Fiction Reviews, October 1, 2011
Oct 1, 2011Bergen, David. The Matter with Morris. Counterpoint. 2011. c.256p. ISBN 9781582437590. pap. $15.95. F
The life of Canadian syndicated columnist Morris Schutt goes into a tailspin after his son is killed in Afghanistan. After he loses his job and separates from his wife, his increasingly aberrant behavior mystifies his family and friends. Will Morris be able to overcome his anger and grief and rebuild his life? Despite the sympathy the reader will surely feel in response to Morris’s loss, the character’s narcissism makes him rather hard to like. The stakes don’t seem terribly high for him, as his unemployed life includes driving a Jaguar and hiring high-priced escorts. Although he gets himself into a number of potentially dangerous situations, including a relationship that’s not quite an affair with a married Minnesota woman whose son died in Iraq, Morris always emerges relatively unscathed. VERDICT Despite the negative feelings Bergen’s (The Time in Between) protagonist may evoke, the decidedly male perspective and philosophical bent of his nonlinear storytelling might find some fans in followers of Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, John Updike, and the like.—Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis
Bondurant, Matt. The Night Swimmer. Scribner. Jan. 2012. c.288p. ISBN 9781451625295. $25. F
Fred and Elly Bulkington consider themselves lucky when they move from Vermont to a small town on the coast of Ireland after winning a pub in a contest. In Ireland, Fred settles into a new routine as a pub owner and meets stiff local resistance to outsiders, while Ellie sets out to discover Cape Clear, a nearby island where she becomes obsessed with open water swimming. As Ellie gets entrenched in the island’s power struggles between the Corrigans—a family that has controlled the area by divine right for centuries—and an enigmatic goat herder, she begins to experience strange occurrences that only the superstitious people on Cape Clear can explain. VERDICT This dark and fleetingly mysterious novel by the author of The Wettest County in the World captures the sometimes turbulent relationship between ensconced natives set in traditional ways and enthusiastic newcomers. While the story’s supernatural threads are not quite clear, they illustrate the eerie and unknown found in strange and wild places. This will appeal to fans of magical realism. [The film adaptation of The Wettest County in the World, with Shia LaBeouf and Gary Oldman, is scheduled for release this December.—Ed.]—Mara Dabrishus, Ursuline Coll., Pepper Pike, OH
Braschi, Giannina. United States of Banana. AmazonCrossing. 2011. c.346p. ISBN 9781611090673. pap. $14.95. F
The premise of this allegorical novel by Puerto Rican author Braschi (Yo-Yo Boing!; Empire of Dreams) is bizarre but intriguing: the author and two famous fictional characters—Giannina, Hamlet, and Zarathustra—attempt to free Puerto Rican Segismundo from the Statue of Liberty, where he has been imprisoned for more than 100 years. His father, the king of the United States of Banana, imprisoned him there for the crime of being born, and it is his father who frees him and awards statehood to Puerto Rico. The plot is secondary, however; the novel’s main purpose is political, with plenty of reflections on the horrors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, on Puerto Rico’s awkward position as an American territory, and on personal desire and individual liberty. VERDICT The book’s wordplay is amusing, and anyone who loves Shakespeare’s play will enjoy hearing what Hamlet really thinks about his life. But the long monologs, meandering philosophizing, and lack of dramatic momentum require a very patient reader. Recommended for fans of philosophical fiction such as Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra.—Evelyn Beck, Piedmont Technical Coll., Greenwood, SC
Burdett, John. Vulture Peak. Knopf. Jan. 2012. c.304p. ISBN 9780307272676. $25.95. F
A ghoulish triple homicide brings Royal Thai Police detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep to the hilltop compound known as Vulture Peak. Three bodies, laid neatly on a bed, are missing eyes, kidneys, livers, and genitals. The ever-corrupt, opportunistic Colonel Vikorn, Sonchai’s boss, wants to know what’s going on. And, incidentally, he wants to be the new governor of Bangkok. As in the last four novels in Burdett’s series, Sonchai is maneuvering in a nearly bewildering stew of greed, ambition, sex, drugs, and sheer criminal insanity. While the tale does not meander as much as its predecessor, The Godfather of Kathmandu, there are sinuous twists as our detective tries to make sense of the international machinations of the Yip sisters and Vikorn’s arch rival, General Zinna. VERDICT There are some truly stomach-turning scenes, and even a hardened reader of thrillers will blanch. Burdett, as usual, can’t resist his tendency to lecture farangs (Thai slang for Westerners) on materialism and the myriad weaknesses of the Western mind. While these lectures are getting tiresome, Sonchai and his gritty adventures as philosopher-cop will have fans looking for the next installment. [See Prepub Alert, 7/18/11.]—Sally Harrison, Ocean Cty. Lib., Waretown, NJ
