The 25th Hour
David Benioff

review by: Michael Walls
Date: 8/25/02

Most of us take our days for granted. The twenty-four hours of today, most likely resemble the twenty-four of yesterday. And while, that twenty-four hours, by itself, may not be all that bad – measured up against the last twenty-four hours of Monty Brogan's life – well, ours is probably mundain, to be polite.

The 25th Hour, by David Benioff, traces the final full day of freedom for Monty Brogan, convicted drug dealer, before he gets shipped off to prison for seven years.

Now, you might ask, "who cares about a drug dealer? Sending him away could do nothing but good for society."

Ah...but his isn't about "good" or "bad" or "society" or even "prison". This is about "people". It's about Monty, his two closest friends, his girlfriend, his father, his enemies. It's about Monty's last hours, and how he treats it, and the decisions he makes, and how those decisions will affect everyone around him, forever.

Benioff hasn't written a novel, in the sense of a traditional novel. He has written a massive characterization. A snapshot into the lives of five principle characters, on the worst day of their lives. And as they trudge through the hours and the snow covered streets of New York, we begin to sympathize with them – even Monty.

With that cold and snowy, New York City backdrop, Benioff doesn't have far to go to create a dark and dismal setting. No one goes off to prison on a nice summer day. But dispite the humorless situation, Benioff creates a dark humor through his depressing characters.

A debut novel for Benioff, he has a great flare for dialog, for language, capturing personalities in conversations rather then descriptive narratives. Each character's background and personal convictions, shapes their actions and their decisions. But Benioff creates impossible situations for each person to overcome, thus forcing decisions to be made. Decisions that will affect the rest of their lives.

An excellent read, with crisp dialogue and real characters. A crime novel with a Gen-X feel and pace.