Smaller Smaller Circles Summary
Book Review: Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan
The novel Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan is a story about two Jesuit priests, who are also detectives, in pursuit of a serial killer who targets undersized and undernourished boys from the Payatas area.
More than that, it’s an attempt to create an environment that is lacking in this country. There is not a killer as smart as Alex Carlos, police detectives as talented as Father Gus Saenz and Father Jerome Lucero, nor a police workforce as dedicated as in the story’s NBI. The novel also magnifies the urban underbelly, with the garbage dumps, the slums, and the way people live in Payatas as seen in the opening chapter.
The Boys:
Lead by Father Gus Saenz, with the help of his former student and fellow forensic anthropologist Father Jerome Lucero, they track down and try to decipher the mind of a serial killer, who the police department doesn’t believe to be present in the country .
Father Gus Saenz represents the tall, mestizo, and ruggedly handsome priest you hope would not be in front of an altar in your wedding, but beside you instead. He is a product of an affluent, amiable family, is well-educated, and witty.
Father Jerome Lucero is Father Gus’ former student, a forensic anthropologist, and his partner in solving the series of killings. He is much younger, but less likely to withhold his feelings when agitated or irritated.
As partners, the two priests-slash-sleuths try to figure out the goings-on in the serial killer’s mind, how and why he kills the way he does. They delve into the psychological aspect of the case, and they are drawn nearer to the killer by the clues gathered.
Posing as a hindrance, the acting director of the police department is somehow a satire of the attention-seeking, media-loving police figure. He not only takes the case carelessly, but leads the people in the wrong direction just to make himself look good and seem in control of the case.
The Rat:
The novel Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan is a story about two Jesuit priests, who are also detectives, in pursuit of a serial killer who targets undersized and undernourished boys from the Payatas area.
More than that, it’s an attempt to create an environment that is lacking in this country. There is not a killer as smart as Alex Carlos, police detectives as talented as Father Gus Saenz and Father Jerome Lucero, nor a police workforce as dedicated as in the story’s NBI. The novel also magnifies the urban underbelly, with the garbage dumps, the slums, and the way people live in Payatas as seen in the opening chapter.
The Boys:
Lead by Father Gus Saenz, with the help of his former student and fellow forensic anthropologist Father Jerome Lucero, they track down and try to decipher the mind of a serial killer, who the police department doesn’t believe to be present in the country .
Father Gus Saenz represents the tall, mestizo, and ruggedly handsome priest you hope would not be in front of an altar in your wedding, but beside you instead. He is a product of an affluent, amiable family, is well-educated, and witty.
Father Jerome Lucero is Father Gus’ former student, a forensic anthropologist, and his partner in solving the series of killings. He is much younger, but less likely to withhold his feelings when agitated or irritated.
As partners, the two priests-slash-sleuths try to figure out the goings-on in the serial killer’s mind, how and why he kills the way he does. They delve into the psychological aspect of the case, and they are drawn nearer to the killer by the clues gathered.
Posing as a hindrance, the acting director of the police department is somehow a satire of the attention-seeking, media-loving police figure. He not only takes the case carelessly, but leads the people in the wrong direction just to make himself look good and seem in control of the case.
The Rat: