Last Call for the Living by Peter Farris

Published by Forge Books on May 22, 2012 

Friendless, obsessed with rocketry, and only "partially present for any human interaction," Charlie Colquitt is, in the words of his Savings & Loan manager, "destined to be lonely and largely unnoticed." He is, however, noticed by Hobe Hicklin, the recently released convict who robs the S&L before it opens, when only Charlie and the manager are present. For reasons that are never quite clear (other than advancing the plot), Hicklin takes Charlie hostage. For reasons that are extraordinarily coincidental (although they also advance the plot), Hicklin decides not to kill Charlie even when he has no apparent value as a hostage. Instead, Hicklin keeps Charlie in a cottage in the hills where his tweaker girlfriend, Ellamae (a/k/a Hummingbird), uses Charlie as her boytoy.

The robbery displeases Hicklin's two partners, Leonard Lipscomb and Nathan Flock, because he pulled off the heist without their involvement, keeping the proceeds for himself. It also displeases Sheriff Tommy Lang. Unequipped to deal with major crimes, Lang leaves the investigation to Sallie Crews of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Actually, Lang is unequipped to deal with life, although he manages to cope with ample doses of whiskey and beer and occasional nights with Kalamity, who owns a seedy bar.

Jubilation County, Georgia, where this all takes place, is the sort of sparsely populated area where everyone knows everyone -- and they've probably slept together. The county's unsavory residents certainly have an inbred quality. Violence pervades the story; it is a way of life.

The plot of Last Call for the Living is simple without being simplistic. Peter Farris generates and maintains suspense without employing the contrived plot twists that often disguise a writer's inability to create credible characters. Farris' characters are filled with weaknesses and woes, and none of them (except perhaps for Charlie) is particularly likable. Lang, tortured by the atrocities he's witnessed, is a lush. Lang is far from heroic, making him a refreshing law enforcement figure. The criminals are creepy, but Farris understands the dehumanizing nature of incarceration in maximum security prisons and he has a good handle on the prisoner's mindset, making it easy to understand the source of the ex-cons' creepiness. There were even times (admittedly, not many) when I felt sorry for Hicklin, a man who wonders if his life could have been different, even if he's incapable of change. More intriguing is Charlie, who might be able to change ... but in what way?

About two-thirds of the way through the novel, the story seems to have reached its end. Instead, the narrative pauses, takes a breath, and races onward to the best scene in the book. It takes place in a church, during a service held by one of those freakish faiths where congregants handle snakes and speak in tongues. The plot moves to its heated conclusion from there. The concluding chapter doesn't spell everything out; it leaves room for the reader's imagination to fill in the gaps.

While Last Call for the Living is fast moving and well written, it contains no surprises. Predictability is its most serious weakness (reliance on coincidence is a close second). The story is nonetheless worth reading for its strong characterizations, its entertaining moments (of which there are many), and its tense climax.

RECOMMENDED

2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson

Published by Orbit on May 22, 2012 

“Worldbuilding” has been a popular buzz word in the modern era of science fiction, and Kim Stanley Robinson has always scored points for his detailed construction of alien environments.  In 2312, he turns his attention to asteroid building:  asteroids are captured, hollowed out, fitted with propulsion systems, made into terraria that double as transport vehicles, and populated with animals like arks designed by futuristic Noahs.  He also gives Mercury a city that travels on rails to avoid sunlight and imagines an Earth that has seen better days (particularly Florida, which is mostly underwater).  Yet worldbuilding alone does not a successful novel make.

2312 gets off to a promising start as a terrarium designer and cutting edge artist named Swan Er Hong, rocked by the unexpected death of her elderly mentor Alex, discovers that Alex left her a message to be delivered to Wang Wei.  Accompanied by Saturn’s liason, Wahrum, Swan travels to Io where she learns that Alex had a plan to revivify a moribund Earth.  Alex was also worried that the quantum computers (qubes) that run everything appeared to be going rogue.  Another of Alex’s friends, Inspector Genette, enlists Swan’s help as he tries to complete the investigation he started with Alex.  On a visit to Earth, Swan arranges for a kid named Kiran to escape his dreary life (the reader knows, of course, that Kiran will eventually reappear and play a crucial role in the story) before she returns to Mercury, where either a natural disaster or (more likely) a devastating attack briefly energizes the novel.

The energy, unfortunately, fizzles out, reigniting in spurts from time to time but never sustaining.  When the plot moves along -- when things happen -- 2312 is an imaginative and entertaining novel.  When, for long stretches, nothing happens, 2312 is a mediocre novel.  Most of the text in the initial three-quarters of the book does little to advance the plot.  It’s a long slog through a deep bog to get to the final quarter where the story finally comes into focus.

Throughout his career, Robinson has demonstrated a tendency to explain his many thoughts -- ranging from physics and geology to economics and politics -- at length, resulting in novels that are needlessly wordy.  That’s the primary fault that weakens 2312.  I often had the impression that Robinson was worried that his plot would get in the way of his ideas so he relegated plot development to the last few chapters.  I also had the impression that Robinson was more interested in showing off his considerable knowledge than in telling a tight, compelling story.  Knowledge, like worldbuilding, is fine, but tedious discussions of seemingly random ideas that do little to advance the plot reflect a sort of self-indulgence that detracts from the novel.

Robinson doesn’t write with literary flair; sometimes, in fact, his prose reads like a dry textbook.  Explanatory sections of the novel entitled “excerpts” are a thinly disguised excuse for the sort of expository pontification that kills a fictional narrative.  Fortunately, most of them are mercifully short.  Robinson also throws in a few meaningless lists (e.g., names of craters … who cares?).  Breaking up the narrative with these frequent digressions seriously disrupts the story’s flow.

Swan is the only character with any personality at all.  Robinson takes a stab at human emotion by putting Wahrum and Swan together, but the effort isn’t convincing, and the sex scenes (complicated by extra parts) are more silly than passionate.  Robinson is clearly more comfortable with ideas than people.

For all the worldbuilding, Robinson is at his best when he focuses on Earth as it exists three hundred years from now.  His vision is bleak but credibly grounded in environmental, political, and economic trends.  Even here, however, his writing sometimes devolves into a scolding lecture.  Some of his chapters would make excellent essays or editorials; as fiction, they too disconnected from plot or characterization to be riveting.

Alex’s creative version of a revolution and an imaginative means of launching an interstellar attack give the novel its best moments.  A shorter, tighter novel that focused on those elements would have been a great read.  As it stands, 2312 leaves the reader drowning in ideas and fails to deliver a truly engrossing story.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie

Published by Bloomsbury USA on April 24, 2012

Sidney Chambers is an unlikely detective. As the vicar of the Church of St. Andrew and St. Mary in Grantshire, he is more comfortable hearing confessions than seeking them out, but crime seems to have a way of chasing him. The first volume in a projected series of six collectively known as "The Grantchester Mysteries," Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death is really a series of connected stories, each with its own title, rather than a typical novel. Recurring characters include Sidney's good friend Inspector Keating, his sister Jennifer, the close female friend, Amanda Kendall, with whom he dances around the topic of romance, his surly housekeeper and his pious curate. The stories are these:

"The Shadow of Death" - Shortly after Sidney presides over Stephen Staunton's funeral following Staunton's suicide in 1953, Pamela Morton takes Sidney aside and declares her belief that Staunton, with whom she had been having an affair, had been murdered. All the while wondering why he's getting involved, Chambers chats with various suspects. Along the way Chambers manages to tipple a bit of whiskey despite everyone's assumption that he would prefer sherry. This proves to be fortuitous as whiskey furnishes the first significant clue to the best mystery in the book.

"A Question of Trust" - An engagement ring presented at a New Year's Eve dinner party disappears. The mystery makes for pleasant but unexciting reading.

"First, Do No Harm" - A woman promises her mother that she will not marry while her mother is still alive. When the mother's death coincides with the woman's engagement, Sidney suspects foul play while finding time to ponder the ethics of euthanasia. There is very little mystery in this one.

"A Matter of Time" - When Sidney goes to a jazz club, a friend's sister is strangled during the drum solo. The murderer, like everyone else in these stories, turns out to be quite well mannered.

"The Lost Holbein" - A rare portrait has been stolen and replaced with a forgery. This story puts Amanda in the forefront of tracking down the wrongdoer, leaving Sidney to come to her rescue. A predictable yarn and again, not much of a mystery.

