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G. Robert Frazier

NonfictionAudio

New Yorkers

Review by G. Robert Frazier

“Part of loving New York is just mourning the hell out of it.” With lines like that, you can’t help but listen to the treasure trove of rich stories compiled in Craig Taylor’s New Yorkers: A City and Its People in Our Time (14 hours). 

The author of a similar compendium of stories of life across the big pond, Londoners, Taylor spent six years interviewing 180 New Yorkers, some briefly, some over the course of several years, filling 71 notebooks and more than 400 hours of recordings. Steering clear of publicists and government officials to avoid familiar talking points, Taylor sought out New Yorkers from every walk of life to tell their stories and to share their place in the city, ranging from mothers and nurses to window washers. 

The audiobook brings this “profusion of voice in New York” even further into the realm of oral history, with a cast that includes such New Yorkers as Catherine Ho, Luis Moreno and more. “This city barged into conversations,” Taylor says. With that kind of attitude, you’ll have no choice but to listen in.

Read our review of the print version of New Yorkers.

“This city barged into conversations,” Craig Taylor says about New Yorkers. With that kind of attitude, you’ll have no choice but to listen in.
FictionFamily Drama

Olympus, Texas

Review by G. Robert Frazier

J.R. Ewing, the man everyone loves to hate in the classic TV series “Dallas,” may have finally met his match. When it comes to lying, cheating and scandals, the Briscoe family in Stacey Swann’s jaw-dropping debut, Olympus, Texas, gives him a run for his money.

Each character in the expansive clan has his or her own secrets, extramarital pursuits and jealous rages, making it hard to keep everything straight without a set of cue cards. To sum up the worst offenders: March Briscoe suffered a two-year exile from the town of Olympus after an affair with his brother Hap’s wife; Peter Briscoe, the family patriarch, fathered three children outside his marriage, including twins Artie and Arlo; June Briscoe, Peter’s wife and mother to Hap and March, is enamored by local veterinarian Cole; and Artie is attracted to Arlo’s former bandmate Ryan, whom she accidentally shoots while on a hunting trip.

And that’s just for starters. March’s return home to Olympus sets off a chain of events as tragic as any caused by the mythological gods. Right out of the gate, March is involved in a knockdown brawl with Hap, picking up where their feud left off two years ago.

No one here is innocent, likable or without secrets worth savoring, making Swann’s book all the more enticing. Cole best sums up the family’s scandalous ways when he asks June, “When’s the last time you did something without thinking?” The answer, it seems, is that none of them is guilty of overthinking anything—or thinking at all, for that matter.

As the novel races from one indiscretion to another at lightning speed, fans of mythology will enjoy spotting the tragic parallels between Swann’s characters and the Greek and Roman gods. (March is clearly Mars, for example.) Swann’s prose is deeply descriptive and her characters heartfelt, but it all boils down to whether anyone in this family can get past their selfish feelings, unrestrained passions and bottled-up anger long enough to forgive each other.

A man’s return to his Texas hometown sets off a chain of events as tragic as any caused by the mythological gods.
FictionAudio

We Begin at the End

Review by G. Robert Frazier

British author Chris Whitaker creates a memorable sense of place in his novel We Begin at the End (10.5 hours), set in a small coastal California town populated by heartfelt characters in search of personal redemption.

Part crime drama and part coming-of-age tale, the novel centers on three characters: police chief Walk, his childhood friend Vincent and tough-talking 13-year-old Duchess. The connections between them can be traced back 30 years, when 15-year-old Vincent killed Duchess’ aunt. In the present, their tragic stories become further entwined in “a spiderweb of hurt” when Duchess’ drug-addicted mother is murdered soon after Vincent’s release from prison.

American actor George Newbern’s clear, unhurried and remarkably smooth narration proves to be the ideal match for Whitaker’s lyricism and layered plotting, evoking a deep sense of angst, tragedy and ultimately hope.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our starred review of the print version of We Begin at the End.

American actor George Newbern’s clear, unhurried narration proves to be the ideal match for Chris Whitaker’s lyricism.
Science Fiction & FantasyHorror

Whisper Down the Lane

Review by G. Robert Frazier

If you aren’t sure what kind of experience you’ll be getting when you crack open Whisper Down the Lane, the first chapter will cast aside any uncertainty. Within just a few pages you’ll have gotten enough shocking violence, overwhelming fear and psychological intrigue to keep you hooked for hours.

