Re: "the tone is rather unremittingly despondent"
Perhaps, you're simply noting a measure of maturity in the writer. There comes a time in all our lives, if we live long enough, that we realize that life as humans live it is not all that great. Young men of color are being executed in America for jaywalking; people in several parts of the world are being beheaded for various and sundry reasons; and horrible diseases keep popping up to make us suffer and die in huge numbers. All the while rich people break laws with impunity and rarely have to suffer more than a small fine. On top of that, there's the nagging understanding that even under the best of circumstances a large number of us will be dead in 20 to 30 years no matter what we do and you see that outside of young adult fiction and Hollywood there really are very few "happy" endings. So, maybe Mr. Watts is just being realistic. Have a nice weekend!