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Exit Lights
Cotter Trespin has been experiencing strange phenomena on the streets of Chicago. Since turning twenty-one a month prior, the spotlights come and go without reason. They seem to shine from a place far beyond the stars, and Cotter quickly realizes that they are lighting up stages that are set for murder. The light goes unseen by others, as does the hoodie-wearing figure who directs these death scenes. Cotter eventually finds himself entwined in police investigations after continually appearing at the site of apparent accidents and suicides. Inevitably, the relationships in his life are being consumed by the mounting turmoil, and perhaps by the alcohol he consumes too. It's a strange connection with the killer though that sends Cotter reeling, desperate for answers to his life, answers to his existence. Could they lie within the seemingly insane thoughts of the killer and his mystical claims that the people in the spotlights have been marked for death? Or, is it Cotter's job to stop this killer. Jacob Moses lives in central Minnesota with his wife, Tracy, and their four children. This is his first novel.
296 pages, Paperback
Published November 29, 2019
1 person is currently reading
2 people want to read
About the author
Jacob Moses
3 books7 followersJacob Moses was born in Houston, Texas, but his family moved to rural Minnesota during his formative years. Backwoods living left him to his imagination as he spent his time playing in the neighbor-free, wooded environment surrounding his residence. As the influence of scary stories and horror movies flowed freely within his family home, Jacob’s overactive imagination was quietly ruminating on thoughts of the supernatural and the all-too-real minds of serial killers.
Jacob achieved a bachelor’s degree in psychology and has been working with youth for nearly twenty years. He continues to do so but has also begun inking the stories that have been swirling in his head for decades. Jacob currently resides in central Minnesota with his wife and four children.
Jacob achieved a bachelor’s degree in psychology and has been working with youth for nearly twenty years. He continues to do so but has also begun inking the stories that have been swirling in his head for decades. Jacob currently resides in central Minnesota with his wife and four children.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 25, 2020
SPOILERS ALL
"For sale: Baby shoes, never worn."
I'll come back to this in a bit.
For the most part, "Exit Lights" was an engaging read with a pretty unique, kick ass premise. The concept of a man seeing spotlights shine down on murder victims is awesome, especially when the novel explores the consequences it holds. For instance, one of my favorite parts of this book was the protagonist Cotter Trespin trying to explain his attempted heroics to the authorities, and one curmudgeony detective named Banner in particular.
Another part of the novel which I think worked best was Cotter himself. He's got a cool name, and (personal take) I really enjoy protagonists who are just sort of average, down on their luck losers/under achievers, and that's Cotter. He's funny and always puts his foot in his mouth. For the most part he's likeable, even though he makes many poor decisions. He's punished for a lot of them, which makes it easier to like him. What I liked most about Cotter, though, was his conclusion.
(SPOILERS)
I would say that the best part of "Exit Lights" is the very end. Cotter's death is unexpected, bold, and yes, a wee bit sad. What makes it even more effective is his life being taken over by his crazy twin brother, and the revelation that Cotter's girlfriend, Rebecca, was pregnant. Good stuff. Where I think the book gets a bit weaker, though, is in the rest of the characters.
Where Cotter talks and thinks with a unique voice, a lot of the side characters (Cotter's father, Rebecca, his Counselor at The Club House, Brutus) are all so identical they could be switched around without consequence. Nearly all of the characters around Cotter parrot the same ideas to him over and over again while he continues not to listen- they chide him on his drinking, on his irresponsibility, and on his lack of religious faith. Another aspect of the side characters are their complete willingness to spill their darkest and strangest life stories to Cotter on a whim. Some of them- like Mr. Drycleaner Zetticci (the most unique of the supporting characters, and my favorite for sure) make more sense, as they have close relationships with Cotter- but others are more odd, like when a random coworker of Cotter's tells him of how he was sexually molested by an uncle. Cotter points out that he doesn't even know the guy's name, and the scene just serves as an info dump to make Cotter confused about the man he tried to save from being killed earlier in the novel. The scene serving this purpose is fine, but the issue is that comes off as a bit inorganic and rather strange.