Inspired in part by the real-life McMartin preschool trial—in which members of the McMartin family who operated a preschool in Manhattan Beach, California, were charged with sexual abuse of children, which in turn gave rise to a national panic over satanic ritual abuse—the novel follows similar circumstances, although in a highly fictionalized way. Author Clay McLeod Chapman alternates chapters from the perspectives of Sean, a kindergartener in 1983 Greenfield, Virginia, and Richard, a teacher living 30 years later in Danvers, Virginia, where he and his wife are raising his stepson, Elijah. As you might expect, their stories are inextricably linked, and everything starts when Sean, influenced by his mother’s paranoia, tells a lie that will change his entire world.

Part of the novel’s chilling effectiveness comes from its portrayal of the detectives assigned to Sean’s case and how their leading questions ultimately result in Sean saying what they want him to say, resulting in the unfair and undeserved persecution of Sean’s teacher on suspected sexual offenses. Chapman pulls no punches, revealing how the simplest of misrepresentations can result in a sort of mass hysteria against someone, just as it did in the real-life McMartin era.

Sean changed his name when he grew older to put his past behind him, but now, as Richard, he is haunted by his past lies and the psychological fallout of those lies. When his school’s rabbit mascot is found brutally slain on the soccer field, it sets off a thrilling chain of events that sets his past and present on a collision course.

While most of the novel is enmeshed in psychological thrills and foreboding, its depictions of ritualistic animal slayings are graphic, unnerving and not for the easily squeamish. The contrast between grim unease and startling violence only serves to heighten the chills. Chapman, who ironically writes both children’s books and horror novels, combines the two mediums in masterful style, just as a certain Maine-based author does with his horror novels.

If you aren’t sure what kind of experience you’ll be getting when you crack open Whisper Down the Lane, the first chapter will cast aside any uncertainty.

FictionLiterary Fiction

The Committed

Review by G. Robert Frazier

The much-anticipated sequel to Viet Thanh Nguyen’s 2016 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Sympathizer, The Committed invites debate through its complex portrayal of political alignments, racial identity and, as the narrator admits, selfish flaws. It’s richly layered with philosophical arguments and intellectual ideas, as well as a small but engrossing dose of criminal thrills.

The Committed follows its narrator, a Vietnamese refugee and former spy known only as “the Captain,” and his “blood brother” and best friend, Bon, after their “reeducation” in a refugee camp at the end of The Sympathizer. The Captain and Bon are adjusting to life in 1980s Paris. Working at a restaurant and living among a burgeoning population of Vietnamese immigrants, the Captain ruminates on the differences between communism and global capitalism, going so far as to embrace capitalism in one of its most complicated forms, as a drug dealer. As unexpected as his new role is, the Captain embraces it with the same ease with which he embraced his ability to lie as a spy.

The Captain’s close association with a French Vietnamese woman gives him access to a wealthier and more influential class of clientele for his newfound business enterprise. But at the same time, he finds himself drifting further from Bon, who is seeking more idealistic pursuits. As the Captain puts it, he finds himself in “a place where I could watch myself becoming more about me and me alone, the best justification there was for capitalism.”

While it is helpful—and should be a prerequisite based on its Pulitzer Prize status alone—it isn’t necessary to read The Sympathizer to become enmeshed in the pages of The Committed. Reminiscent of John Le Carré’s deeply textured spy novels, The Committed proves Nguyen is no one-hit wonder when it comes to fine literature.

The much-anticipated sequel to Viet Thanh Nguyen’s 2016 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Sympathizer, The Committed invites debate through its complex portrayal of political alignments, racial identity and, as the narrator admits, selfish flaws.
Mystery & SuspenseSuspense

The Mercenary

Review by G. Robert Frazier

Author Paul Vidich has once again proved his mastery of the espionage thriller with his edge-of-your-seat novel The Mercenary, which marks Vidich's fourth foray into the world of spies and intrigue.

Former CIA agent Aleksander Garin is recruited to help a senior KGB operative, known by the code name GAMBIT, escape from Moscow to Czechoslovakia. But there is a catch: He must also smuggle out GAMBIT’s wife and son.

To prove his worth and earn his freedom, GAMBIT is tasked with smuggling top-secret communiqués and papers to Garin. With the watchful eyes of the KGB and Russian loyalists all around him, the job is fraught with danger. As Vidich writes, “The lies had been harder to keep up, and he’d struggled to keep the layers of deception straight, knowing that a single mistake could be fatal.”

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Paul Vidich shares why he thinks the Cold War continues to fascinate readers.

When Garin becomes romantically interested in former Russian ballerina Natalya, who now works for the KGB, the risks multiply exponentially. Garin struggles with whom he can trust, including his contacts at the American Embassy, who have their own suspicions about Garin's loyalties and about his handler, CIA Station Chief George Mueller, who was previously expelled from Russia after a failed mission.

