Review: The Pattern Maker by Richard Snodgrass

Murder and mysticism weave within the turbulent times of the 1970s Rust Belt in Richard Snodgrass’ new novel, The Pattern Maker. Subtle thematic elements of media consumption and the blending of reality and fantasy swirl around a violent spate of murders in Pittsburgh, a troubled city with a strange allure and a powerful heartbeat that permeates these pages.

Paul Slater, the honorable center point of this story, is a restless mill worker who returns to his hometown of Furnass after years of haunting military service. Perennially ready to fight for the underdog and put his life on the line to save others, he is painted as a classic hero from the very start.

However, this ability to stand out in a crowd doesn’t always work in his favor, particularly when he spends his nights in the big city of Pittsburgh. It doesn’t take long for Slater’s path to cross with Suzy Two Quarters, an intern for a local movie shoot who works under a dictatorial director, as well as a truly bizarre panhandler named Sam who cryptically pops in and out of Slater’s late-night life.

While making his escapes to the big city allow Slater to flirt with a fantasy life, the gruesome murders begin to pile up, and the wrong type of attention turns his way. Having had more than enough violence in his past as a Green Beret to last a lifetime, Slater must wrestle with his own dark demons to clear his name.

Snodgrass patiently unspools this engrossing novel, allowing the storylines to brush up against one another, gradually forming a cohesive web of narrative that feels revelatory and romantic. The pieces of this novel initially seem disparate, but Snodgrass has impressive draughtsmanship skills and ties up loose threads in unexpected ways.

Trust is hard to come by in this gritty world, with fantasy and reality blurring in the story and the prose itself. Unique formatting, perspective jumps, and a variety of narrative tools make this novel feel utterly immersive. The landscape of Pittsburgh and rural Pennsylvania, with all its grit and stubborn tenacity, is a character unto itself, and Snodgrass once again proves his colloquial comfort and confidence in this small part of the world. Creating a visceral and consistent mood is no small task, yet this author has proven himself to be a master of transporting readers through time and space.

Though set in the seventies, the novel is a modern work to its core, boasting powerful themes that underpin much of the action and character development. Issues of gender and race relations, sexual violence and abuse, financial disparity, the collapse of industrial regions in the face of time and progress… all of these timely and pressing themes are addressed and unpacked in myriad ways through this dense and dramatic read.

Some of the plot points are predictable, and there is the occasional stock character thrown into the mix, but these slips are brief and few. Snodgrass makes readers sincerely care about his characters, willing us to invest in their fates and futures, and with multi-layered messaging supporting the narrative flow, The Pattern Maker is moving and impactful to the very end.