Another side character I found really interesting that I wish we had seen more of was the Detective Genesis, or Genny. Maybe I just have a thing for hot lady detectives- I dunno. But I thought Genny- and her relationship with Cotter- was one of the best parts of the book. This may be because it ties into what I mentioned earlier about Cotter's struggle with the police/detective, but this was the part of the book where I was the most sucked in. The concept of Genny is great- a young, attractive detective far ahead of herself in success and likely to climb even further if she keeps up the great work. She's also a great foil to Cotter, someone who regularly fails to get off his ass and perform the bare minimum. There's also the added question within the story of "is she just using Cotter to solve a case," but this is never really explored or resolved as halfway through the novel, Cotter leaves Chicago and the police behind to go to Minnesota. Genny never appears again and her relationship with Cotter never receives any closure. Another aspect of Genny that I was excited to see addressed but which never came up was how she impacts Cotter's girlfriend, Rebecca. I was angry at Cotter because he slept with Genny literally like a day after Rebecca dumps him, but he never really has to confront this or talk about it with Rebecca. He gets Rebecca back at the end, and though, yes, Cotter dies, he never has to pay for what I would say is cheating. I really wish Genny had reappeared at the end of the book, as I think Cotter either being turned down by her or her turning him down or meeting Rebecca or something would have been a powerful way to make him really confront his own personal flaws and alcoholism, which is the major point of the book and his character.
In lieu of this, the weakest part of the novel is certainly the time Cotter spends in Minnesota. This setting was not nearly as engaging as Chicago, nor were the supporting characters as interesting as Genny, Banner, or Rebecca. The only character in Minnestoa who really stood out was the Big Bastard, and anything involving him was great- especially Cotter's nightmares after murdering him in the Devil's Kettle. Cotter's nightmares were an element of the book which worked really well for me, especially the one he has of the ringing phones in deserted Chicago- great stuff, and it gave me serious "Walking Dead" season 3 vibes.
And, to be clear- I understand the purpose of Cotter going to Minnesota, and the character development that goes with that. There is some interesting commentary on the therapy/rehab system here, and the concept involving shoes and going barefoot is actually another part of the book I loved, because it appears so often and is never explicitly explained to the reader. Which brings me back to what I said at the beginning of this review.
Ernest Hemingway once said that of all his stories, this was his favorite- "For sale: Baby shoes, never worn." Six words, and yet the reader's mind can fill in endless possible tales and characters. In more literal terms, this is a good tool for writers to use to figure out how much to say about an idea or theme and how much to leave to the reader. Hemingway famously removed parts of his writing because he felt like he he was giving too much away. Is this always a good move? No. Is Ernest Hemingway overrated? I'm no expert, but, yes, he is. That doesn't mean he isn't right about this basic idea, though, and it's something I think "Exit Lights" could have really benefited from.
Though it's a fairly short book, I think "Exit Lights" is overwritten at times. By "Overwritten" I don't mean it's too long; I mean that, at times, it spoon feeds the reader information that isn't necessary. And, to be clear, I don't say this to be cruel or insulting-this is an issue a lot of books have- even books by people like Stephen King. I think a lot of this comes through in the Cain/Able metaphor which is so prominent in the book. When Cotter is in jail, and his name tag is mislabeled "Cainsworth," I immediately thought of Cain, and added this to the fact that Cotter has a brother- I understood that Mr. Moses was referencing Cain and Abel, and that Cotter's story was meant to reflect that Biblical story. I was quickly disheartened, then, when two prisoners literally spell out the entirety of the Cain and Abel story, and a bit more disheartened when at the end of the novel, it's revealed that Cotter and his brother are literally named Cain and Abel, along with another twist that Cotter is actually Abel and that Abel is damned to die generationally forever. This is just one example, but it comes up a lot in the novel- especially with side characters exposition dumping their personal stories to Cotter to teach him a moral, then literally telling him what the moral is. Because of this, a lot of the dialogue can seem stilted and awkward at times, especially some of the religious stuff. It's a bit heavy handed, and is part of the reason most of the side characters seem so similar and one dimensional. This comes across in some lines where characters will repeat the same thing twice, or the prose will add an anecdote denoting what the character meant when they said it, even though the context of the dialogue already conveyed that specific emotion. For instance, on page 263, after Cotter asks him for a gun, Mr. Zetticci (Best character besides babe Genesis) says,
His eyes get wide he stands up straight, "Hold on now. I can't do that, and what makes you think I could even get a gun."