"Honourable Men" - Sidney takes a minor role in Julius Caesar. On opening night, the actor playing Caesar is actually stabbed to death. The story strives for social relevance but Sidney's attitudes, far ahead of their time, seem artificial. Despite its preposterous set-up, the story at least presents a mystery, albeit one that is easily solved.

This is a gentle, civilized book, filled with conversation and thought rather than gun battles and thrilling escapes. Sidney spends as much time fretting about being a better priest as he does solving mysteries. Perhaps a more religiously observant reader will relate to Sidney's internal struggles, but he seems like such a squeaky clean guy that I had difficulty understanding his anxiety. I agree with much of Sidney's overriding philosophy -- his respect for privacy, his belief that "we must think the best of people" -- but a pleasant state of mind does not suffice to make a character interesting.

The stories may appeal to fans of cozy mysteries; Sidney is likable and the text is free of profanity. For my taste, the stories are a bit dull. Perhaps the characters, including most of those who are supposed to be sinister, are just too nice. Instead of a police procedural we're given a clergyman procedural detailing the life of a determinedly unexciting vicar. His work, his love of jazz, and his chaste admiration of Amanda Kendall might be enough to fill his life but they do little to ward off the reader's drowsiness. More problematic is that most of the stories fail to meet the test of a good mystery; they are just too easy to solve.

James Runcie writes in a low-key style that is fluid, sometimes elegant, occasionally stuffy, and too often long-winded. He doesn't quite know when a story should end, or he feels the need to give Sidney yet another chance to sermonize. Given my admiration of Runcie's prose, I am sorry that I cannot give Sidney Chambers my wholehearted recommendation. The stories simply lack the kind of tension that a mystery should deliver, and they don't succeed as character-driven literature, although they try to be both.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS 

Ménage by Alix Kates Shulman

Published by Other Press on May 15, 2012 

Zoltan Barbu, former dissident and dried-up writer who, in his better days, was lovingly reviewed by Susan Sontag, meets Allerton "Mack" McKay at the funeral of Maja Stern. Maja was Zoltan's lover before she committed suicide, an act that thwarted Mack's plan to seduce her. Mack and Zoltan go to dinner together and the confrontational Zoltan quickly exposes Mack's innermost secret: his fear that he is a fraud, an imposter undeserving of the success he has achieved. Hoping that Zoltan will show him "how to live honestly," Mack invites Zoltan, who is on the verge of homelessness, to live with him. Mack also believes that bringing home a writer will be "a major coup" in his ongoing struggle to impress his wife and improve his marriage. He hopes that Zoltan's presence will "fill the void" in his wife's life while he is gone from home.

Mack's wife Heather suspects Mack is having an affair with Maja ... or if not Maja, with someone. Heather's many resentments include her decision to quit her position as an assistant editor to become a stay-at-home mom (with the help of a nanny and maid), thus diminishing her "power" as Mack's increased. She wants to write but she can't summon "the will to work." Heather initially welcomes the arrival of Zoltan (like the death of Maja) as a needed boost to revitalize her marriage, or her writing career, or at least her sex life. She quickly enough comes to regret Mack's decision to invite Zoltan into her house.

Zoltan's promise to teach Mack and Heather the secrets of life is arguably fulfilled by the novel's end, although not in ways that Mack and Heather anticipate. Therein lies the charm of this character-driven novel. Zoltan is something of a fraud, ill-equipped to teach anything to anyone, while Mack and Heather are incapable of recognizing the lessons they should have learned.

The characters in Ménage are not particularly sympathetic although Zoltan is likable enough in a roguish way. Zoltan, the self-defined exile, spends most of his time feeling sorry for himself instead of writing. He has a low opinion of women (all of whom, he thinks, are conspiring against him), but fails to consider whether he might be responsible for their reaction to him. Heather is a rather demanding drama queen. Mack is utterly self-absorbed.

Alix Kates Shulman's biting characterizations of Zoltan and Mack a bit heavy-handed. It is difficult to believe that Zoltan, who seems comfortable in the progressive environs of LA and New York, would regard women as property, as if he were a throwback to an earlier generation ... or century. Even more problematic is Mack, a wealthy philanderer with an enormous ego, the kind of smug, deliberately shallow character who makes an easy target. Shulman failed to convince me that Mack was a real person rather than a foil for Heather, although as a foil he is a useful character.

