Entropy

by Robert Raker

When a series of child abductions and murders disrupt the life of an economically blighted community, the consequences have far-reaching implications. The brutal crimes take a different toll on a disparate group of individuals; the scuba diver who retrieves the children’s bodies; the disfigured cellist who thinks he knows who’s responsible; the undercover federal agent; and the mother of one of the victim’s.
United in a situation not of their choosing, they are forced to take a deep, introspective look into their intersected, yet isolated lives.

Robert Raker graduated with a degree in Journalism from the University of Pittsburgh.He currently resides in Philadelphia where he enjoys art, music, literature and live theater.

232 pages, Paperback

First published November 27, 2013

About the author

Robert Raker graduated with a degree in Journalism from the University of Pittsburgh. He currently resides in Philadelphia where he enjoys art, music, literature and live theater.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Degeneration
Entropy is a distinctively bleak and compelling murder mystery with deep psychological character themes. Robert Raker does a wonderful job creating a dark imposing atmosphere that descends on the reader as they journey into the story. A desolate and forsaken sensation that pervades everything adds to this novel's uniqueness.

The story is based in a community beset with economic ruin and blighted with abandoned and deteriorating infrastructure. What more could harm this depressed community? Well, the brutal murder and mutilation of 8 children, each dumped in a water-related environment – a lake, a flooded quarry an abandoned water tower. Water and decay are dominant characteristics

The rain started to fall more heavily. It felt like it would never end and that the river would burst, the streets would flood, and all the people would suffocate and drown, immersed in a landscape of death and barrenness. The clouds above the horizon blackened. I would bring the darkness with me to him and everywhere I moved. I would be a harbinger of sickness and rot. The incarnation of entropy.

The narration is told through four characters, each with a connection to the series of murders. The four protagonists include a scuba diver who recovers each body, which leaves a major impact on his state of mind. An amputee cellist believes he knows the killer but as his life has been falling apart since losing his arm he makes a drastic decision to confront the suspect. An undercover agent facing the horrific and disgusting underworld of paedophilia destroys his marriage in relentless pursuit of the job. Finally, a mother of one of the murdered children struggles to deal with the loss and lives a life torn apart by sickness, evil and hate. Each of these characters has become introverted with their misery, rejecting all interaction from loved ones as they face psychological turmoil. They are all irrevocably and introspectively damaged - brilliant characterisation.

Robert is a gifted writer who has written some beautiful poetic prose and he creates wonderful images and description of psychological turmoil that can only but be applauded. The difficulty I had in reading the book was that the core storyline was side-tracked for long periods dealing with the psychological issues and backgrounds of the protagonists. It left me a little confused about what the primary focus of the story was; a deep character analysis exploring psychological trauma or the murder mystery itself. I had wanted it to be the murder mystery but found it was displaced for long periods and the flow of the story felt jarred.

I would recommend reading this book and the experience of finding some literary gems, that I’ll be filing away. I would like to thank Robert Raker for a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

[Carrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately Entropy is a DNF for me at 12%.

The concept of this book intrigued me when I first saw it, a thriller told from the different perspectives of some of those involved in the case but I found myself extremely bored reading this and just could not get into the story at all. There's nothing particularly bad about the writing to complain about and I'm sure some will love this but it just wasn't for me. I found myself waiting for more of the plot to progress and start making sense but felt like I was reading a lot of just filler information instead of anything relevant to the story. Just not for me unfortunately.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Julie Lacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very clever crime thriller.
Children are being brutally killed and we see the fallout from this from four different individuals who have a connection to the crimes.
First we get a first hand account of each discovery of the body from a diver who is called upon to help the Police retrieve the bodies from various watery graves.
This account for me was the most gripping as I really felt for this character. The deaths affect his outlook on life and soon his personal relationship is suffering as he’s so distant.
The second person’s perspective is that of a musician who thinks he knows who is responsible for the murders. Again his life is profoundly affected by the murders.
The third narrator is a federal agent who has been assigned to go undercover and get into the mind of a paeodophile and this account was a bit confusing but again we get a really good insight into how this has affected his life.
The final perspective is from a mother of one of the murdered girls and it’s quite poignant as we have already been given an insight into the situation she finds herself in and it doesn’t look good.
They are all isolated individuals who don't openly share their thoughts and feelings with anyone but are all connected by these brutal murders.
I really enjoyed this book and liked the different perspectives put forward in the story.
Thank you to Robert Raker for contacting me about this book and giving me the opportunity to read it.