Right away, Zetticci denies that he can get Cotter a gun; then he denies it again by asking Cotter why he would even think that. This sentence is also one of many instances where a question in dialogue is concluded with a question mark, and made awkward by the comma usage. Again, I'm no expert, but a more streamlined version of the line could be:
"What on earth makes you think I could get you a gun?" He asked, stiffening.
This tells the reader both that Zetticci cannot get Cotter a gun, and also lets him ask Cotter why he would ask. Of course, Zetticci CAN get Cotter the gun, but he's still denying it at this point, so it doesn't matter. This isn't that big of a deal in this example, but it's more important in other parts of the novel. The tense of the novel switches occasionally, as well, going from present tense (snow is falling, he raises a hand) to past tense (snow had fallen) in a few places. This isn't a big deal either, but is something that took me out of the book from time to time.
I feel like I've been too negative for this part of the review, and I don't mean to. This is the author's first book and all of these are just growing pains of beginner writers. I only bother to bring them up because I think Mr. Moses has great potential and I want him to improve/succeed. As a writer myself, these are issues that I encounter in my own work all the time and are things I try to be aware of to make the prose more diverse and engaging. Mr. Moses also loves his commas, and I don't think I came across a single hyphen, dash, colon, or semi colon in the entire book, and adding them would really help break up some of the clunkier dialogue and descriptions.
Overall, this was an interesting read, and I really wanted to get this review out there in hopes that it would be helpful in the author's next book, "The Big Bastard," which sounds like a follow up? to this one. Some of the grit and realism in "Exit Lights" was great, and I think adding even more would help the work function. Really, I think it was just in need of another editorial run through; some sentences and such needed tweaking, parts need trimmed down, and mostly, the dialogue needs work. But I definitely think the author is capable, and he has what- I would say- is the most important thing a writer needs- he's got a great story here. I look forward to how he continues it, and whenever "The Big Bastard" comes out I'll pick it up for sure. I enjoyed reading through "Exit Lights" and think it has a lot of great stuff going on. Mr. Moses' debut novel needs a bit of work, sure, but whose doesn't? (Besides maybe Margaret Mitchell or Harper Lee)
So my short conclusion: Give "Exit Lights" a read. I think you'll find Cotter and Genny interesting, and the end will leave you wanting more. There's still progress to be made, but the book already goes a long way as is. The premise is fresh, the imagination is tangible, and, more than anything, this books is full of love, passion, and a tangible effort to create an truly special story. It's clear Mr. Moses cares, and because of that, the reader should care, too. And I do. Looking forward to the next book!
"For sale: Baby shoes, never worn."
I'll come back to this in a bit.
For the most part, "Exit Lights" was an engaging read with a pretty unique, kick ass premise. The concept of a man seeing spotlights shine down on murder victims is awesome, especially when the novel explores the consequences it holds. For instance, one of my favorite parts of this book was the protagonist Cotter Trespin trying to explain his attempted heroics to the authorities, and one curmudgeony detective named Banner in particular.
Another part of the novel which I think worked best was Cotter himself. He's got a cool name, and (personal take) I really enjoy protagonists who are just sort of average, down on their luck losers/under achievers, and that's Cotter. He's funny and always puts his foot in his mouth. For the most part he's likeable, even though he makes many poor decisions. He's punished for a lot of them, which makes it easier to like him. What I liked most about Cotter, though, was his conclusion.
(SPOILERS)
I would say that the best part of "Exit Lights" is the very end. Cotter's death is unexpected, bold, and yes, a wee bit sad. What makes it even more effective is his life being taken over by his crazy twin brother, and the revelation that Cotter's girlfriend, Rebecca, was pregnant. Good stuff. Where I think the book gets a bit weaker, though, is in the rest of the characters.