Desai, Anita. The Artist of Disappearance. Houghton Harcourt. Dec. 2011. c.176p. ISBN 9780547577456. $23. F
These three novellas by internationally acclaimed author Desai (The Zigzag Way) powerfully explore the despair that comes from unfulfilled dreams. In The Museum of Final Journeys, a young government officer is posted to a remote village, where he finds only stultifying work in depressing conditions. When he is asked to take care of the luxurious and bizarre treasures of a decaying estate, he is forever haunted by his decision. In Translator Translated, English teacher Prema rises out of her torpid life to translate a book of stories written in a little-known language. Her desperation to find fulfillment in the author’s work leads her to confuse her role and results in unfortunate consequences. In the title story, Ravi lives a hermetic life in the burnt ruin of his childhood home, creating art out of nature, until a film crew discovers his masterpiece and Ravi is faced with the desecration of his art. VERDICT These stories are heart-wrenching in their portrayal of desperate people clinging to the fragility of hope. Beautifully written, this book will appeal especially to lovers of Indian literature. [See Prepub Alert, 6/13/11.]—Joy Humphrey, Pepperdine Univ. Law Lib., Malibu, CA
Frazier, Charles. Nightwoods. Random. Oct. 2011. c.260p. ISBN 9781400067091. $26. F
With this dark tale of murder, New York Times best-selling author Frazier (Cold Mountain; Thirteen Moons) hauntingly evokes rural North Carolina in the early 1960s. Luce, a young woman far removed from the outside world, becomes foster mother to young twins when her sister is murdered by her husband. The traumatized children seem to have reverted to a wild state; they do not speak and have a troubling inclination to set fires. So isolated is Luce that she never hears the news that the suspect has somehow been declared innocent and is headed her way, in search of money he believes his deceased wife may have passed along to her. Time passes slowly for Luce and the children: she takes up with a local man who has inherited the rundown hotel where she lives, and the twins gradually begin to open up. Frazier paints a vibrant picture of the rhythms of life and the flora and fauna of western North Carolina. When the children’s father arrives on their doorstep, the story takes a shocking turn. VERDICT Frazier’s poetic and reflective style is perfectly suited to the novel’s setting and to his vivid portrayal of the dark side of humanity. Recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 4/4/11.]—Jim Coan, SUNY Coll. at Oneonta
Frederick, K.C. After Lyletown. Permanent. 2011. c.244p. ISBN 9781579622190. $28. F
The past unexpectedly rears its head in this tale of a fortysomething Boston-area lawyer who has kept a secret for 20 years. In the late 1960s, Alan Ripley became involved with a group of students and ex-cons plotting a Weatherman-style political action. They intended to rob a gun shop and give the stolen weapons to black radicals. On the verge of carrying out the plot, Alan fell ill and wound up in the hospital. He missed the caper, which went horribly awry and lead to the death of a group member. Suddenly, in the late 1980s, Rory Dekker, the only member of the “Lyletown Five” who was caught and served prison time, emerges out of the blue, threatening to disrupt Alan’s settled life by implicating him in the crime. VERDICT Frederick (Inland) presents a tale of youthful mistakes, midlife crisis, and expectations met and thwarted, a taut and quietly moving novel of a man who must make peace with who he was and who he has become.—Lawrence Rungren, Merrimack Valley Lib. Consortium, North Andover, MA
Jackson, Joshilyn. A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty. Grand Central. Jan. 2012. c.336p. ISBN 9780446582353. $25.99. F
Jackson (Backseat Saints) has written an unusual Southern family saga revolving around three generations of lonely, hardscrabble Slocumb women. Grandmother Ginny is the glue that holds them together when her ex–drug addict daughter, Liza, has a severe stroke, leaving her voiceless except for a few vowel sounds. Fifteen-year-old granddaughter Mosey is the same age her mother and grandmother were when they had their daughters, but Mosey isn’t like her forebears; she’s scarcely been kissed by a boy. When Ginny decides to pull out the old willow tree in the backyard to make room for a pool to use in rehabilitating Liza, a shallow grave is uncovered, revealing a small skeleton dressed in tattered baby clothes and unleashing a series of events for which Liza seems to have an explanation—but she can’t tell. The story is told in the alternating voices of the women as the mystery unfolds. VERDICT Liza, as the unreliable narrator, is used to perfection in this warm family story that teeters between emotional highs and lows, laughter and tears. Book groups will eat this up. [See Prepub Alert, 7/18/11.]—Stacy Alesi, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., Boca Raton, FL
