might believe they are treading on very dangerous ground. For me it was a strange thing to start to understand why this killer was doing what he was. Normally when we get to the reasons behind a killers motives you just end up thinking there crazy or very disturbed.  But this time I was slowly brought around to why he was doing what he was. The anger and rage he felt seemed to be justifiable. I don't think I could go do the things our killer did but I still felt the anger he was going thought all the same. If some one had done something so horrific to you or yours would you not want them to pay for what they did. While I cant real agree with the way he treated our four friends to me they seemed to have turned up in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is a book that by the time I reached the final chapters I realised no one was really getting out of this in one piece. Its a good example of how revenge destroys ever thing in its path weather it means to or not. There is no light at the end of the tunnel here. I will say that I realise this book will not be for everyone. . The perspectives shift around a lot between people and times and you do have to keep track of who did what to whom.

     I glad I took some time to get reacquainted with this book. Its a strange thing for such a short book to take so much out of me. I managed to get through it in a day but because of such a dark subject matter weighed on me a lot. There are a few lighter moments in this story but they all really appear in the beginning. Once the true story takes hold it doesn't let go as we see our heroes fight for survival. This was a hard one to review as for the most part to tell anything of the plot would give away far to much. All I can say is if you are looking for a little something different and your willing to go to some very disturbing place you should pick a copy up.