[Els · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can't turn back the clock ...

One thing is unequivocal : the author can write. His style is very descriptive, visual and detailed and he uses beautiful metaphors.

The book is divided in 4 parts. Each part is the story of a person who is very connected to the brutal incidents taking place - some from a personal, others from a professional point of view - and how they deal with it. Every part is filled with emotions : anger, betrayal, lies, secrets, heartbreak, ... and is about making choices.

If you are looking for a 'traditional' thriller, you won't find it. In my opinion, the author decided to focus on an entirely different angle. Some people like this, because it gives them the space to give the book a direction they would like it to go. Other people prefer to see everything written down in black and white.

I also prefer the latter, but it's a nice change and a refreshing approach.

Thank you, Robert Raker.

https://bforbookreview.wordpress.com

[Lori L (She Treads Softly) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entropy by Robert Raker is a highly recommended murder mystery told from four different viewpoints.
A serial killer is on the loose and the brutal child abductions and murders are taking a toll on law enforcement, the community, and individuals. In Entropy Robert Raker focuses on four different individuals who have a connection to the crimes.

The four people who share their story and connection to the murders starts with a scuba diver who is recovering the bodies which are all found in water. The second voice is of a disfigured musician who thinks he knows who is responsible. The third narrator is a federal agent who has been assigned to go undercover and get into the mind of a pedophile. The final narrator is the mother of one of the victims.

Each narrator shares their life, their struggles, their losses, their inner thoughts and torments while we learn about their tie-in to the horrific murders. They are all isolated individuals, living lives of quiet desperation and are remote and distant even from their partners. They don't openly share their thoughts and feelings with anyone so their inner pain and turmoil is intensified.

Raker does a brilliant job developing his characters and showcasing their pain and isolation as they deal with their connections to the murders. The language he uses is expressive, even poetic at times. The quality of the writing overcomes several of the flaws I found with the novel, with the major flaw being the lack of a solid conclusion. I understand the artistic choice to present the plot via the four individual narratives, but I was left wanting some semblance of closure, even if it was a fifth character brought in to provide the denouement.

I would imagine that most readers will likely find one of the narratives more powerful than the others, but together the stories of these four individuals create an impressive crime novel.


Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Wattle Publishing for review purposes.

http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/2...

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entropy is a deep read. This is a story about human depravity. This is also a story about the fallacies of human nature. Some victims were targeted. Others became victims through unforeseen actions - or inaction.

What would lead a person into the dark underworld of pedophilia and human trafficking? I cannot imagine perverseness being the norm. The sickness felt by parents of victims is more difficult to imagine. I don’t want to put myself in the shoes of the abused children. Even though this story is a work of fiction, the truth of it remains.

I was fascinated by the imagery. Water was prominent throughout the book. Water hides. Water saves. Water washes. Water renews. The rain storm connected the victims as innocently as the bus ride. Many of the locations were painted as destitute. Once flourishing, silos were now empty, the quarry was abandoned, and farms were unkempt.

The passengers on the bus were just as dejected. Nobody is the same. Everyone is different. They each suffer the same fate. Once thriving and happy, they have come to the virtual dead end. There is no changing their fate. There is no turning back the clock. The cause makes no difference.

From the first word to the last, this story is about “The…” “… neglected.”

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

The opening lines of each viewpoint in ENTROPY by Philadelphia based author Robert Raker are the clearest indicator this reader has come across in a long time of whether or not a book is going to work for you.

From the scuba diver called in to retrieve the bodies:

"The bloated, distended corpses of the people whose shortened lives I had retrieved from the water were clearly visible in the immature patterns of condensation that evaporated gradually on the mirror." 

The musician, the disfigured cellist from the blurb:

"I just sat there. Looking closely at the gun, I cocked the trigger back and forth repeatedly, like a curious child studying the physics of a toy, wanting to grasp the technical aspects of it, what made certain parts of it function and react the way that it did when it was used."  

The undercover Federal agent:

"I glanced up at the cracked face of the clock above her dresser. She would be leaving for the lawyer's office soon. After that I would need to catch the next bus to the terminus. What happened after I boarded would leave me with minimal contact with anybody, even her." 

And finally, the model, the mother of one of the victim's from the blurb:

"How did we get here? We were once such a happy family but now I am left alone with only my memories as a comfort to the love we once shared and the child we had borne. When did you start to drift? I think about this daily trying to pinpoint the moment that our relationship fell apart." 

This book has an interesting structure, the exploration of the impact of a series of murders on different individuals. Each person's involvement being more or less emotional and/or physical. The scuba diver who retrieves the bodies with hands on experience and shock; the mother who experiences loss; the agent on the search; and the musician. It's not a structure that's undertaken frequently.

Whether or not the structure, and the viewpoints is going to work for individual readers, however, is going to be down to the style of writing. Which is descriptive, made up of long sentences and frequently meandering. It leans heavily towards internal observation and could be that the author is aiming for something languid. Involving.

"Mull and I had much in common with one another, despite our distant upbringings, although he would never admit it. That, among other things, was probably why he didn't want me here. It was like I was his foil, an altered mirror image, the villain unobstructed, who thwarted his attempts at prestige and destiny, and constrained his movement."

"...What was left of the hair on her scalp resembled algae or kelp floating on the surface of the Dead Sea. It was a majestic and historical body of water, the Dead Sea, which was rumored to cover the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Because of the overwhelming salinity, life could not exist in its waters. I had visited Jordan once during my failed attempt at an Olympic career. We were in Europe for time trials near the end of my attempts to represent the United States. However, despite being so close to the Dead Sea, I never got a chance to experience the myths and legends of that body of water. I wasn't entirely sure why I thought about it now. The girl's body was now almost free of the silo."

"Having trained as a musician, I held sound in the highest importance: pitch, tone, the logarithmic construction of amplitude, frequency, intensity, and other the other [sic] characteristics that were essential for desirable auditory quality. The biology of sound was complicated. It moved in waves, propagated outwards from a fixed point. I felt I could see sound move, drip from the strings of violins and cellos in a concerto like water, or trickling from the golden mouth of a trumpet like honey."

"The flames flared up, fed by the latent chemicals in the composition of the photographs, and rolled across the distorting images of suspects and buildings. I accidentally burned a photograph of us at her sister's wedding. I leaned closer and tried to save the vibrant colours of the gorgeous dress she had worn but it was too late."

"Despite being apart now for four months, I still recognize you in everything I see. You taught me how to study angles and lines, and I notice how they change in differing light and shadows. It doesn't matter where I go. Sitting in our unfinished dining room, I find myself folding and assembling my napkin to understand its texture and possibilities. I can, at times, hear your voice telling me not to focus on the object directly, but on spaces between the dark and the unseen."

Whilst the idea of immersive, internal and introspective writing greatly appeals, alas nothing in ENTROPY worked for this reader. Whilst the language is obviously trying for descriptive it frequently became confusing and distracting. Unfortunately it made for heavy going and frequent disconnection from the point of story, and from the narrator. Certainly it didn't create an atmosphere in which this reader could feel any engagement with any of the characters. 

The reason for providing so much quotation within this review is to give other readers an indication of the style. After all, differences in taste of we readers is one of the most baffling parts of talking about books.

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-entropy-robert-raker

[JK · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very powerful and beautiful novel; one which I wasn't expecting to hit me quite as hard as it did. The cover and blurb suggest a standard crime novel, where all is unravelled in the finale, and the criminal is revealed; this is certainly what I thought I was getting myself into. Entropy is not that type of novel.

Raker uses one of my favourite techniques, multiple voice narrative, to tell his story. We're given four different characters who have been affected by the child murders, and we are allowed to feast on their grief, confusion, anger, betrayal, and a host of other emotions. We see how they differ, yet how they are linked in their desolation and despair.

The diver who is employed to recover the childrens' bodies is introduced to us first. Through him, we are given the stark facts of the murders in contrast to how they are affecting his mental state, and his home life. We are then introduced to a disabled musician, whose life has been deconstructed after the loss of his arm. He believes he knows who is responsible for the crimes. Our third narrator is the undercover agent employed to live in the mindset of a paedophile; we see how this additional personality affects his life and relationships. This was the most harrowing, but my favourite of the narratives, purely because it was so raw, so shocking, yet so memorable. Lastly we meet the mother of one of the victims; an entirely flawed and selfish woman, but someone whose life has been utterly torn apart.

Entropy is a fitting title; each of the characters experiences utter chaos in their lives and seem at a loss as to how to put this right. Raker shows us their lives as though they're rotting away beyond any comprehensible cure. It's incredibly bleak and heartbreaking in places, and the language Raker uses is lyrical in places, pulling the reader wholly into the characters' melancholy.

The novel has no real climax, and I felt this was entirely justified. How often in life do the strands tie up nicely in the end? We can't always put everything into a box and tie it up with a pretty bow. Raker is showing us what it looks like when you turn the stone over on peoples' lives, particularly after a devastating series of crimes strikes a small town.

An entirely different take on a crime novel; I absolutely loved it.

[Caroline Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entropy makes for a different type of crime drama. The story is about the impact that the killings have on the individual as opposed to the mystery of who done it and how/why. It focuses on the inner thoughts of these individuals whose lives are changed for the worse forever. These lives belong to those who are parents of a murder victim, a diver who witnesses and retrieves the dead, an undercover agent who has to pretend to be like these calculating and manipulative sex offenders/paedophiles, and also a member of the public who believes they know who is responsible.

What is fascinating about Entropy, is that the story is written from four very different perspectives, each one being written in first person. The first person allows the reader to be that particular character, to see inside their mind and feel every thought. It is a very strong and powerful connection and it grows as the story moves on and we hear from all four characters. Not only do they have the murders of these children to connect them, there is also another situation that brings these particular four together, without each of them realising the first connection they all have. Each section from all four characters ties in to make more of a narrative than the reader suspects.

The diver

The first section, told from the diver’s point of view, is extremely informative of each murder scene. Being a diver by profession, he falls into the role of assisting the police during times when they haven’t the time or manpower to provide their own. It is very interesting to read from this perspective, as it is quite shocking and difficult at times for the diver to deal with what he is seeing and dealing with. This is a completely different take on a crime scene, and I would imagine that not many have spent too long pondering on how one, such as a diver, would cope under these extraordinary devastating experiences.

The musician

The former celloist has many dark issues to contend with. Recently being involved in an accident which disfigured him plays a huge role in how it affected the one thing that he truly loved: music. Not only damaging to his career, but due to his introvert behaviour since, he has become distanced from his wife. His life is at a very dark moment. During this time he has been provided with information concerning the murders and has a strong suspicion on the culprit. Only his intention is not to take his suspicion to the police but to handle it his own way, taking out all of his anger and problems on the one person who truly deserves it.

During this second section it became clearer that Entropy is a heavy story, with little dialogue at times. There is a great deal of information to take in, and moments when I wanted to go back and re-read some points. It is very cleverly put together and interesting looking at each perspective in detail.

The agent

This section reminded me of ‘Legends‘ (tv series starring Sean Bean), where the undercover element of their job causes them to forget who they really are and has a strong, and sometimes damaging, impact on their personal life. The agent in this instance cannot let his wife in and it becomes clear why. The agent has to try and infiltrate a group of paedophiles. Although his role is necessary and he is carrying out his duties for all of the right reasons, it does make him sick at times, especially when he comes across photo’s of children to be sold and one is a familiar face linked to the murders.

