Jed Rubenfeld's The Death Instinct

Jed Rubenfeld’s “Death Instinct” is the sequel to the critically acclaimed “The Interpretation of Murder” and takes place 10 years down the line.

Although the novel is a work of fiction, Rubenfeld does well to blend real fact based events with his own brand of intellectual fiction. The result is a magnificent concoction of enticing prose and adventurous storytelling.

The story centres around three characters namely Stratham Younger, Captain James Littlemore and Colette Rousseau and begins with the devastating explosion on Wall Street in 1920.

At 12:01 midday on the 16th of September, 1920 Wall Street rocked to the tune of a 45Kg bomb exploding in a horse drawn carriage outside the headquarters of JP Morgan. 23 Wall Street was a mess, a combination of mass hysteria and human remains lined the pavements, this was the biggest attack on US soil at the time. The blast killed 38 people and 143 were seriously injured, the crime to this day has never been solved but Rubenfeld puts his own slant on what might have happened.

The bombing in September 1920 would remain the most destructive act of terrorism in the United States until the Oklahoma bombing of 1995 by Timothy McVeigh claiming 168 lives and 680 injured.

I took my time reading this book; I discovered early on that this wasn’t a book to be rushed. It deserved a slow and thoughtful read allowing all the information to settle and the tension to build at a natural pace. Some books are meant to be read quickly, Rubenfeld’s storytelling is a delight to behold and is best appreciated slowly.

The Great War had been over for two years, Prohibition was in its relative infancy (it would continue until 1933), discovery of radium and the world wide Influenza outbreak had ended three months earlier – these are just some of the events tackled in Rubenfeld’s “The Death Instinct”.

I found the characters believable and certainly allowed for a greater depth in storytelling. Stratham Younger is a charismatic and likeable Doctor and has fallen in love with Rousseau, a protégé of Madame Curie (the twice Noble Prize winner).  Jimmy Littlemore, captain in the New York Police department is a no nonsense kind of cop, he plays by the rules even if no one else will – you like him all the more for his attitude as he sets about eradicating corruption in New York and Washington.

As the book matures Rubenfeld’s class and elegant writing style works like a charm with his main characters intertwining effortlessly throughout. From delayed telephone calls, frantic long distance cables and an emergency long distance race against time on a motorbike and sidecar; the sights and sounds of 1920’s America and Europe were at my fingertips.

All I had to do was close my eyes and I was riding alongside Luc and Younger as they raced to Prague in the middle of the night, feeling every bump in the road and every rain drop falling on a naked face, bereft of goggles or protection.

Full of twists and turns “The Death Instinct” is a tale of despair, murder, corruption and greed. Wonderful story, Rubenfeld has a natural gift for blending fact and fiction making history come alive in his work. Highly recommended.

Published by Headline (16th September) the book is available to buy at Amazon or Waterstones.