As Good as Gone by Larry Watson

Published by Algonquin Books on June 21, 2016

It’s 1963, but Calvin Sidey seems to be living in the 19th century. His trailer lacks electricity, refrigeration, or indoor plumbing. He rarely sees his son but, without understanding why, agrees to Bill’s request to spend a week taking care of his grandchildren while Bill’s wife is having an operation. Bill later wonders whether his father agreed to help him or whether he is helping his father.

Calvin abandoned his children after his wife died. The circumstances under which he left town are the subject of dark rumors. When Calvin moves back into his house (where Bill now lives with his family), the tension between family members is palpable. What Bill and his wife don’t know is that their daughter Amy is living in fear and that their son Will hates his friends and wants to run away.

After that setup, I thought I knew the direction the plot would take. I was wrong. As Good as Gone is not predictable or formulaic. It builds tension and suspense like a thriller, but this isn’t a novel about heroes battling villains. Nobody in this book is a hero. Nobody is a true villain. Most of the key characters, like most people, blend their virtues and vices into a complex mix that defines them only as human.

The major characters in As Good as Gone are made real by the turmoil of daily existence that occupies their minds. Calvin struggles with emotions that he can’t express and probably can’t understand. He’s in the late years of his life and it isn’t clear that he will ever really understand or tolerate himself, much less another person. The elements of a love story develop but again, it’s realistic, not the idyllic dizzying love envisioned in romance novels. Whether love will endure or be reciprocated, whether it even makes sense, are among the true life questions that certain characters must face.

As is true in real life, most of the threats and acts of violence in As Good as Gone (and there are quite a few of them) are fueled by misunderstandings. Calvin may not have been a good father, but he has the sense that he should stand up for his family. He’s a tough guy, a cowboy who spent his life working as a ranch hand as a means of avoiding responsibility. Unfortunately, he’s impulsive and a bit hotheaded. He doesn’t know what’s going on in his family and some of his assumptions are disastrously wrong. That dynamic gives rise to drama that resolves in unexpected ways as the story reaches its climax.

With its high-quality prose and depth of characterization, As Good as Gone could probably be classified as a work of literary fiction that borrows the form of a thriller, but classifications don’t matter when a book is good. This one is.

RECOMMENDED

Nutshell by Ian McEwan

Published by Doubleday/Nan A. Talese on September 13, 2016

The only likable character in Nutshell is a fetus. Fortunately, he’s an exceptionally bright fetus with a rich vocabulary. His mother and father separated after his conception. His father, a poet, has a relationship of some sort with a student. His mother is sleeping with his father’s brother. His mother and brother have a murderous intent, which provides Nutshell’s plot.

In prose that celebrates the richness of the English language, Ian McEwan tells the story from the unborn child’s point of view. The narrator has traditional notions of how parents should behave and is distressed that his own are not up to the task, but while residing in his mother’s womb, he cannot help but love her. Unfortunately for him, occasional kicks when his mother is misbehaving are an ineffective method of influencing her behavior. Yet even a fetus is not without resources.

As always, McEwan’s prose is a treat to be savored. Nutshell also showcases his wit. The narrator has extensive insight into the ways of the world, thanks to the knowledge he has absorbed as his mother listens to talk radio and self-improvement tapes. In addition to parenting, the fetal narrator shares his wry opinions about hope and faith and hatred, as well as current events, culture, sex, and the merits of the wines that his mother consumes.

An inspector with Columbo-like mannerisms adds to the humor. Nutshell is a short novel, not as substantial or dramatic as most of McEwan’s other books, but brevity assures that every word counts in a fun novel that works its way to a satisfying conclusion that manages to be both surprising and inevitable.

RECOMMENDED

A Killing in Moscow by Clive Egleton

This is a repost of a review posted on Tzer Island in 2010. The book was first published in 1994. It has been out of print for some time, but has been published digitally by Endeavour Press as of September 8, 2016.

Clive Egleton's second Peter Ashton novel (first published in 1994) is better than his first (Hostile Intent). Ashton is given a stronger personality (the polite British version of abrasive) and he begins to have a life outside the office. The plot is less far-fetched and more interesting than the story in Hostile Intent in that A Killing in Moscow explores the relationship between the KGB and organized crime in post-Soviet Russia, arguing (through Ashton) that it doesn't matter whether the people on the other side are motivated by politics or greed if their actions jeopardize national security.

The novel begins with the execution of British businessman Colin Joyner and the prostitute he was entertaining in his Moscow hotel room. Peter Ashton, not quite trusted or simply disliked by those in power at SIS as a result of his actions in Hostile Intent, has been assigned to run Security and Technical Services where his access to top secret information is limited. Ashton, in Moscow to conduct a security audit, is sent by the British Embassy to assist the local police in the investigation of Joyner's death. This straight-forward task becomes more complicated when Ashton learns that a Russian woman employed as an Embassy secretary has been spying on the British Embassy official who monitors commercial transactions, and has been passing information to the prostitute who was found dead in Joyner's room. The novel follows Ashton as he puzzles out the relationship between the spy and Joyner. As in Hostile Intent, Ashton makes it his responsibility to keep the spy alive, creating the opportunity for some fast moving action scenes.

The pace in A Killing in Moscow is intense and Egleton's prose is more fluid than it was in Hostile Intent. The combination of intellectual intrigue and well written action scenes makes this a fun reading experience, and the ending is just wild.

RECOMMENDED

Perfume River by Robert Olen Butler

Published by Atlantic Monthly Press on September 6, 2016

A brief, charitable encounter with a homeless man named Bob Weber causes Robert Quinlan to reflect on his life, particularly a moment during the Tet Offensive when he hid beneath a banyan tree and fired a shot that haunts him. Robert’s brother Jimmy is 68, has been married to Linda for 24 years, but has a thing for Heather, a much younger woman. Jimmy fled to Canada to avoid the draft and has lived there ever since. He has not spoken to his parents or brother in decades.

Perfume River is largely a novel told in memory, the reflections of characters who are nearing the end of their lives. The reader learns the backstory of each character in alternating story segments, but the stories of Robert, Jimmy, and Bob all intersect when Robert’s father, now 89, is in the hospital, facing death. The characters have adjusted to their circumstances, but some baggage can never be put away. The secret Robert has carried about his service in Vietnam is one that he never shared, even with his father, but his father has a secret that he has never shared with Robert. Sharing their secrets might bring them together, but neither man can bring himself to do it.

Family conflict is one of the novel’s driving themes. Fathers, sons, and grandsons have differing perspectives about  the value of military service. The lives and personalities of Bob, Robert, and Jimmy have all been shaped by a militaristic father. Bob’s father was abusive, while the father of Robert and Jimmy was demanding, unyielding, and unforgiving. At one point, Robert’s mother tells his wife that men make wars so that fathers and sons, who have so much difficulty communicating as adults, will have a mutual experience to bond over, but the novel makes clear that bonding is far from inevitable. The impact of war on families is seen in each of the book’s significant relationships.

The embrace and rejection of spirituality is another of the novel’s themes, illustrated by Jimmy’s evolving belief in an afterlife and his wife’s denunciation of that belief, by Robert’s wife’s meditation on mind versus body as she contemplates monuments to women of the past, by Robert’s need for absolution, and by Bob’s delusional fear of the hand of God and his interaction with a pastor who champions the Second Amendment. In fact, Bob draws together the themes of parental conflict and spirituality in his belief that fathers (whether parents or God the Father) are a cause of enduring pain.

Ultimately, this is a novel of reconciliation and redemption. Death sometimes brings an estranged family together, but Perfume River isn’t a feel-good novel. Still, people change over the course of their lives -- in ways both small and dramatic -- and Perfume River illustrates how those changes can have an impact on families.

Some of the scenes, particularly one involving Robert and his father, are intense. In its final stages, a threat looms that causes the novel to build tension like a thriller, but at the same time, the story delivers a series of honest moments that are emotional without being superficial. A powerful novel that doesn’t waste a word, Perfume River proves that Robert Olen Butler is still at the top of his game, particularly as a chronicler of the Vietnam War’s aftermath.

RECOMMENDED

Blitz by David Trueba

Published in Spain in 2015; published in translation by Other Press on August 30, 2016

Beto Sanz is an unsuccessful landscape architect from Madrid. He is currently the sole member of his firm, although he appreciates the suggestions made by Marta, his lover and roommate. The economy is bad and Beto is entering European competitions, attempting to attract attention with fanciful ideas. At a competition in Munich, Beto submits the idea of an urban park that is filled with large hourglasses that will encourage people to reflect on how they will use their passing time.

Unfortunately, Beto's relationship with Marta comes to an abrupt end, which puts Beto in a funk early in the novel. He later finds himself attracted to an older woman he meets at the Munich conference. It is an attraction he cannot explain and that he finds vaguely embarrassing, at least when he sees himself through the eyes of others. In conversation with the woman, Beto explores the nature of failed relationships. Much of the novel, in fact, consists of Beto’s reaction to his breakup, as Beto shares his thoughts with the reader or converses with friends in Spain via text or Skype.

Blitz features some interesting discussions about the competing philosophies of landscape architecture, particularly parks: should the architect try to give people a comfortable place in which they can rediscover themselves by rediscovering organic life, or is it the mission of the architect to shake people up, to challenge them with discomfort? Beto muses about the importance of parks (what would a city be without them?) and how park development is nevertheless the first item to be cut from a municipal budget during an economic downturn. The discussions are wide-ranging, as characters debate competing philosophies of industrial design and cosmetic surgery.

The second part of this short novel is shorter than the first. It is told in a series of brief recaps of Beto’s life, month-by-month, after he leaves Germany. It eventually ties into the first part in a way that provides a satisfying (if somewhat predictable) resolution to Beto’s growing frustration.

The beauty, appreciation, and meaning of life, as reflected in relationships with people and parks and objects, are an important subject of Blitz. The novel is also about self-discovery, but its strongest theme is the discovery of improbable love in unlikely ways and the heart’s defiance of social conventions. Illustrations and reproductions of paintings give a visual boost to the story. In the end, Blitz is like a pleasant story that an old friend might tell to explain what happened during his absent years.

RECOMMENDED