Where Cotter talks and thinks with a unique voice, a lot of the side characters (Cotter's father, Rebecca, his Counselor at The Club House, Brutus) are all so identical they could be switched around without consequence. Nearly all of the characters around Cotter parrot the same ideas to him over and over again while he continues not to listen- they chide him on his drinking, on his irresponsibility, and on his lack of religious faith. Another aspect of the side characters are their complete willingness to spill their darkest and strangest life stories to Cotter on a whim. Some of them- like Mr. Drycleaner Zetticci (the most unique of the supporting characters, and my favorite for sure) make more sense, as they have close relationships with Cotter- but others are more odd, like when a random coworker of Cotter's tells him of how he was sexually molested by an uncle. Cotter points out that he doesn't even know the guy's name, and the scene just serves as an info dump to make Cotter confused about the man he tried to save from being killed earlier in the novel. The scene serving this purpose is fine, but the issue is that comes off as a bit inorganic and rather strange.
Another side character I found really interesting that I wish we had seen more of was the Detective Genesis, or Genny. Maybe I just have a thing for hot lady detectives- I dunno. But I thought Genny- and her relationship with Cotter- was one of the best parts of the book. This may be because it ties into what I mentioned earlier about Cotter's struggle with the police/detective, but this was the part of the book where I was the most sucked in. The concept of Genny is great- a young, attractive detective far ahead of herself in success and likely to climb even further if she keeps up the great work. She's also a great foil to Cotter, someone who regularly fails to get off his ass and perform the bare minimum. There's also the added question within the story of "is she just using Cotter to solve a case," but this is never really explored or resolved as halfway through the novel, Cotter leaves Chicago and the police behind to go to Minnesota. Genny never appears again and her relationship with Cotter never receives any closure. Another aspect of Genny that I was excited to see addressed but which never came up was how she impacts Cotter's girlfriend, Rebecca. I was angry at Cotter because he slept with Genny literally like a day after Rebecca dumps him, but he never really has to confront this or talk about it with Rebecca. He gets Rebecca back at the end, and though, yes, Cotter dies, he never has to pay for what I would say is cheating. I really wish Genny had reappeared at the end of the book, as I think Cotter either being turned down by her or her turning him down or meeting Rebecca or something would have been a powerful way to make him really confront his own personal flaws and alcoholism, which is the major point of the book and his character.
In lieu of this, the weakest part of the novel is certainly the time Cotter spends in Minnesota. This setting was not nearly as engaging as Chicago, nor were the supporting characters as interesting as Genny, Banner, or Rebecca. The only character in Minnestoa who really stood out was the Big Bastard, and anything involving him was great- especially Cotter's nightmares after murdering him in the Devil's Kettle. Cotter's nightmares were an element of the book which worked really well for me, especially the one he has of the ringing phones in deserted Chicago- great stuff, and it gave me serious "Walking Dead" season 3 vibes.
And, to be clear- I understand the purpose of Cotter going to Minnesota, and the character development that goes with that. There is some interesting commentary on the therapy/rehab system here, and the concept involving shoes and going barefoot is actually another part of the book I loved, because it appears so often and is never explicitly explained to the reader. Which brings me back to what I said at the beginning of this review.
Ernest Hemingway once said that of all his stories, this was his favorite- "For sale: Baby shoes, never worn." Six words, and yet the reader's mind can fill in endless possible tales and characters. In more literal terms, this is a good tool for writers to use to figure out how much to say about an idea or theme and how much to leave to the reader. Hemingway famously removed parts of his writing because he felt like he he was giving too much away. Is this always a good move? No. Is Ernest Hemingway overrated? I'm no expert, but, yes, he is. That doesn't mean he isn't right about this basic idea, though, and it's something I think "Exit Lights" could have really benefited from.
