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Security: A Novel
There isn't much crime in Stoneleigh, Massachusetts. It's a college town, a mountain getaway for the quietly rich, where the average burglar alarm is set off by wildlife. So when Edward Inman, owner of Stoneleigh Sentinel Security, gets a late-night alarm from the home of Doyle Cutler, one of his wealthiest clients, Edward thinks nothing of it;until a local student claims that she was sexually assaulted that same night at Cutler's house. From the author of Human Capital (a wonderfully wicked satire on a twenty-first-century gilded age,; Chicago Tribune), Security is a timely, wry, and riveting story of adults and children, suspicion and sexual hysteria. It confirms Stephen Amidon as a master of the art and one of the foremost chroniclers of American life today.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
7 people are currently reading
180 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Amidon
15 books212 followersStephen Amidon was born in Chicago. He is the critically acclaimed author of eight novels, two collections of short stories, two non-fiction books, plays, screenplays, and countless essays and articles.
His work has been published in sixteen countries, appeared on numerous best-of-the-year lists, and been adapted into award-winning movies on two continents.
He is a member of the Academy of Italian Cinema.
His work has been published in sixteen countries, appeared on numerous best-of-the-year lists, and been adapted into award-winning movies on two continents.
He is a member of the Academy of Italian Cinema.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
May 12, 2010
Very good, not just a thriller, also about redemption. Didn't like ending though
April 29, 2015
Having read mixed reviews but being intrigued by the story, I started reading Security with little expectations. After finishing the novel, I'm still not entirely sure what to think. Overall, I did enjoy it and thought it was worth the read.
The novel begins with a sloooow start. I mean slow. I nearly stopped reading the book a couple of times before page 150. Amidon does a great job of building the back story, making the characters seem real and deep. The first half of the book is mostly learning about each character, their history and relationships and some about the town. While this part was slow, it does add value to the story. I found it a bit boring while reading the book but had a greater appreciation for these details once I had finished.
The book follows several characters and the point of view changes, usually with each chapter. However, it never flips between characters within a single chapter. I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. Once you start getting into the real story, the reading picks up a little bit. I found the story interesting and once I got into it, I did want to finish. I enjoyed it but it didn't grab and hold my attention like others. I really enjoyed the story once it came together but the pacing was a bit too slow for my personal taste. However, I do recognize the value that the early character development brought to the larger story.
I thought it was a good read but probably wasn't the best match for me, personally. There are many who would likely enjoy this more than I did (especially if the slower pace doesn't bother you). Others will likely find the slow beginning intolerable. For me? I'm glad I read it, it was well worth the read but doesn't come close to being a favorite.
Is it..
Worth Reading? Probably
Worth Buying? Unlikely
A reason to follow the Author? No, not solely based on this book.
The novel begins with a sloooow start. I mean slow. I nearly stopped reading the book a couple of times before page 150. Amidon does a great job of building the back story, making the characters seem real and deep. The first half of the book is mostly learning about each character, their history and relationships and some about the town. While this part was slow, it does add value to the story. I found it a bit boring while reading the book but had a greater appreciation for these details once I had finished.
The book follows several characters and the point of view changes, usually with each chapter. However, it never flips between characters within a single chapter. I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. Once you start getting into the real story, the reading picks up a little bit. I found the story interesting and once I got into it, I did want to finish. I enjoyed it but it didn't grab and hold my attention like others. I really enjoyed the story once it came together but the pacing was a bit too slow for my personal taste. However, I do recognize the value that the early character development brought to the larger story.
I thought it was a good read but probably wasn't the best match for me, personally. There are many who would likely enjoy this more than I did (especially if the slower pace doesn't bother you). Others will likely find the slow beginning intolerable. For me? I'm glad I read it, it was well worth the read but doesn't come close to being a favorite.
Is it..
Worth Reading? Probably
Worth Buying? Unlikely
A reason to follow the Author? No, not solely based on this book.
June 4, 2013
I read and reviewed this book on my blog No, But Wait, Hear Me Out. It'd mean a lot if you clicked the link and read the review. However, if you're feeling lazy, it's been posted below for convenience.
So, I pulled that taboo: I judged a book by its cover. I saw Security by Stephen Amidon in a local store called the Bargain Book Warehouse and liked the style of the cover. I also liked the title (I have previously worked in security). I saw that it wasn’t badly priced and took a chance.
