Set in the not too distant future, this story unfolds mostly in New York City. Lenny Abramov is struggling. A nice guy, he’s hopelessly in love with Eunice Park. She’s not sure about Lenny though. He’s facing money problems, self-esteem issues and a crazy boss. New York is on the verge of a meltdown. In this darkly hilarious future, the USA is a debtor nation on the verge of being acquired by a Norwegian hedge fund.
“Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter” by Tom Franklin (William Morrow, 274 pages, $24.99)
Sometimes when you least expect it a book will lift you up, then deposit you back into your chair, smiling. This is a story of friendship. Larry Ott and Silas Jones grew up in a rural Mississippi town then went separate ways. Years pass. Silas is the town cop. Larry runs a service station. Ott was once a suspect in a case in which a young woman vanished, and was never seen again. Another woman is missing. Tom Franklin finishes this peach of a novel wickedly.
“Dead Like You” by Peter James (Minotaur Books, 554 pages, $25.99)
These police procedurals set in the English city of Brighton feature Detective Superintendent Roy Grace. James switches time frames between crimes 12 years ago and a current crime spree. The first group of rape victims were all wearing expensive high-heeled shoes. That rapist was known as “Shoe Man.” A dozen years later a rapist is again stalking women wearing designer shoes. Has “Shoe Man” returned? The surprise ending is classic.
“Three Stations” by Martin Cruz Smith (Simon & Schuster, 245 pages, $25.99)
This novel depicts a Russia where criminals converge at the terminus of three Moscow train stations. As the story opens, Maya, a 15-year-old, and her 3-week-old daughter are bound for Moscow on a train. When it arrives she wakes up to discover that her baby is gone. This is just one of many plot threads twisted together here. When a prostitute is found dead in a nearby trailer the police write it off as just another random murder. Investigator Arkady Renko thinks otherwise. This novel is so artfully composed that you might wonder how the author will ever pull all his disparate story lines together.
“Faithful Place” by Tana French (Viking, 400 pages, $25.95)
Frank Mackey loves Rosie Daly. They decide to elope, to escape their lives in a slum in Dublin, Ireland. But Rosie never showed up. Frank moved on with his life. Twenty-five years pass. Frank is now a Dublin cop who tries to avoid his family and his troubled past. He is called back to the old neighborhood to investigate a possible crime. He is reluctant to go there. Then he finds out what really became of Rosie. This murder could be a family affair.
Vick Mickunas interviews authors every Friday at 1:30 p.m. and on Sundays at 11 a.m. on WYSO-FM (91.3). For more information, visit www.wyso.org/BookNook.html. Contact him at vick@vickmickunas.com.
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