The Mercenary is fast paced and action packed, but Vidich lingers long enough to allow readers to experience Garin’s emotional highs and lows. In that regard, the novel deservedly draws comparisons to John le Carré’s tales of the intrepid spy George Smiley.

Author Paul Vidich has once again proved his mastery of the espionage thriller with the edge-of-your-seat novel The Mercenary, which marks his fourth foray into the world of spies and intrigue.

Mystery & SuspenseSuspense

Pickard County Atlas

Review by G. Robert Frazier

When homesteader Dell Reddick Sr. decides to purchase a headstone for the son he lost 17 years ago, painful memories among his family members set into motion a series of events he could never have predicted. Swept up in the family ordeal is Deputy Sheriff Harley Jensen, who may be the only one who can restore the peace—if his own passions for one of the family don’t get in the way. Chris Harding Thornton unravels the intrigue and suspense in meticulously detailed fashion in her solid debut novel, Pickard County Atlas.

Set in 1978, the story takes place in the titular rural Nebraska county, where large tracts of farmland have been named after the people who lived there. Homesteads—many of which have folded or been abandoned—stretch over hundreds of acres, a detail which Thornton cannily uses to evoke the isolation and lonely frustration that bears down upon the remaining residents.

Harley is initially called to investigate a series of unusual thefts of clothing and other items from the homes of the recently deceased, as well as evidence of trespassing at other abandoned homes. One such excursion brings him in contact with Paul Reddick, the younger brother of Dell Jr., whose body was never found after he was killed in 1960 by Korean War veteran Rollie Asher.

Paul is no stranger to the law, as he has been in and out of jail on drug-related charges. Harley tries to go easy on him, knowing the trauma that Paul and his family have experienced. But when it becomes clear that both Paul and Harley are attracted to Paul’s older brother Rick’s wife, Pam, events build toward a confrontation for which neither is prepared.

Pickard County Atlas takes its time; there is no real sense of urgency or high stakes confronting Harley or any of the other characters. The closest thing to a central mystery is the weird series of thefts and break-ins. But Thornton, herself a seventh-generation Nebraskan, describes the landscape and interactions of the characters in such starkly realistic detail, you cannot help but get wrapped up in the novel’s noirish atmosphere and slow-burning mystery.

When homesteader Dell Reddick Sr. decides to purchase a headstone for the son he lost 17 years ago, painful memories among his family members set into motion a series of events he could never have predicted.

FictionDystopian Fiction

The Captive

Review by G. Robert Frazier

One must wonder while reading Fiona King Foster’s first novel, who is truly the captive? Is it fugitive Stephen Cawley, who spends the majority of the novel bound with rope and twist-ties, or is it protagonist Brooke Holland, who seems trapped by her past misdeeds? There is no easy answer, which makes the novel so beguiling.

The Captive is part adventure novel and part crime novel, set in a dystopian landscape where cellphones, the internet and vehicles are available to only certain people, particularly those in Federal-run cities. We slowly learn that Brooke is hiding a dark past from even her husband, Milo, and daughters, Holly and Sal. When she gets word that Stephen and his gang may be in the area, she immediately goes on high alert, certain that he has tracked her down and come to exact his revenge on her.

Brooke gets the drop on Stephen when he shows up at her rural cranberry farm, quickly overpowering him. Afraid the rest of his clan might not be far behind, she mobilizes her family, and together they set out on a punishing hike over rugged terrain, traversing more than a hundred miles to the nearest town, where she can turn Stephen over to the sheriff’s office and collect the reward.

Foster keeps the tension high as Brooke refuses to reveal why Stephen is so dangerous and why she is so hellbent on bringing him to justice. You have to admire Brooke’s determination and sense of concern for her family, but also Milo’s ability to keep it together as he tries to support Brooke and quell the kids’ simmering rebellion over her lack of answers. This initial stonewalling is, admittedly, a bit frustrating for readers as well, but as a credit to Foster’s writing, she effectively keeps readers in suspense all the way through.

One must wonder while reading Fiona King Foster’s first novel, who is truly the captive? Is it fugitive Stephen Cawley, who spends the majority of the novel bound with rope and twist-ties, or is it protagonist Brooke Holland, who seems trapped by her past misdeeds? There is no easy answer, which makes the novel so beguiling.

FictionWesternDystopian Fiction

Outlawed

Review by G. Robert Frazier

This ain’t no Louis L’Amour tale of the Wild West. Outlawed, the third novel by Anna North, is a gender-bending, genre-hopping yarn that’s part frontier novel, part Handmaid’s Tale and all ripsnorting fun.