Though it's a fairly short book, I think "Exit Lights" is overwritten at times. By "Overwritten" I don't mean it's too long; I mean that, at times, it spoon feeds the reader information that isn't necessary. And, to be clear, I don't say this to be cruel or insulting-this is an issue a lot of books have- even books by people like Stephen King. I think a lot of this comes through in the Cain/Able metaphor which is so prominent in the book. When Cotter is in jail, and his name tag is mislabeled "Cainsworth," I immediately thought of Cain, and added this to the fact that Cotter has a brother- I understood that Mr. Moses was referencing Cain and Abel, and that Cotter's story was meant to reflect that Biblical story. I was quickly disheartened, then, when two prisoners literally spell out the entirety of the Cain and Abel story, and a bit more disheartened when at the end of the novel, it's revealed that Cotter and his brother are literally named Cain and Abel, along with another twist that Cotter is actually Abel and that Abel is damned to die generationally forever. This is just one example, but it comes up a lot in the novel- especially with side characters exposition dumping their personal stories to Cotter to teach him a moral, then literally telling him what the moral is. Because of this, a lot of the dialogue can seem stilted and awkward at times, especially some of the religious stuff. It's a bit heavy handed, and is part of the reason most of the side characters seem so similar and one dimensional. This comes across in some lines where characters will repeat the same thing twice, or the prose will add an anecdote denoting what the character meant when they said it, even though the context of the dialogue already conveyed that specific emotion. For instance, on page 263, after Cotter asks him for a gun, Mr. Zetticci (Best character besides babe Genesis) says,
His eyes get wide he stands up straight, "Hold on now. I can't do that, and what makes you think I could even get a gun."
Right away, Zetticci denies that he can get Cotter a gun; then he denies it again by asking Cotter why he would even think that. This sentence is also one of many instances where a question in dialogue is concluded with a question mark, and made awkward by the comma usage. Again, I'm no expert, but a more streamlined version of the line could be:
"What on earth makes you think I could get you a gun?" He asked, stiffening.
This tells the reader both that Zetticci cannot get Cotter a gun, and also lets him ask Cotter why he would ask. Of course, Zetticci CAN get Cotter the gun, but he's still denying it at this point, so it doesn't matter. This isn't that big of a deal in this example, but it's more important in other parts of the novel. The tense of the novel switches occasionally, as well, going from present tense (snow is falling, he raises a hand) to past tense (snow had fallen) in a few places. This isn't a big deal either, but is something that took me out of the book from time to time.
I feel like I've been too negative for this part of the review, and I don't mean to. This is the author's first book and all of these are just growing pains of beginner writers. I only bother to bring them up because I think Mr. Moses has great potential and I want him to improve/succeed. As a writer myself, these are issues that I encounter in my own work all the time and are things I try to be aware of to make the prose more diverse and engaging. Mr. Moses also loves his commas, and I don't think I came across a single hyphen, dash, colon, or semi colon in the entire book, and adding them would really help break up some of the clunkier dialogue and descriptions.
Overall, this was an interesting read, and I really wanted to get this review out there in hopes that it would be helpful in the author's next book, "The Big Bastard," which sounds like a follow up? to this one. Some of the grit and realism in "Exit Lights" was great, and I think adding even more would help the work function. Really, I think it was just in need of another editorial run through; some sentences and such needed tweaking, parts need trimmed down, and mostly, the dialogue needs work. But I definitely think the author is capable, and he has what- I would say- is the most important thing a writer needs- he's got a great story here. I look forward to how he continues it, and whenever "The Big Bastard" comes out I'll pick it up for sure. I enjoyed reading through "Exit Lights" and think it has a lot of great stuff going on. Mr. Moses' debut novel needs a bit of work, sure, but whose doesn't? (Besides maybe Margaret Mitchell or Harper Lee)
So my short conclusion: Give "Exit Lights" a read. I think you'll find Cotter and Genny interesting, and the end will leave you wanting more. There's still progress to be made, but the book already goes a long way as is. The premise is fresh, the imagination is tangible, and, more than anything, this books is full of love, passion, and a tangible effort to create an truly special story. It's clear Mr. Moses cares, and because of that, the reader should care, too. And I do. Looking forward to the next book!
May 28, 2020
Not much of a reader but I read this on a recommendation of a friend and I loved it! It kept me on the edge of my seat. Plenty of twist and turns! I highly recommend it and can't wait for something else from Jacob Moses!
Read
October 31, 2020This was a great book. Twist and turns kept me guessing what was next. I was emotionally all over the place and loved every moment of it.
March 24, 2020
Excellent book- it kept my attention to the very end! It had many twists and turns and kept me guessing. The characters were well developed and I found myself emotionally entangled in all their lives to the very end. I am trying to wait patiently for the next book!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews