One characteristic of Jeffrey Thomas's novels is that they tend to be immersive. He really takes the reader into the world the story is set in, to the point that one feels like one is walking around within the scene and experiencing everything that is happening. The American is no exception.
It's difficult to try and describe this novel because it's very layered and weaves a lot of things together in the process of telling the story. On the surface, it's a mystery/thriller/horror novel, but there's actually a lot more to it than that. It deals with a number of ideas and themes that give the world and the characters in it texture and depth. The old advice to writers is "Write about what you know". And Jeffrey Thomas knows about a lot of things and brings that to The American. From what it's like to work in our humanity-be-damned corporate office culture to what current-day Vietnam is like and how differently things are done there. Having been in both environments, I found myself frequently recognizing and relating to things from my own experience. Thomas definitely knows his stuff.
Richard Trenor is an American in Massachusetts working for Innovative Productivity Concepts (a soul-numbing cubicle-farm horror of a place that a lot of readers will probably identify with). In late middle-age - and missing an eye from when he served in Vietnam as a "tunnel rat" some forty years earlier - Trenor has come to terms with his existence, looking only to eventually reach some sort of modestly comfortable retirement.
That all changes when he gets a phone call in the middle of the night from Vietnam, from a young man named Thanh, the son of a Vietnamese soldier Trenor served with back in 1970 and who saved Trenor's life. Improbably, Thanh is calling seeking Trenor's help to find the murderer of his younger sister, Hang Ni, and the whereabouts of his other sister, Tra Mi, who has gone missing. Trenor though hasn't set foot in Vietnam in forty years, and he tells Thanh he doesn't know what he can do to help. But then the next day, equally improbably, Trenor decides to drop everything - including his job - and go. Because one of the themes in The American is that some bonds cannot be broken by distance or worn away by time.
I don't want to give away too much as one of the pleasures of reading The American is that of discovery. And that of the many subtleties in the way The American unfolds. One thing I liked though was that there are actually three characters to whom "The American" of the title could be applied to. Another thing I liked was that on at least two occasions the novel caught me completely off-guard, taking twists that I did not see coming.
But if you're looking for horror, it's definitely there to be found. The deeper Trenor gets drawn into the search for Hang Ni's murderer and the missing Tra Mi, the more the tension builds and the more visceral the threats become. And there are at least two supernatural aspects that add to the atmosphere of mystery and foreboding. And of sadness and regret, at things done that cannot be undone.
All in all, I found The American to be engaging, very original and moving in ways that one would not expect from a horror novel. Highly recommended.
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Neil Clench
Good story with great characters, especially if you’re interested in modern day Vietnam.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 4, 2021