While Shulman's portrayal of the relationship between Mack and Heather is uninspired, the dynamic between Zoltan and Heather is more interesting. Zoltan is not well positioned to fill the void in Heather's life. He is convinced of an "irreconcilable difference" between men and women: Zoltan needs solitude, women need company; what Zoltan sees as intrusiveness women regard as sharing. That conviction is sharpened by Heather's clinginess. Moreover, Zoltan is confused by American women -- they "routinely objected to being valued for their sex yet shamelessly put themselves forward" -- and by the American husbands who "allow themselves to be led around by the nose by their outrageous wives." Zoltan is reflexively flirtatious with all women and Heather is something of a literary groupie, so it comes as no surprise when Heather puts herself forward to Zoltan. Nor is it surprising when she becomes suspicious and jealous, ultimately reacting to Zoltan as she does to her husband. Although Zoltan is an entertaining caricature, Heather felt very real to me.

I admire Shulman's prose style, particularly her precise attention to word choice. Her good-natured mocking of New York's literary scene and of the pretentious class is priceless. She pokes fun at writers who, like Zoltan and Heather, don't really write, who succumb to (or invent) distractions rather than practicing their craft. More importantly, her skillful depiction of a husband and wife as manipulators who use a third party to jockey for a better position in their marriage is deliciously acerbic. Despite my reservations about the cartoonish depictions of Mack and Zoltan, their three-way interaction with Heather is sufficiently entertaining, and Shulman's prose sufficiently keen, to make it easy for me to recommend this novel.

RECOMMENDED

As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson

Published by Viking on May 15, 2012

Sheriff Walt Longmire is on a reservation in Montana scouting a potential location for his daughter's wedding when a woman plummets to her death from a nearby cliff. Rather miraculously, a baby she is holding survives the fall. Unless the woman committed suicide (and nobody believes she would take her baby with her), the woman's no-good drunken husband is the obvious murder suspect, but Walt isn't so sure. Longmire is outside of his jurisdiction, so the crime will be investigated either by the tribal Chief of Police, Lolo Long, or the FBI. That doesn't stop Longmire from playing an active role. Another murder removes its victim from his list of suspects, deepening the mystery of the killer's identity.

Despite (or because of) her beauty, Lolo has a seriously large buffalo chip on her shoulder, a fact that contributes about half of the story's considerable comic relief. Longmire takes it upon himself to give Lolo some (mostly unwelcome) professional advice and on-the-job training. At the same time, everything that can go wrong does as Longmire tries to make arrangements for his daughter's wedding, providing another source of amusement. Laughs aside, Craig Johnson writes scenes of family dynamics that are sweet and touching without ever becoming melodramatic.

As the Crow Flies is a better-than-average mystery written in an easy, breezy style that mixes mild intrigue with gentle humor. Johnson doesn't rely on chase scenes or machismo-laden heroes to carry the story. Longmire doesn't provoke confrontations to prove his toughness, nor does he have the mindless "zero tolerance" attitude toward crime that too often characterizes fictional law enforcement officers. He is, in fact, more likely to tell someone to stop being stupid than he is to arrest them for foolish behavior. His self-deprecating remarks and laid-back attitude make him a likable character. The other series regular who plays a large role in As the Crow Flies, Henry Standing Bear, is equally likable. All the characters have unique personalities; even minor characters are believable.

The story's many plot threads all tie together nicely at the end. I wasn't able to identify the killer although a more astute reader might have better luck. Longmire's experiences as he pursues the investigation are as engaging as the mystery itself. The novel's most interesting section involves a Cheyenne religious ceremony in which Longmire is invited to participate. It is rare in a suspense novel for an upright hero to ingest peyote. Johnson's description of Longmire's hallucinatory experience is both respectful and fascinating. Longmire's vision, of course, helps him solve the crime, and if that's a bit farfetched, it is no less entertaining.

In short, As the Crow Flies provides a thoroughly pleasurable reading experience. It isn't necessary to read the earlier books in the Longmire series to appreciate this one, but reading this one might prompt readers to search out the previous installments.

RECOMMENDED