Some criminals want to disappear. Others want to leave something behind.
For certain offenders, committing the act is not enough. They want someone to notice the planning, understand the message, or acknowledge what they believe they have achieved. Recognition becomes part of the crime itself.
This desire can grow from wounded pride, resentment, rejection, or a belief that others have failed to appreciate a person’s ability. When recognition is denied for long enough, an unstable mind may begin seeking it in increasingly destructive ways.
That idea lies at the centre of James Dale’s crime novel A+.
Dwayne Lee does not simply want revenge against Professor Stuart Stone. He wants Stone to recognise his skill.
After failing to meet the required standard during his veterinary studies, Dwayne cannot accept the judgement placed on his dissection work. Professor Stone becomes the person he blames for his humiliation. Instead of leaving the experience behind, Dwayne returns to the very activity connected with his failure.
He prepares animal dissections and places them where the professor will find them.
Every presentation carries the same desired grade: A+.
The displays are not hidden evidence that Dwayne hopes nobody will discover. Their entire purpose is to be found. Professor Stone must see them, assess them, and understand that someone is demanding his attention.
That demand becomes increasingly disturbing.
A frog is followed by a mouse. Then another animal appears. The sequence continues as Dwayne tries to improve his work and force the recognition he believes was unfairly denied to him.
Yet the professor repeatedly refuses to give the displays the grade Dwayne wants.
For Dwayne, that rejection does not end the matter. It feeds it.
At the same time, he hides behind another identity. As Mark Franks, he presents himself as a successful Environmental Protection Agency employee. He builds friendships, begins a relationship, and carefully maintains a life based on information gathered from others.
The contrast is striking. Dwayne wants his work recognised while desperately keeping his real identity concealed.
That contradiction gives A+ much of its tension. Police begin searching for the person behind the strange displays while Professor Stone tries to understand why he has been chosen. Each new presentation raises the same troubling question.
How far will someone go to receive the recognition they believe they deserve?
James Dale’s A+ is a crime novel about revenge, deception, investigation, and the dangerous hunger to be acknowledged.
For Dwayne Lee, being seen is not enough.
He wants to be graded.
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