At times part of the story is sickening with some graphic details of what was carried out with some of the victims. It does feel very real when you’re reading this. Some readers may not like parts of this section, however these lines are needed for the story and to allow the reader to realise just how some of these victims were treated.

From the words and context it is written, I was easily able to grasp the dark, powerful emotions that the agent’s wife is feeling and the pain that she faces on a daily basis. It is similar in some ways to the wife of the musician, how both women are left feeling quite alone, and abandoned by their partner emotionally.

"…. Everything is so vacant here so I leave and go out to dinner all dressed up and alone. I sit outside because it’s cool and calm. I look for you in the people on the street, even though I know you’re not going to be there. The waiter feels sorry for me. I can see it in his eyes when he pours me a glass of red wine. I don’t even care that he can probably see my breasts in that dress. I want him to touch me, to ask me to stand up, and to take me right there outside, in the peaceful breeze. The hard truth is that I want another man, any man, a stranger to fuck me so that I can just feel something, and not feel like I am wasting away…."

The model

The final chapter follows the mother of a victim. She has lost her child to a sex offending murderer, and this she finds incredibly difficult to live with. Her life has been torn apart and will never be the same again. To make matters worse, she has a husband who left her due to his infidelity. She is at a loss. The world she knew has gone.

It is an emotional read and one that will stay with you. But it does make the reader think about consequences, how one action can lead to so many more. It allows you to empathise with each character as we are taken on a journey through the lives of these individuals and can feel the devastating affects which lead to them all being in the same place at the same time.

I love the bus scene at the end of each section which ties all of the characters together, as well as the murders. Entropy is certainly a story which needs to be read until the very end before everything becomes clear. Each character looks within themselves for answers of the repercussions following the murders. They all ask themselves, and some mentally ask their partners, ‘what went wrong?’ Each story, as the synopsis suggests, is quite individual even though that one or two circumstances bring them together.

A copy of Entropy was provided by Wattle Publishing for the purpose of an honest and fair review.

[Rick Schindler · Rating 4 out of 5]

In thermodyamics, entropy is unusable energy; in literature and popular culture, it has become a metaphor for inexorable decay and disorder. It is the title of one of Thomas Pynchon’s earliest stories and a motif in some of his most emblematic works, including THE CRYING OF LOT 49 and GRAVITY'S RAINBOW. And it is also the title and motif of an elegiac crime novel by Robert Raker.

ENTROPY revolves around a series of grisly child murders in a woebegone region of Pennsylvania. Raker excels at painting its dismal landscape: a once-thriving farm reduced to mire by a blinding rainstorm; a neglected swimming pool in which a small body floats; a sweltering bus.

He is similarly adept at delineating the desolate hearts of the four narrators who tell his tale in turn, in fractured chronology redolent of Joseph Conrad: the diver contracted by police to retrieve the victims’ bodies, a man more comfortable immersed in water than in the mainstream of life; a musician marred by more than the loss of an arm; an undercover agent corrupted by the criminal identities he must assume, and an artist’s model numbed by tragedy and betrayal.

À la film noir, there are no heroes in Entropy to solve the case and save the day; just tormented souls grasping in vain for happiness and human connection. And they are connected, but only like flies caught in the same web. The complex and bleakly beautiful pattern of that web becomes fully apparent only at this compelling novel’s cathartic climax.

[J.G. MacLeod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Raker's novel Entropy is a unique read. Written in 4 parts, it weaves the lives of seemingly incompatible characters together so that one cannot truly exist without the other.

Raker's introduction immediately hooked me. I found it mysterious and intriguing, which left me wanting to continue reading the rest of the sections.

The narrative technique is interesting, because each character tells his/her own story. This introspection is highly relatable. Raker exposes myriad societal issues through his characters' internal dialogue. Mental health issues are highlighted, as well as probing beneath what makes us truly human: our secrets, our lies, our loves, and what motivates us.

Entropy is a story of the interconnectedness of human lives, despite how dysfunctional they seem or feel on the surface. Upon completion of Raker's book, one feels as if they have had a highly catharctic experience.

I recommend this novel for others to explore.