North’s tale is set in a world in which women are expected to procreate and are persecuted if they don’t. Furthermore, a devastating flu-like illness has killed nine out of every 10 people. The women who survive and remain fruitful, it’s said, will be spared further sickness. Unfortunately, 18-year-old Ada, who assists her mother as a midwife, fails to bear a child for her husband after a year of marriage. Accused of witchcraft, she flees to a convent to atone for her “sin” but then learns of a place that may be more fitting, known as the Hole in the Wall.

It turns out to be less of a place and more of a cultlike gang of fellow outcast women. The leader of the group, who is regarded as “Not he, not she,” but simply the Kid, promises to build a nation of the “dispossessed, where we would not be barren women, but kings.” At first Ada is received with suspicion and skepticism, but when the Kid needs a doctor, her skills as a midwife and familiarity with medicines make her a useful addition to their clique. Before long, the Kid becomes a mentor figure to Ada, teaching her to ride, shoot and fight, while preaching the gospel of Christianity.

The novel takes its time in establishing the world and its characters, in particular Ada’s place in her new nonbinary world. But once the setup is complete, North picks up the pace with the Kid’s plan to rob a bank and, in doing so, take over an entire town. Ada becomes the tiebreaking vote among the gang in favor of the Kid’s plans, giving way to more customary Western shootout action against the sheriff who has been pursuing Ada from the start.

North, a renowned journalist who won a 2016 Lambda Literary Award for her novel The Life and Death of Sophie Stark, easily subverts expectations as her characters struggle to find their identites in a patriarchal world.

This ain’t no Louis L’Amour tale of the Wild West. Outlawed, the third novel by Anna North, is a gender-bending, genre-hopping yarn that’s part frontier novel, part Handmaid’s Tale and all ripsnorting fun.

Mystery & SuspenseMysteryHistorical Mystery

Fortune Favors the Dead

Review by G. Robert Frazier

Debut author Stephen Spotswood’s Fortune Favors the Dead introduces us to detective Lillian Pentecost and her right-hand woman/chronicler, Willowjean Parker, a mid-1940s pair that resembles a gender-swapped Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin.

Their investigation into the murder of prominent New York City matriarch Abigail Collins—found with her head bashed in inside her late husband’s locked-from-the-inside study—almost takes a back seat to the intrepid detectives themselves. Willow grew up with a traveling circus, and Lillian suffers from multiple sclerosis, making them as instantly intriguing as any classic detective tandem, whether it be Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson or the aforementioned Wolfe and Goodwin.

Written with witty prose, Fortune Favors the Dead is and often humorous and fun—nowhere near the stuffy analytical voice of Dr. Watson. Instead, with its cast of suspects (all conveniently listed at the start of the book to help readers keep track), it has the hallmarks of an Agatha Christie mystery, and there’s a delightful dose of noir thrown in for the more hardcore pulp fiction crowd, too. All the tried and true methods of detection are evident here, as Willow follows cagey suspects (including a mysterious medium/spiritualist and a cynical university professor) around the city and interviews everyone from the family of the deceased to the waitstaff. There’s even a local police detective who begrudgingly accepts Lillian’s involvement in the case against his better judgment, a la Inspector Lestrade.

Oh, and that case they’re working on? It’s as mysterious and fun a caper as you will ever read, with plenty of misdirection and intrigue to keep you guessing. You don’t need a clairvoyant to realize this duo will be around for years to come.

This historical mystery introduces detective Lillian Pentecost and her right-hand woman/chronicler, Willowjean Parker, a mid-1940s pair that resembles a gender-swapped Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin.
Mystery & SuspenseSuspense

A Time for Mercy

Review by G. Robert Frazier

With nationwide calls for police reform and defunding, literary giant John Grisham’s novel A Time for Mercy is undoubtedly timely, as it explores the ways that violence committed by or against law enforcement officials can complicate the pursuit of justice.

Jake Brigance—the hero of Grisham’s 1989 debut, A Time to Kill—is court-appointed to represent 16-year-old Drew Gamble in the shooting death of his mother’s boyfriend, deputy sheriff Stu Kofer. There’s no question that Drew pulled the trigger, but Jake faces an ethical challenge over whether the shooting was justified. Drew contends that he shot Stu in self-defense after believing Stu had killed his mother. Drew, his younger sister and their mother lived in constant fear of beatings by Stu, who often returned home in a drunken stupor.

Jake only wants to handle preliminary matters for the Gamble case until a permanent public defender can be appointed. But deep down, he realizes he’s the best chance the Gamble family has. With public sentiment and fellow police officers standing behind Stu and his family, Jake’s efforts to keep Drew from being tried as an adult and facing possible execution put him at odds with the community.

While there are lulls during some of the legal procedural bits, Grisham’s mastery of the courtroom thriller is never in question. As usual, he presents as smooth a read as you’ll ever experience. The dialogue is sharp and pointed, layered with genuine emotions that make the characters pop off the pages of this morally complex story.

With nationwide calls for police reform and defunding, literary giant John Grisham’s novel A Time for Mercy is undoubtedly timely, as it explores the ways that violence committed by or against law enforcement officials can complicate the pursuit of justice.

Mystery & SuspenseMysteryHistorical Mystery

Murder on Cold Street

Review by G. Robert Frazier

Whether you are a longtime Sherlock Holmes aficionado or a fan of Victorian-era mysteries, you will be happy to know that Holmes’s sister, Charlotte, has returned for another adventure. This time, Charlotte, more affectionately known as Lady Sherlock, must prove her longtime friend Inspector Treadles innocent of a double murder in which he was found with the murder weapon inside a locked room with not one, but two, victims.

For those unfamiliar with the female Holmes—Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas marks the fifth in the series—there’s something you should know: In this world, Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character and Charlotte is the true detective. She pretends that Sherlock is her bedridden brother and that she is acting on his behalf as his eyes and ears on any cases at hand. It’s the only way for a woman to do a man’s job, particularly if said job involves outwitting and outsmarting men.

It is an arrangement that Treadles isn’t entirely happy to have learned about, though he maintains a close friendship with Charlotte and keeps her secret, since she has previously helped him on several investigations. His arrest makes this case even more personal for her.

But Treadles is less than forthcoming when asked to explain himself. He won’t say where he’s been in the two weeks prior to the murder; he won’t say what he was doing in the murder room; and he won’t defend himself. So, it falls on Lady Sherlock to piece together the clues and determine the truth.

One thing she suspects, however, is that Treadle’s wife, who has turned to Lady Sherlock for help, may be lying. For starters, she knew both victims: Mr. Longstead was a bookkeeper and longtime friend of her father and Mr. Sullivan was a resentful manager at the business she inherited.

In typical Holmesian fashion, Lady Sherlock and her close friends, including Mrs. Watson, pound the pavement for clues, interview witnesses and potential suspects and visit the scene of the crime for clues Scotland Yard is too inept to see.

Thomas, who is a USA Today bestselling author and two-time winner of Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award, masterfully handles all the ins and outs of the mystery while layering the story with suspense and intrigue to keep readers guessing. There’s even some of Thomas’ trademark romance in Cold Street, as Holmes and her longtime beau Lord Ingram move closer emotionally.

The game is afoot again. Only the names have changed.

In her fifth adventure, Lady Sherlock must prove her longtime friend Inspector Treadles innocent of a double murder in which he was found with the murder weapon inside a locked room with not one, but two, victims.
Fiction

Missionaries

Review by G. Robert Frazier

Phil Klay, who gave us the National Book Award-winning collection of short stories Redeployment, follows up with his first novel, Missionaries, about America’s unofficial war on Colombian guerillas, militias and drug cartels.

The novel, staggering in scope, follows four lead characters. Mason is a U.S. Army Special Forces operative turned liaison to the Colombian military who’s looking for a sense of purpose after serving long deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lisette is a foreign war journalist who has spent years covering the down and dirty horrors on the streets of Kabul and elsewhere. Juan Pablo, Mason’s attaché in Colombia, laments his role as mercenary. And Abel, a lieutenant in the Los Mil Jesus militia, saw his family butchered as a child but somehow managed to survive to take up his own position of power.

Before launching them on their eventual collision course, Klay introduces the foursome in alternating chapters over the first half of the book, diving years into the past as each character reflects on their lot in life. None of them really chose their path, but each is resigned to accept it one way or another. Even when they have a chance to walk away from it—to start fresh, as with Mason and Lisette—they are seemingly incapable of living a quieter, safer life.

Klay’s vividly descriptive yet lyrical prose keeps their stories interesting, though the novel is at its best when events cascade into occasional bursts of graphic violence. Klay, an Iraq War veteran, progressively ratchets up the unease throughout, which serves as a cautious warning of more intense violence to come.

Missionaries offers a starkly realistic view of a war-torn region only hinted at on the nightly news that, at times, makes Iraq’s and Afghanistan’s troubles pale by comparison. At the same time, the novel provides a powerful glimpse of the psychological toll of war and a close look at people’s desperate attempts to find their place amid utter chaos.

Phil Klay, who gave us the National Book Award-winning collection of short stories Redeployment, follows up with his first novel, Missionaries, about America’s unofficial war on Colombian guerillas, militias and drug cartels.

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