Dark and compelling drama

"I'm not usually one to write a review while a story is still in progress, but I didn't want to let these thoughts slip away. In this dark and intense story, the author has so far done an incredible job of balancing the present with the past as told by the anti-hero main character, Rocco, who constantly has me in a tug of war between abhorrence and empathy for him. The story unfolds almost like a tableau style stage play, with the scene happening in the present serving almost as a frozen moment in time while the narrator Rocco takes us on a journey to the past, to show us what made him the person he is in the scene that is waiting for us to catch up. With each sojourn to the past, he then dips back into the present, and the story moves forward. Every time he does this, I forgive him a little more for what he has just done, and my capacity to forgive him for whatever he might do next expands. Kudos to the author for the well constructed play on emotions and the pacing that comes with this style of storytelling. It's done very carefully, and is almost embodied by Rocco's charge, the soft artist Adrien (who is the complete antithesis to Rocco's hard, rough nature) in that the author seems to be keenly aware that the reader needs time to adjust and make room for what's coming. The action builds gently, despite the dark and violent nature of the story. I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out as the rest of the story is completed!"