Jio, Sarah. The Bungalow. Plume: Penguin Group (USA). Dec. 2011. c.320p. ISBN 9780452297678. pap. $15. F
It’s 1942, and best friends Kitty and Anne, questioning their staid suburban lives, decide to join the Army Nurse Corps for a nine-month tour in the South Pacific. Anne leaves behind a mystified fiancé, she but feels a strong need to taste adventure before settling down. Free spirit Kitty finds that flirting with soldiers is much more fun than nursing the wounded, while Anne falls in love with Westry, a serious-minded soldier. Anne and Westry happily meet in secret in an abandoned beach bungalow, until the night they witness a murder. Before they can decide whether to report the crime, Westry is deployed, and Anne fears she’ll never see him again. When she receives a letter more than 50 years later postmarked from Tahiti, Anne and her young niece decide it’s time to find out what really happened all those years ago. VERDICT This unabashedly romantic novel just narrowly avoids being sappy, thanks to Jio’s (The Violets of March) deft handling of her plot and characters. Fans of Nicholas Sparks will enjoy this gentle historical love story.—Rebecca Vnuk, Forest Park, IL
Kurkov, Andrey. Penguin Lost. Melville House. 2011. c.256p. tr. from Russian by George Bird. ISBN 9781935554561. pap. $14.95. F
Focusing on one man’s intense search for his missing penguin, this sequel to Kurkov’s Death and the Penguin is suffused with mystery and intrigue. The novel begins with Viktor’s return to Kiev, Ukraine, where he embarks on a circuitous journey to locate Misha, the penguin he was forced to abandon at the end of the last book. As he searches the underworld of Kiev, Moscow, and Chechnya, Viktor becomes entangled in the activities of a series of criminal figures. Kurkov vividly renders locations afflicted by war, upheaval, and corruption. Throughout this dark yet fascinating journey, the question arises: “Why this tortured quest to find a penguin?” The answer, we discover, lies in the way Misha’s fate is tied to the question of Viktor’s ultimate redemption. VERDICT At times, the translation into English from the original Russian interferes with a fluid reading of the text. Still, the story delivers a level of intrigue sufficient to capture and sustain the reader’s attention. This novel will be of great interest to readers of eastern European literature and lovers of intricate plotlines.—Catherine Tingelstad, Pitt Community Coll., Greenville, NC
Larsen, Ward. Fly by Night. Oceanview, dist. by Midpoint Trade. Nov. 2011. c.336p. ISBN 9781608090297. $25.95. F
Recently widowed, retired Air Force major Jammer Davis is dealing with a daughter who is growing up too quickly when he is asked to investigate a plane crash in the Horn of Africa. A top-secret device called Dark Star has disappeared, and the chase is on to retrieve it before terrorists can use it to unleash chaos. Davis, the very large and occasionally violent almost superhero from Larsen’s earlier Fly by Wire, finds himself working with a pilot he despises and a gorgeous Italian doctor who serves the needy (and, yes, Jammer is needy). There are chases galore and plenty of tense action that could result in the massacre of Middle Eastern leaders and the destruction of the Great Pyramid. VERDICT Larsen, a former Air Force fighter pilot who’s flown many combat missions, is a skilled writer who knows his technology but does not let it overwhelm his story. His latest is a solid action novel that will appeal to aviation thriller junkies who enjoy John J. Nance and Dana Haynes.—Robert Conroy, Warren, MI
Lazar, Alan. Roam. Atria: S. & S. Nov. 2011. c.336p. ISBN 9781451632903. $22. F
Nelson, a half-beagle, half-poodle mix, is born to a dog breeder in the New England countryside. Soon he and a sibling are on their way to a pet shop in Boston, where he will languish until he is purchased by newlyweds on their way back to upstate New York. Katey, the bride, will become his Great Love, but the little family’s happy life is torn apart by infidelity. Nelson gets lost and begins a lifelong journey that takes him across the country and through many lives, but he never forgets Katey. Incredible journeys are a perennially popular subset of dog stories (see W. Bruce Cameron A Dog’s Purpose and Ann M. Martin’s A Dog’s Life: The Autobiography of a Stray), and debut novelist Lazar crafts a good one. He captures the interior and exterior lives of humans and dogs (and even wolves) with a sure hand. The author is also a musician and composer, and some chapters end with QR codes that link to music that forms the soundtrack to the novel. VERDICT This should appeal to dog lovers and lovers of a good adventure story. [See Prepub Alert, 5/23/11.]—Dan Forrest, Western Kentucky Univ., Bowling Green
Maxwell, Mitchell. Little Did I Know. Prospecta Pr. Oct. 2011. c.328p. ISBN 9781935212577. $25. F
It’s the summer of America’s bicentennial (1976) and a time for living out dreams for a spunky group of friends. Sam August has spent his college career falling in love with theater and jumps at a chance to lease a summer playhouse in Plymouth, MA. Gathering up a motley crew of highly talented classmates is easy; dealing with the capricious theater owners is another matter. Between bizarre threats and attempted seductions, Sam and his friends leap over every obstacle, even while consuming prodigious amounts of alcohol. VERDICT Debut novelist Maxwell’s credits as a Broadway producer include Blues in the Night and Dinner with Friends and revivals of Damn Yankees and Bells Are Ringing. This time he has produced a high-rolling romp from start to finish, in which you expect the characters to burst into song and dance at any moment. More of a lighthearted Anything Goes than a darker Company, it should appeal to readers seeking a little escape into worlds where dreams come true.—Jan Blodgett, Davidson, NC
Melton, Patrick & others. Black Light. Mulholland: Little, Brown. Oct. 2011. c.336p. ISBN 9780316196710. $25.99. F
Coauthored by the screenwriters of the last four films of the wildly successful Saw franchise, Melton and Marcus Dunstan, along with horror author/screenwriter/illustrator Stephen Romano, this debut supernatural thriller follows Buck Carlsbad, a psychic, private investigator, and ghost hunter who doesn’t remember his childhood before the age of seven. Intuitively, Buck knows that something horrific happened to him and his parents. Haunted by his ominous past and driven by his ability to communicate with the supernatural, Buck embarks on a journey to discover the truth and avenge his family’s demise. More fantastic than realistic, this book is best described as modern horror noir (Sin City meets Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas), set in a world that is just slightly askew from the one we know today. The authors’ experience in the movie industry is apparent in the concise prose, rapid-fire dialog, and fast pace, and the book could easily be adapted for the screen. VERDICT While not for every fiction reader, fans of the horror/thriller and dark fantasy genre will enjoy this debut novel, which is reminiscent of the works of F. Paul Wilson (“Repairman Jack” series) and Tom Piccirilli. [See Prepub Alert, 4/25/11.]—Carolann Curry, Mercer Univ. Lib., Macon, GA
Mohr, Joshua. Damascus. Two Dollar Radio, dist. by Consortium. Oct. 2011. c.216p. ISBN 9780982684894. pap. $16. F
Mohr’s new novel (after Termite Parade), set in San Francisco’s Mission District, tells two related stories. One is of Owen, the 60-year-old owner of the Damascus bar, and the other is about No Eyebrows, named for his distinctive facial trait, who meets a woman named Shambles in Owen’s bar. No Eyebrows, who has fled his wife and child to spare them the trauma of his impending death from lung cancer, escapes from his problems by drinking and paying Shambles for hand jobs. Unexpectedly, their relationship morphs into real understanding. Meanwhile, Owen fights the good fight for freedom of expression, is betrayed by a seeming friend, and loses the bar in a frightening way. Has this reviewer mentioned that Owen spends most of the story in a Santa suit? VERDICT Improbable though it sounds, the novel has real impact. Reading like a cross between Harry Crews and Armistead Maupin, it has a wacky authenticity and demonstrates the preciousness of life. For immediate consumption by fans of gritty reality; an outstanding achievement.—Henry Bankhead, Los Gatos P.L., CA
Murnane, Gerald. Barley Patch. Dalkey Archive. 2011. c.264p. ISBN 9781564786760. pap. $14.95. F
Why do we write? Why do we read? What is fiction? These questions haunt Murnane’s inventive yet maddening stream-of-consciousness narrative. A man who may or may not be the author reflects on his reading life, where he was, and how he felt while deep in any one of thousands of novels. He reveals a penchant for inserting himself into a story until the line between reality and imagination is blurred. If our narrator is to be believed, his family moved from place to place as Dad gambled away his paychecks on horse races, Mom compensated through storytelling, and our young man grew into an adult more comfortable around books than people. Though a nonbeliever, he entered a monastery seeking the solitude to write fiction and poetry, a dalliance of short duration, but one that set him on the path to an impressive literary output. VERDICT Australian writer Murnane has received the Melbourne Prize and a Patrick White Award. His prose is alluringly evocative, his sense of humor sly and dry, but only some will have the patience to sift through the gimmickry that gives readers the uncomfortable feeling that the author is having them on.—Sally Bissell, Lee Cty. Lib., Ft. Myers, FL
Odell, Jonathan. The Healing. Nan A. Talese: Doubleday. Feb. 2012. c.352p. ISBN 9780385534673. $26. F
The white, male, Mississippi-born author (The View from Delphi) of this engrossing novel about an African American female healer growing up as a slave on a Mississippi plantation makes up in soulfulness for whatever he may lack in authenticity. Gran Gran, the healer, an old woman by 1933, isn’t called on much anymore for midwifery or folk remedies when a newly motherless girl is abandoned at her door. By vividly relaying stories about people she loved as a child—especially Polly Shine, the courageous slave woman healer/midwife who taught her to use her own gift—Gran Gran brings traumatized, grieving Violet back to the land of the living. Recalling Polly Shine’s blend of African traditions and Old Testament beliefs heals her own ailing soul as well. VERDICT Bound to be compared to Kathryn Stockett’s best-selling The Help, this historical novel relegates its few white characters to distinctly minor status and probes complex issues of freedom and slavery, such as the dangers of an owner’s favor, making it more like Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s acclaimed Wench. [See Prepub Alert, 8/15/11.]—Laurie A. Cavanaugh, Wareham Free Lib., MA
O’Malley, Daniel. The Rook. Little, Brown. Jan. 2012. c.496p. ISBN 9780316098793. $25.99. F
Myfanwy (rhymes with “Tiffany”) Thomas wakes up in a London park surrounded by dead men, all wearing latex gloves. She has no idea who she is or how she got there. She finds two letters in the pocket of her jacket from her body’s former owner. The first tells her the body is now hers and warns of danger. Myfanwy is a Rook, a high-level operative in a clandestine security force charged with protecting Britain from supernatural forces, and there’s a mole in the organization who’s trying to kill her. Possessed of her own supernatural powers, underestimated until now, Myfanwy proves unexpectedly resourceful and is soon kicking butt with the best of them. The pace never lets up in this entertaining high-action read. The ending is a letdown, but that’s a small flaw in a great thriller. VERDICT First-time novelist O’Malley has fashioned a near-perfect supernatural thriller. The heroine is appealing, the villains all monsters or freaks, and something unexpected happens on almost every page. Don’t start this book unless you’ve got lots of time, because you won’t want to put it down. It’s that good. [See Prepub Alert, 7/11/11.]—David Keymer, Modesto, CA
Pinneo, Sarah. Julia’s Child. Plume: Penguin Group (USA). Jan. 2012. c.288p. ISBN 9780452297319. pap. $15. F
Pinneo, a cookbook author who used to work on Wall Street, has seamlessly blended her two interests into this cute fiction debut. Julia Bailey is a mother of two little boys who runs a fledgling organic toddler food products company called Julia’s Child. She’s making the rounds of her local Brooklyn neighborhoods, trying to sell more of her toddler “muffets” (savory muffins) and hoping to hit the big time. In the same vein as Allison Pearson’s I Don’t Know How She Does It, we watch Julia struggle with home vs. work issues and attempt to succeed in a difficult business enterprise. Fun subplots involving Julia’s children and husband, her Scottish nanny, and her right-hand businessperson, whom she hired from a welfare-to-work program, keep the story popping along. Unlike Pearson’s novel, Pinneo goes into fascinating detail about her character’s work life, describing the intricacies of how the food industry and corporate world work. VERDICT Well written, well paced, and very absorbing. This reader learned a lot, and pages kept turning quickly!—Beth Gibbs, Davidson, NC
Potter, Alexandra. You’re (Not) the One. Plume: Penguin Group (USA). Nov. 2011. c.384p. ISBN 9780452296909. pap. $15. F
Lucy is loving her new job at a New York art gallery. When Adam, on the lookout for free champagne, crashes her gallery’s opening one night, they connect like old friends. Adam and Lucy begin a fledgling romance, but it’s killed when Lucy’s ex-boyfriend Nate continually resurfaces. At age 19, Lucy and Nate sealed their fate with a kiss under the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, Italy, ensuring that—as the legend says—they would spend the rest of their lives together. Now, ten years later, that’s their problem. After a brief fling, Lucy and Nate can’t get rid of each other—and they can’t stand each other. And Nate and Lucy’s fate is sabotaging their chances of true happiness with others they actually love. The only way to rid herself of Nate and the spell of the Bridge of Sighs—and her only chance of making it work with Adam—is to return to Venice. Potter (The Two Lives of Miss Charlotte Merryweather) has taken romance and turned it into a curse in this funny and lighthearted read. VERDICT Potter has found her stride with this third novel, and anyone whose dream of “the one” has turned into a nightmare will enjoy the quirky premise of this fun book.—Anika Fajardo, St. Catherine Univ., St. Paul
Rees, Matt. Mozart’s Last Aria. HarperPerennial: HarperCollins. Nov. 2011. c.320p. ISBN 9780062015860. pap. $14.99. F
Rees’s first stand-alone novel after the award-winning Omar Yussef mystery series (The Collaborator of Bethlehem) delves into 18th-century Austria and the intrigue surrounding Mozart and his contemporaries. Mozart’s estranged sister, Madame Maria Anna Berchtold von Sonnenburg, a distinguished musician in her own right and known to her family as Nannerl, travels to Vienna to uncover the true circumstances of her brother’s death. Mozart’s friends and supporters claim he was poisoned, and Nannerl discovers multiple possible motives for his murder, including debts, reported liaisons, entanglements with secret societies, and even treason. Similar in appearance and adept at performance, Nannerl impersonates her brother to unmask the murderer. VERDICT Replete with biographical detail and musical references, this novel animates Mozart’s life and times with a varied cast of patrons, lovers, and villains. This absorbing Viennese soap opera is a solid choice for readers who like fiction about historical figures caught up in suspenseful intrigues such as Matthew Pearl’s The Dante Club or Gyles Brandreth’s Oscar Wilde mysteries.—Cathy Lantz, Morton Coll. Lib., Cicero, IL
Stockwin, Julian. Conquest: A Kydd Sea Adventure. McBooks. Oct. 2011. c.320p. ISBN 9781590136263. $24. F
In his 12th maritime adventure, Capt. Thomas Kydd of the Royal Navy returns to the high seas after Lord Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar (recounted in Victory). This smartly wrought protagonist joins an expedition to take the Dutch-held Cape Town at the southern tip of Africa. The country that holds this dangerous, strategic place will control the trade routes to India. Kydd and his crew aboard the L’Aurore fight to win the port but quickly realize the colony is caught in a delicate balance between native tribes and colonial influences vying for control. As Kydd fights to maintain a hold on this wild, hostile country, his friend and confidential secretary, Nicholas Renzi, falls into a desperate trap. VERDICT This well-crafted naval adventure by a seasoned lieutenant commander of the British navy balances historical perspective with the excitement of a full broadside assault. Comparable to C.C. Humphreys’s Jack Absolute series and the naval tales of the great Patrick O’Brian, Stockwin’s engaging novel reveals the author’s acumen for the history and spirit of the time.—Ron Samul, New London, CT
Szalay, David. Spring. Graywolf. Jan. 2012. c.272p. ISBN 9781555976026. pap. $15. F
James and Katherine, confused London hipsters, have recently entered into a relationship of sorts in Szalay’s third novel (after The Innocent), which is also his U.S. debut. James is a wheeler-dealer who won and lost a fortune in the Internet boom and bust and has since embarked on a series of ventures of dubious legality. Katherine works in a posh London hotel, where she first met her estranged husband, a paparazzo stalking a starlet. It’s not clear what James sees in Katherine, who is emotionally unavailable and does not appear to enjoy his company. Most of their conversations consist of: “What do you want to do?” “I don’t know.” The chapters are narrated from different perspectives, alternating among those of James, Katherine, and a couple of minor characters. VERDICT This novel may offer an accurate depiction of a contemporary relationship, in which nothing happens and no one can articulate what he or she wants, but it doesn’t make for absorbing reading. Szalay’s fine writing and flashes of insight can’t rescue this novel from its insipid, tiresome, and self-absorbed characters.—Lauren Gilbert, Sachem P.L., Holbrook, NY
Watson, Larry. American Boy. Milkweed. Oct. 2011. c.224p. ISBN 9781571310781. $24. F
Starting with In a Dark Time (1980) and with highlights like Montana 1948, Watson has penned some of the best contemporary fiction about small-town America, and his new novel does not disappoint. Teenage narrator Matthew Garth begins his story in 1962, in Willow Falls, MN, where he is enjoying a sumptuous Thanksgiving dinner with the Dunbar family. He and Johnny Dunbar are inseparable, despite their families’ disparity in status: Johnny’s father is a physician, while Matthew is the only child of a single working mother. Their elegant meal is interrupted when the sheriff calls Dr. Dunbar to the scene of a shooting. The authorities soon bring young Louisa Lindahl, wounded by her boyfriend during an argument, to recuperate at Dr. Dunbar’s clinic; before long, Louisa has moved into the Dunbar household. Matthew longs for this seductive young woman from the day he sees her wounded, unclothed body at the clinic. He sees himself as Louisa’s rescuer, and a rift soon opens up between him and the Dunbars. VERDICT With his graceful writing style, well-drawn characters, and subtly moving plot, Watson masterfully portrays the dark side of small-town America. Highly readable and enthusiastically recommended.—Donna Bettencourt, Mesa Cty. P.L., Grand Junction, CO
Wetta, Stephen. If Jack’s in Love. Amy Einhorn: Putnam. Oct. 2011. c.368p. ISBN 9780399157523. $25.95. F
First-time novelist Wetta stays on well-trod territory here: a boy must navigate the complex loyalties and curious alliances among both adults and his cruel peers. The 12-year-old narrator, Jack Witcher, is caught between the class-related anger of his brother and father and his love for his wealthy classmate Myra. Things become more complicated when Jack’s brother is identified as the main suspect in the disappearance of Myra’s brother. Reminiscent of Stephen King’s novella The Body but lacking its wistful charm, this debut reads more like a generic script for the perennial film about late-1960s small-town prejudices. Despite its considerable length, the novel offers only canned emotions, and the reader comes away with little feel for the characters or even the story’s consequences. Female characters get particularly short treatment, summed up by the creepy advice of a shop owner to the young hero about the importance of “blossoming young tits.” VERDICT While Wetta offers an occasional memorable line (“Families live on loyalty more than love”), the book is simply not very interesting. [See Prepub Alert, 4/11/11.]—Travis Fristoe, Alachua Cty. Lib. Dist., FL
Short stories
Hrbek, Greg. Destroy All Monsters: And Other Stories. Bison: Univ. of Nebraska. 2011. c.184p. ISBN 9780803236448. pap. $14.95. F
In Hrbek’s story collection, which won this year’s Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Fiction, the monsters come from outside and within. They range from the title story’s three-headed “Monster Zero”—a character in a post–World War II Japanese horror movie—and the maimed Hiroshima survivor who works on the movie set, to the sculpted replica of a drowned child created by the grieving father out of mud and a mail-order DNA footprint in a story called “Bereavement.” These passionate, ambitious pieces take the reader in unexpected directions, with complex, shaped narratives that play with time and point of view in ways that enhance their impact. VERDICT Hrbek, also the winner of the James Jones First Novel Award for The Hindenburg Crashes Nightly, is a master at voices. He brings the reader into the universe of his troubled characters, whose imagined “monsters” and elaborate constructions of reality may not be so different from one’s own. He is a writer to watch.—Sue Russell, Bryn Mawr, PA
Karlin, Katherine. Send Me Work: Stories. Triquarterly. Oct. 2011. c.192p. ISBN 9780810152205. pap. $17.95. F
As the title suggests, Karlin’s debut story collection focuses on men and women in the everyday world of work, from a loan officer–turned–fish tank cleaner to oil refinery workers and a New Orleans shipyard welder. The author’s own job experiences in offices and blue-collar trades supply the narratives with detail and the characterizations with authenticity. Some of the stories, such “Muscle Memory,” which is about welding, and “The Severac Sound,” about oboe playing, deal explicitly with mastering a craft and portray women struggling to get a foothold in male-dominated industries. Still, while many of the stories feature women working alongside men, sexual politics is not the author’s primary concern. The final story, “Geography,” succeeds best in combining sharp character portrayals with expertly paced storytelling. It is a subtle tale about an oil spill, a cover-up, and the erasure of truth. VERDICT A good addition to collections of contemporary short fiction, this will be of interest to both literary and general readers.—John R. Cecil, Austin, TX
Three Messages and a Warning: Contemporary Mexican Short Stories of the Fantastic. Small Beer. Dec. 2011. c.272p. ed. by Eduardo Jiménez Mayo & Chris N. Brown. ISBN 9781931520317. pap. $16. F
Encompassing a definition of fantasy that includes the extraterrestrial, the supernatural, the macabre, and the spectral, these stories are set in unusual locales and deal with bizarre characters. All are very short (some just two pages), and most offer a surprise twist at the end, though occasionally the only reaction these endings may elicit from the reader is “Huh?” The universal scope of the themes transcends the Mexican provenance; for example, one detects an apocalyptic influence in Liliana V. Blum’s “Pink Lemonade,” and Argentine Julio Cortázar’s “Bestiary” influences Bernardo Fernández’s “Lions.” Most of the volume’s 34 authors, half of whom are women, are relatively unknown to American readers, and for many of them, publication in this anthology represents their first exposure to an English-reading audience. The translations, several of which were done by the editors, convey the individuality, if not idiosyncrasies, of these tales. VERDICT This collection will appeal mostly to fans of fantasy and sf and, to a lesser degree, those interested in contemporary Mexican literature.—Lawrence Olszewski, OCLC Lib., Dublin, OH
Holt, Anne. 1222: A Hanne Wilhelmsen Novel. Scribner. Dec. 2011. c.320p. tr. from Norwegian by Marlaine Delargy. ISBN 9781451634716. $25. F
A passenger train derails and crashes in northern Norway in the middle of a blizzard, 1,222 meters above sea level. Almost 200 of the survivors seek refuge at a nearby vacant old hotel to await their eventual rescue from the secluded mountain retreat. The snowstorm intensifies, and the isolated passengers realize there’s a killer among them as several corpses of their newfound companions begin to surface in the snowed-in hotel. As the death toll rises, wheelchair-bound Hanne Wilhelmsen, a cantankerously unsociable retired police inspector, grows increasingly inquisitive. Hanne employs her keen power of observation to take the lead and investigate her fellow passengers as the tension, distrust, and fear mount in their mountain hideaway. VERDICT Best-selling Norwegian author Holt (What Is Mine) channels her inner Agatha Christie to deliver a frigidly good whodunit as she introduces the first of a new mystery series. [See Prepub Alert, 6/13/11.]— Mary Todd Chesnut, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights
Kaaberbøl, Lene & Agnete Friis. The Boy in the Suitcase. Soho Crime. Nov. 2011. c.320p. tr. from Danish by Lene Kaaberbøl. ISBN 9781569479810. $24. F
Red Cross nurse Nina Borg, who works helping illegal refugees, gets a call from an estranged friend begging her to pick up a package in one of the lockers at the main Copenhagen train station. The package turns out to be a suitcase with a drugged three-year-old boy inside. When the friend is murdered, Nina realizes she’s caught in the middle of a kidnapping case. Nina must use her connections in the refugee community to discover the identity and nationality of the child before she can find out who is behind his abduction. Nina is a complicated, flawed character, conflicted by her compulsion to help strangers rather than stay home with her family. VERDICT Although Nina is the protagonist, she is only one of several voices, and it takes a while to get used to the switching among points of view. Readers who hang on will enjoy the fast-paced plot that takes a surprising twist when the multiple story lines are finally connected. Winner of the 2008 Harald Mogensen award for Best Danish Crime Novel and a finalist for the Scandinavian Glass Key Award (losing to Stieg Larsson), this trilogy debut has also been translated into nine languages. A must for Scandinavian crime fiction aficionados. [See Prepub Alert, 8/2/11.]—Jean King, West Hempstead P.L., NY
Lapidus, Jens. Easy Money. Pantheon. Nov. 2011. c.480p. tr. from Swedish by Astri von Arbin Ahlander. ISBN 9780307377487. $26.95. F
A best seller in Sweden, this debut novel—the first in a trilogy—from defense attorney Lapidus follows three criminals in Stockholm’s drug underworld. College student JW subsidizes evenings in posh clubs by driving an illegal taxi. Looking for a bigger payoff, he starts selling cocaine. Chilean immigrant Jorge is in prison after taking the fall for a Yugoslav gangster. He escapes, but family obligations and thoughts of revenge keep him in the city. Mrado is the Slavic mafioso’s henchman, a tough guy who’s also a doting dad. These parallel stories take time to develop, but when they intersect the action erupts in high-octane cinematic grandeur (the book inspired a hit Swedish movie, with a Hollywood remake in development). VERDICT The violence and slow-building plot are reminiscent of Stieg Larsson and the duo of Anders Roslund and Borge Hellström (Three Seconds), but Lepidus clearly fashions his unsavory protagonists and slangy staccato prose after James Ellroy (who provides a glowing blurb). Accordingly, this latest Swedish import will connect best with those who prefer the grit of noir or street lit. [Three-city tour.]—Annabelle Mortensen, Skokie P.L., IL
