The punctual rape

by Campbell Black

From early in the career of acclaimed international bestselling author Campbell Armstrong comes a dark, menacing, Kafkaesque thriller Berg comes to the village to begin a new job and a new life far from the oppression of his mother. From the start, he feels ill at ease. His landlady is a widow whose husband died after eating poisoned mushrooms, and who cooks the foulest stew he has ever tasted. Her daughter, Monika, is a flirt who seems intent on undermining Berg’s fragile confidence. His job is a mystery of paper-pushing and classified documents, none of which he is allowed to understand. As the days go by, he feels a growing sense of dread. The town is closing in for the kill. While Berg is sleeping, Monika is raped and left near death on the first floor of her house. She accuses Berg of the crime, drawing him into a labyrinth of bureaucratic justice from which insanity may be the only escape.

188 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Pseudonym for Campbell Armstrong

Reviews

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second read by Armstrong, the goal was to see if the initial judgment of the author's talents based on Assassins and Victims was a one off thing or the real deal. So far so good. Two for two. This is a very different sort of book, though in starts off in a similar vein as the aforementioned Rendellian sort of small British town, restrictive social norms, etc., it quickly turns into a suspense driven bureaucratic sort of nightmare straight out of Kafka or Dostoevsky even. What I initially took to be a horrifying sort of title, is actually a line from a poem, not to mention a perfectly apt description for what takes place. There is in fact a rape accusation that sets off the entire play into motion and down and down the ball rolls until its inevitable tragic end. What's really striking about this short novel is how well the hallucinatory psychological horror of it is rendered as the increasingly unreliable narrator struggles against the increasingly insurmountable odds. It's claustrophobic, uneasy and very effective. Seems like I'm reading the author's works in chronological order, that's unplanned, but makes me appreciate the versatility of his talent all the more. This one took just 2.5 hours to get through, but it certainly wasn't light reading. Terribly bleak, but very strong and absorbing story. Recommended.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing little obscurity. Apparently the author went on to become a bestselling one of contemporary mysteries or something like that, and while this title has a bit of a Georges Simenon feel, the overwhelming influence is Kafka, in the maddening, surreal, suffocating tradition of "The Trial." Much more than an imitation, it is in fact far better than I had even hoped. I'm glad I took a chance on it.

[Paul Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

[J. B. Lippincott Company] (1971). HB/DJ. 1/1. 188 Pages. Purchased from Philosopher’s Stone Books.

Thomas Campbell Black’s (1944-2013) second novel. This surreal nightmare of rape and murder’s a sordid carnival which asks more questions than it answers.

[Boris Cesnik · Rating 5 out of 5]

No, it's not a masterpiece but it's the surreal taste that it leaves in your mouth, the dark waters that it frees to flood the windmills of your mind, the unapologetic guessing game it plays with your imagination, and the aftermath of the reading that elevate this story to a unique experience worth every sensation, feeling and emotion that passed through your mind and body while turning the pages.

With Assassins & Victims, he superbly hinted at the original and spellbinding storytelling he's capable of, but here he not only emerges as a magnificent writer, he infuses head on the story with the most subtle but at the same time unpleasant developments and unendingly ending you can find in this genre.

More than a reader can handle and nostalgically dated.

[Thom Swennes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in post-war England (an informed assumption on my part as no actual places are mentioned) Berg (no first name) has been transferred from the capitol (London) to a small community to the north. His position is as a junior clerical assistant and amounts, is actuality, to nothing. He has been assigned lodgings at the house of the widowed Mrs. Jacobitz and her niece Monika. Life isn’t as pleasant as he hoped and he soon finds it downright uncomfortable. Considering Berg’s apparent innocence, virtuousness and inexperience with the opposite sex, it wouldn’t be difficult to get him into an unsettled state. Tension and mistrust seem to dominate the story. This general feeling of paranoia might be attributed to Britain’s recent war and the slow process of returning to normalcy. Another thing that caught my eye was the stark differences between then and now. Smoking was the norm and not seen as political (and legally) incorrect as it is today.

This book has been occupying space on my library shelf for decades and I randomly selected it for my next read. Confronted with an overfilled library I am forced to make painful decisions and have decided to add this book to my read and go list. This means that I will let it go, back into the world, so someone else can enjoy it. Considering its 1970 publication date and the fact that no one on Goodreads have yet to admit to reading it (much less writing a review) it would seem that it must be a total bust and the author destined for obscurity. Nothing is further from the truth. For most readers the name Campbell Black doesn’t evoke awe, much less recognition as his fame is found more on the silver screen than in libraries. The Adventures of Indiana Jones and Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark bring flashes of recognition and notoriety to this previously unaccredited writer. This book, his second, shows the potential that will eventually sweep the world. Like a seedling transforming into a plant abundantly hung with fruits this story will impress everyone that reads it.