The Night Always Comes

Product Information

Photograph of the exterior of the Hotcake House in Portland, Oregon, one of the locations in "The Night Always Comes". Image sourced from Wikipedia. First, the story: which in some ways, albeit a different continent and different issues, has an uncanny resemblance to Unsettled Ground. (Willy and I did an online event together around this subject.) Lynette lives with her mother and developmentally disabled brother, Kenny. She struggles to make enough money, saving up so they can buy the house they all live in together. She's made some bad choices in the past and she makes some bad choices in the two days and two nights that the book is set over. I used to always ask myself, Why would a man in his twenties want to live on the street when he could work? The answer is: why not? Why should they bust their ass all day when they know no matter what they do they'll never get ahead?' His sixth novel to date, published in 2021, The Night Always Comes is arguably his most affecting, and without doubt will leave indelible marks. I think this book might work better as a book to be read rather than listen to. I felt for Lynette and it was very well written, but it was a depressing book to listen to. That’s not to say Christine Larkin isn’t a strong narrator. She imparts all the necessary emotion.

I’m not sure how author/songwriter/bandleader, Willy Vlautin, wants us to perceive his protagonist, Lynette, an early thirties three-job hustler. Courageous? Hapless? Victim? Self-sacrificing? Psychotic? Or a representative of a class that is systematically being ground down by the success of others? The main issue with a Willy Vlautin novel is that it has to end. Here is another phenomenal book that unnerves, disquiets and makes you wince as his prose stabs at you violently with unhinged fervour.

A book begging to be read on the beach, with the sun warming the sand and salt in the air: pure escapism. The main character stays paper thin. I never really felt like I understood her or her motivations. Who is she besides someone with mental health issues and a tragic past? She wants to buy a house and help her disables brother.... and? What kind of person is she? What does she like? She is way too trusting, and not very smart. She makes the same mistake over and over again. I literally found myself cursing at her out loud at some point. The Night Always Comes” is a taut Modern American Noir Fiction set in the modern American West. The author is Willie Vlautin. This is the second novel of his that I have read, the first being “Northline”. Both of these novels are excellent but dark. The novel under review can be a tough emotional experience. I really like this novel and the author, but this is not a light fun read. It is the kind of novel of which, I hesitate to use the word “enjoy”. It is excellent but intense, at times, very intense.

I do not travel in intellectual circles and I do not have the opportunity to speak with individuals who have a great interest in reading. Therefore my personal experience may be skewed. However I am beginning to feel that Willie Vlautin is one of the best modern American writers of fiction that I NEVER hear anyone speak about. I accidentally came upon him when reading a novel by George Pelecanos, “The Man Who Came Uptown”.

30 Years Experience

As often with Vlautin's writing, it is some of the diversions from the main plot that are highlights.

the story is tight cutting perfection, and it keeps the reader very close; i felt lynette's exhaustion and frustration deep in my bones, and the smallness of her asks—that debts be repaid, that promises be kept, that hard work and sacrifice count for something—was heartbreakingly real.

Beyond the Book

Through the long night in search of money, Lynette meets many people who might seem helpful at first but tend to give in to greed and turn against her. While the epigraph of the book quotes a failed politician, I’d prefer to not dignify him with a nod and instead quote Daniel Craig’s nameless character in Layer Cake: ‘ But never get too greedy.’ Lynette’s actions feel justifiable to some extent, particularly as much of the money was owed her or she is acting in response to violence against her, whereas the other characters seem to act out of greed. Like a spaghetti-western film, those who violate justified morals or break their convictions tend to get their come-uppin’s, and fast. For a lot of years the only way I used to know how to get control of my life was to get mad. It was the only way I knew how to stand up for myself. Published in the US, several European and Asian countries, Vlautin's first book, The Motel Life was well received. It was an editor's choice in the New York Times Book Review and named one of the top 25 books of the year by the Washington Post. In a neighborhood that once was labeled as a poor urban area, has been changed through gentrification. A very controversial topic with the influx of more affluent residents and businesses changing the facade of the area and displacing many of the ones that were already having a difficult time surviving. And money sets us against each other rather than brings us together to fight for a common good. Vlautin tells us a story of late-capitalism, in all its ugliness and cruelty, eating us alive. A powerful, sad book, beautifully written, in the rich vein of noir writing from Dostoevsky onward.

And are they victims? In a way. In that they are all victims of being losers in the American dream who see no other option but screwing anybody and everybody however they can to (in their eyes) even the scales with fate. A book trailer which shows some of the locations mentioned in The Night Always Comes can be seen here. Depression sets in as her world becomes bleak with desperation to make unwise decisions. She could settle for less than safe neighborhoods she could afford, but not what they want to do. With a fine line drawn in the community with poverty and criminalization, some find themselves crossing it just to survive. This book captures her bleak life and the working people and their economic struggles.Over the course of two days, Lynette goes about collecting debts she's owed from the sketchiest of characters, risking her life to salvage a dream.