Security follows from the perspectives of four different characters in the same sleepy college town of Stoneleigh, Massachusetts Edward Inman, who owns a local security company with a sleeping problem, Walter Steckl, an occasionally employed alcoholic, Kathryn Williams, the mother of a troubled son, a younger son and former lover of Edward, and Angela, a student at the local college. All of the characters cross paths occasionally (Kathryn and Edward are former lovers, Angela goes to the same college that Steckl’s daughter does), but overall, the characters are left to deal with their own relationships how they will. Through their eyes, you get to see the town, the college, their hopes and dreams, and that’s where the novel’s strongest point lies.
Amidon’s character development is absolutely second to none. He spends time with each character when the novel picks up, each character being the focal point of their own chapter. The chapters never jump between characters; once one character is in the spotlight, they stay there until they’re finished. But the best part is that every character feels like a real person. Angela is dating her teacher Stuart (secretly due to the college’s rules) and her clinginess as he slowly pulls away feels exactly like something a lovesick college student would do. The chemistry between Kathryn and Edward is palpable and delicious. Steckl’s determination to beat some charges brought against him as he struggles with his alcoholism is inspiring.
But where Amidon develops his characters well, his plot suffers. Each character has a little subplot of their own going on, but you spend literally half the book going, “What do these people have to do one another?” But by developing his characters so much, it only makes the plot stronger when the bomb finally drops. When the overall plot hits about 150 pages in and when all of the characters are tied together one way or another, everything feels real. The characters reactions are human and rational (though sometimes not sane) and you feel for every character, no matter what position they’re in. Despite this, the long build up might turn away some readers, just as a long song on the radio might turn away a listener who isn’t really into it.
Amidon has created a great little town rife with different stories that intertwine in one way or another. Throughout the novel, each character looks for security in their own way and tries to succeed through different measures. The characters feel real, and provide a totally real experience through the novel. I burned through fifty percent of the novel within a day. It’s highly recommended reading, just dig in.
So, I pulled that taboo: I judged a book by its cover. I saw Security by Stephen Amidon in a local store called the Bargain Book Warehouse and liked the style of the cover. I also liked the title (I have previously worked in security). I saw that it wasn’t badly priced and took a chance.
Security follows from the perspectives of four different characters in the same sleepy college town of Stoneleigh, Massachusetts Edward Inman, who owns a local security company with a sleeping problem, Walter Steckl, an occasionally employed alcoholic, Kathryn Williams, the mother of a troubled son, a younger son and former lover of Edward, and Angela, a student at the local college. All of the characters cross paths occasionally (Kathryn and Edward are former lovers, Angela goes to the same college that Steckl’s daughter does), but overall, the characters are left to deal with their own relationships how they will. Through their eyes, you get to see the town, the college, their hopes and dreams, and that’s where the novel’s strongest point lies.
Amidon’s character development is absolutely second to none. He spends time with each character when the novel picks up, each character being the focal point of their own chapter. The chapters never jump between characters; once one character is in the spotlight, they stay there until they’re finished. But the best part is that every character feels like a real person. Angela is dating her teacher Stuart (secretly due to the college’s rules) and her clinginess as he slowly pulls away feels exactly like something a lovesick college student would do. The chemistry between Kathryn and Edward is palpable and delicious. Steckl’s determination to beat some charges brought against him as he struggles with his alcoholism is inspiring.
But where Amidon develops his characters well, his plot suffers. Each character has a little subplot of their own going on, but you spend literally half the book going, “What do these people have to do one another?” But by developing his characters so much, it only makes the plot stronger when the bomb finally drops. When the overall plot hits about 150 pages in and when all of the characters are tied together one way or another, everything feels real. The characters reactions are human and rational (though sometimes not sane) and you feel for every character, no matter what position they’re in. Despite this, the long build up might turn away some readers, just as a long song on the radio might turn away a listener who isn’t really into it.
Amidon has created a great little town rife with different stories that intertwine in one way or another. Throughout the novel, each character looks for security in their own way and tries to succeed through different measures. The characters feel real, and provide a totally real experience through the novel. I burned through fifty percent of the novel within a day. It’s highly recommended reading, just dig in.
May 14, 2017
You can abandon people and still spend every minute of the day with them.Six stars out of ten, and still wish it was higher. Stephen Amidon's way with words is pulling and effective and this book was almost extraordinary if not only for the failed plot and writing pace. Apparently, the real story started on page 143 and that was on two-thirds half of the book. Basically, Amidon had been good at building up the characters, there's no way you could not attach yourself to them, round, with a capacity to change. But as the novel dawned, all of these narrators were well-caught in their own little life, little subplots, that when the moment arrived for the grand design, everything was burning on fire. It was too good it wasted most time of the reading.
