‘A Good Man’ review: Haunting memories of murder in Montauk

Brooks Anderson, the protagonist of PJ McIlvaine’s novel, “A Good Man,” provides the kind of insolent first-person narration that is reminiscent of John Self’s in Martin Amis’ “Money” or Mickey Sabbath’s in Philip Roth’s “Sabbath’s Theater.” Or even any one of the hard-boiled detectives from a Mickey Spillane or Dashiell Hammett procedural.

The story is ostensibly pulp fiction, though what elevates McIlvaine’s novel (not that perfectly entertaining and well-crafted pulp fiction requires elevation) is the tireless layering of personal and political history, astute film and literary references, and incisive cultural criticism that imbue the story and its characters with thoughtful thematic dissections.

Anderson, now in his 60s, is a successful writer. He has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and an Oscar, and won an Emmy for a limited series that he penned. He is also a recovering drug addict and alcoholic with a wife and two kids. He has every corner of the American Dream locked down, yet he is haunted by a grisly childhood tragedy: the murder of his mother and brother while vacationing in Montauk.

When he learns that unethical journalist Marshall Reagan is writing a book about the murders, Anderson confronts his demons and writes an account of his own to ensure the story is told honestly and without perverse poetic license. It spoils nothing to reveal that Reagan is killed, and that Anderson becomes a suspect who must prove his innocence by delving into his scorched psyche and piecing together the horrific events of that awful summer. Hellbent on uncovering the identity of the killer, Anderson must confront the people who populate his life, the unreliability of his memory and, ultimately, himself.

McIlvaine writes with a ferocious wit and a great breadth of…