And I hated the ending, that was not cool. Steckl was the innocent one even from the very beginning but, [spoiler] still ended up as a cold body lying on someone's front yard. No poetic justice in there, that was a downright allegory of today's justice system. Politics, human nature, everything. I understand that his death proves the moral significance of the book but, for real, he deserved better, Mr. Author.
Still, I liked the writing, the characters, the small town vibe, the cover art, the expectations. Security is a novel that should be read.
April 28, 2023
This is not a thriller as advertised but a more or less dramatic novel. It's a well-written book depicting the lives of diverse people in a small New England college town. Seen from different individual's perspectives Amidon manages to convey a feeling of authenticity. I don't see why it has the title Security except that one of the main character owns a private security firm that is the starting point for the novel's plot. Each character has their own problems that converge in the end. I think Angela, the besotted student, gets too much space in this. Her inner feelings for Stuart are actually only secondary to the story itself. The ending is somewhat disappointing. It wouldn't have needed a dead body as a culmination. That hapless father was more likely to hand himself in instead of attacking the police with a crowbar. After all, he had more or less given up on all of this anyway. I believe in real life the characters would have just moved on in their own fashion, sad and depressed, full of worries, no bright future ahead for any of them. But that is my thinking.
May 8, 2024
Non voglio fare spoilers dunque mi limiterò a dire: perché? Due libri che leggo di questo autore e due persone che fanno la stessa identica fine, oltretutto dopo aver vissuto fasi simili… non dico altro. Il libro mi è piaciuto, il testo è scorrevole e non annoia, nonostante fino metà libro non succeda niente di eclatante, si capisce che l’autore “prepara” il terreno per il dopo. Un’altra cosa che mi lascia sconcertata è il lasciare il racconto mozzato. Finisce alla cazzo di cane, secondo me. Forse perché io vorrei avere le carte del mazzo sistemate dopo aver giocato, non saprei, però suvvia, perché farmi patire così…
April 1, 2019
Bellissima e attentissima la descrizione dei personaggi, del loro passato e del loro presente. I quattro protagonisti, le cui storie ad un certo punto si intrecciano, sono ben sviluppati (fin troppo) e le dinamiche tra questi sono descritte alla perfezione. Peccato per la lentezza assurda della storia, mal sviluppata e noiosa e per il finale insignificante, insulso e che ti lascia un'amarezza disarmante per i successivi 10 minuti. (tempo in cui ho scritto questa recensione).
September 10, 2018
BAD- DIDN'T READ
November 1, 2020
Poignant
November 12, 2023
Terrible. Too many extramarital affairs and inappropriate relationships!
April 7, 2012
So wanted to give this book a solid 2.5...Okay so I liked this book, probably more than all the reviews I have read LOL as I felt the character development was wonderful, spot on..The author spends basically the whole book fleshing out this community and its residents so you can see them, understand them and they become more than just people things happen to--they become real..Security tells the story of a small town called Stoneleigh and the people who inhabit it as told through alternating storylines of an insomniac middle-aged security firm manager in a loveless marriage having an affair with his high school sweetheart, an impressionable and passionate student having a desperate and silly affair with her professor, a sad master electrician widower falling apart and abusing alcohol and pills to pull it together for his daughter and a lonely divorced single mom with two clingy and needy sons who wants nothing more than for her time for happiness with her true love to finally come around..The character stories are all connected and come together in the book for a kinda clumsily written ending which was a major disappointment after having all the players drawn out so well...Not much happens in this book so the plot is somewhat lacking I admit but the story was propelled by his character development and I really feel it is a novel about people, not what they do or why but that that they do..they live, breathe, love and make mistakes..for that the book was brillant however the end made me question why I liked it so much.....
February 19, 2009
Kind of a throwback. Amidon gets his noir on in a slim volume that successfully melds social commentary with the classic form of a crime novel. Clean sentences and compelling scenes that zoom right by you. The first book since I think Julian Barne's 'Before I Knew Her,' that I read in a day. And that book was tiny. Bottom line: If the female child of Cheever (Susan, I think, who is registered via memoir as a sex addict) and the male child of Raymond Chandler did it, and their doing it produced offspring, and Chandler's and Cheever's respective offspring resigned themselves to living an unhappy life in the suburbs for the sake of the baby, then that baby would grow up to write like Amidon.
December 6, 2015
Having lived in MA in small college towns whose citizens believe themselves to be progressive and open-minded, I was drawn to the book. The depiction of lives in Stoneleigh is one of the book's strengths. The family dramas, especially those of the children whose parents are acting badly, were well done.
The other strength is the author's insight into the college students, their smug intellectualism, their clannishness and their desire to belong which leads them to pick a victim to unite themselves around.
However, the plot was weakly constructed leaving the characters milling about looking for action that would ring true. The villain was poorly drawn with little to make his threatening presence felt and the ending was too clicheed and did not grow out of the character of a confused but caring father.
The other strength is the author's insight into the college students, their smug intellectualism, their clannishness and their desire to belong which leads them to pick a victim to unite themselves around.
However, the plot was weakly constructed leaving the characters milling about looking for action that would ring true. The villain was poorly drawn with little to make his threatening presence felt and the ending was too clicheed and did not grow out of the character of a confused but caring father.
February 22, 2015
I gave this book three stars mainly for the value of the plot. Otherwise it rates two for mine.
The plot is well constructed though somewhat constrained by a writing style that descends consistently into the mundane.
There are so many characters in this story that it's hard to tell who is the protagonist. Maybe they all are? This tends to diffuse the energy as focus is not really held anywhere.
The art on the hardcover edition is a total mystery to me. It depicts a man and woman in a field, with a girl child in the background who has released a pram to run its destiny down a hill. No such event happens in this story.
The plot is well constructed though somewhat constrained by a writing style that descends consistently into the mundane.
There are so many characters in this story that it's hard to tell who is the protagonist. Maybe they all are? This tends to diffuse the energy as focus is not really held anywhere.
The art on the hardcover edition is a total mystery to me. It depicts a man and woman in a field, with a girl child in the background who has released a pram to run its destiny down a hill. No such event happens in this story.
August 18, 2009
An easy to read page turner; the ramifications of a crime on each of the people affected, the innocent, the half-innocent, the guilty, the innocently accused, the progress of events in a week of lives.
An interesting take on a well-worn format, well written but nothing to text home about. A beach book. Disposable - but none the worse for that.
My only serious criticism is that the ending was predictable and lazy. It felt a bit like the author had given up, but still worth reading for all that.
An interesting take on a well-worn format, well written but nothing to text home about. A beach book. Disposable - but none the worse for that.
My only serious criticism is that the ending was predictable and lazy. It felt a bit like the author had given up, but still worth reading for all that.
February 10, 2010
Ed owns a security firm. His wife is running for public office. Ed meets up with a former lover whose husband has flown the coop leaving her with two very needy sons. A popular college professor is carrying on with one of his students. And an electrician whose wife died has degenerated into painkillers & drink. All these characters come together, but the ending is pretty abrupt.
August 19, 2010
Vanilla thriller. Nice twists and turns and Steckl's insanity was described with clarity and provided a sound basis for his motivation. I could not understand why Inman was the town's "nice guy" but never showed any affection to his kids or feeling for the impact his decisions would have upon them.
September 22, 2016
I have mixed feelings about this. I enjoy character development and back stories but this was too slow in the beginning. The plot referenced on the book jacket didn't start happening until the last quarter of the book and I thought the story abruptly ended in the middle of the action! The characters were decently developed but the plot and pacing needs improvement.
June 24, 2009
Disturbing, haunting book. Lives in a small, mostly wealthy college town intertwine in desperately sad ways, and people's attempts to keep their families, lives, and town safe lead to even more trouble.
March 15, 2011
I had read half of this book before it actually got to the main plot, the first half seemed to be all about character development. Whilst interesting enough, I couldn't help wondering by the end of it if the author was just padding the book out.
November 28, 2011
I ran across this novel in the library and picked it up because I thought I had read good reviews. Either I was mistaken or the critics were. This is the literary equivalent of a Lifetime television movie.
March 30, 2009
Well written, but the ending was a letdown.
September 24, 2009
100 pages and nothing happens... and i check the book flap and NOTHING that is SUPPOSED to happen to make the story interesting has HAPPENED. 100 pages of character introduction!? ABANDONED. yuck.
January 3, 2010
Worthwhile but light.
June 16, 2009
A mystery of sorts where things happen slowly. I liked the character development and wanted to follow their stories.
July 8, 2009
3.5 Quite a good thriller if you're on holiday and don't need to think too hard.
January 10, 2011
Sort of like watching a "made for TV" movie with a happy ending. An OK book but in a few days I will have forgotten I ever read it.
April 22, 2011
Loved it. Quiet but in a great way. I loved the depth of his characters and the writing overall.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews