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Published October 20, 2005 at midnight

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Flight

By Ginger Strand (Simon & Schuster, 311 pages, $23).

Author's background: Strand's short fiction and essays have appeared in The Iowa Review and The Gettysburg Review, and she was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Plot in a nutshell: Flight is used literally and figuratively in this sensitive novel of family dynamics. Flying has consumed the life of Will Gruen, a pilot facing mandatory retirement, and flight in another sense has lurked in the minds of his wife, forced to re-locate at her husband's whims, and his two daughters who fled from their rural Michigan home — only to return for a family wedding.

Sample of prose: "Will had big thoughts and acted on them, with no regard for what anyone else might think. It was like that when he joined the Air Force...or when he bought the farm in Michigan, uprooting them from their nice suburb. Will was driven to re-make the world, for no better reason than that he could."

Author reminds me of: Jennie Starbridge and Louise Erdrich, who share Strand's ability to portray ordinary families with compassionate skill and graceful evocative style.

Best reason to read: Strand's poet's eye enables her to capture entire experiences and emotions with small, telling details. She has successfully plumbed the depths of the complex emotions swirling through the very modest, but engaging, Gruen family.

Joan Hinkemeyer

The Great Stink

By Clare Clark (Harcourt, 368 pages, $25).

Author's background: Clark lives in London and is married with two children.

Plot in a nutshell: In the mid-1800s, London is a mess. Sweeping the city are epidemics of diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid and cholera, largely because the city's drinking water is mostly drawn from the Thames, the same place where the city's waste is dumped. In essence, London is poisoning itself, as highly toxic gases rise from the sewers, corrupting the air people breathe.

Detail-oriented junior surveyor William May is called upon to help transform London's ineffectual sewer system into one of the engineering wonders of the world. But May has his own problems. He still suffers mightily from physical and mental injuries dealt on the battlefields of the Crimean War, from which he recently has returned. As May struggles with his sanity in the dark depths and disgusting stink of the underground, his life is disrupted by a murder of which he is accused.

May's mind is so fogged and confused at times that he isn't sure whether he is innocent or guilty. His wife Polly is becoming fearful of his strange actions and, at work, May is surrounded by unscrupulous men. The one person who offers the most help in solving the crime is Long Arm Tom, a dirt-poor Londoner who survives by scavenging small valuables that have fallen into the sewer system. The highly suspicious loner trusts no one but his dog Lady and prefers only to look out for himself.

Sample of prose: "Rawlinson glanced over his half-moon spectacles at the private in front of him, conscious for the thousandth time of the smooth sheen of his own black coat, the starched white of his collar. He had been in Russia almost two weeks and still it shocked him, the deplorable state of the men he encountered here. This one was a particularly sorry specimen. He was so spare that the bones seemed to shine white through the skin of his face and he trailed the thin sour reek of sickness and squalor. From what Rawlinson knew of the hospital arrangements the man would have been lucky to have seen a bath more than once in his three months at Scutari. His uniform fell in rags from the knobs of his shoulders, and his sandy hair and beard stuck out in grimy tufts around his face. He had, thought Rawlinson, the appearance of a lion too long in captivity. Beside him the rigid captain in his scarlet coat made a reluctant keeper. No doubt he would prefer an animal more reflective of his impeccable military bearing, a fine Arabian stallion, perhaps, or a Bengal tiger."

Author reminds me of: Stephen King, in her ability to craft a compelling scene through vivid writing, and of Charles Dickens, in the way she weaves London's grimy historic past into a riveting story filled with characters that reach out and touch you.

Best reason to read: If you can get past the unappealing title, this impressive novel offers a unique historic view of Victorian London that few Americans know. With the sewers as a surprising backdrop, Clark cleverly interlaces a dark world with highly flawed and fascinating people.

Verna Noel Jones

Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits

By Laila Lalami (Algonquin Books, 208 pages, $21.95).

Author’s background: Lalami was born and raised in Morocco. Her work has appeared in numerous journals, and she is best known for her literary blog; www.moorishgirl.com. She lives in Portland, Ore., with her husband and daughter.

Plot in a nutshell: From separate walks of life, four Moroccan main characters’ stories are linked in their desperation to illegally immigrate to Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar to find better employment and better conditions for themselves and their families. The book opens with the treacherous journey in a raft, and focuses on Faten, Noura, Halima and Aziz, then moves backwards to the events that brought them there.

The story follows their lives as they struggle to make their way in a strange land combating prejudice and squalor. As usual, when trying to escape one’s problems, other problems are created.

Sample of prose: "Larbi Amrani didn’t consider himself a superstitious man, but when the prayer beads that hung on his rearview mirror broke, he found himself worrying that this could be an omen. His mother had given him the sandalwood beads on his college graduation, shortly before her death, advising him to use them often and well. At first Larbi had carried the beads in his pocket, fingered them after every prayer, but as the years went by he’d used them with decreasing regularity, until one day they ended up as decoration in his car. Now they lay scattered, amber dots on the black floor mats."

Author reminds me of: The way T. C. Boyle was able to capture the plight and desperation of illegal immigrants, allowing the reader inside their heads and lives in his wonderful book The Tortilla Curtain.

Best reason to read: This well written "journal" is a reminder in spite of religious and cultural differences, we all have the same wants and needs under the skin — a timely topic in this age when the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina have taken center stage.

Justin Matott

The Mayor of Lexington Avenue

By James Sheehan (Yorkville, 420 pages, $14.95).

Author's background: Sheehan has been a trial lawyer in Tampa/St.Petersburg, Fla., for 28 years.

Plot in a nutshell:Characters from the past collide with characters from the present in this story that alternates between 1986 Florida, where a brutal murder takes place, and 1950s New York, where Jack Tobin — "The Mayor of Lexington Avenue" — and his childhood best friend Mikey run the hard streets.

In balmy Bass Creek, Fla., a young convenience store clerk name Rudy, with an IQ of 75, bumbles into the life of loose and seductive Lucy Ochoa, hoping to get a little action. She invites him to her house — only to suffer fatal consequences when her jealous lover sees Rudy leaving, slits her throat and skips town.

Police Detective Sergeant Wesley Brume arrives on the scene and, in his haste to make a name for himself, frames Rudy who eventually ends up on death row. During Rudy's 10-year stretch on death row, those who try to work on the case to uncover the truth and corruption keep turning up dead.

Enter Jack Tobin, now a very wealthy Miami lawyer, who is coincidentally moving to Bass Creek. Tobin gets involved in Rudy's case after realizing that his best friend in New York, Mikey, was Rudy's estranged biological father from whom he had grown distant. Jack owes Rudy's father a great debt because of indiscretions from childhood days. Thus, he's is compelled to wade in to save Rudy. Soon Jack is fighting a criminal lawyer who is mafia-connected and will do anything to get his clients off, including murder. Let the fireworks begin.

Sample of prose: "Cobb County was located at the northwest corner of Lake Okeechobee in the south central part of the state, where the word 'cracker' didn't refer to something you ate.

Author reminds me of: Early John Grisham mixed with a dash of David Baldacci's legal and character development and Patricia Cornwell's ability to move a story along at a brisk pace.

Best reason to read: Mayor tackles the controversial issue of capital punishment in a flawed legal system by putting a very human face on it. Sheehan could have resorted to a didactic position, but instead has drawn a thoughtful narrative with engaging characters and an engrossing plotline. This is the kind of novel you want to curl up with and read straight through — a fast paced, dandy debut!

Justin Matott

No Direction Home

By Marisa Silver (W.W. Norton, 288 pages, $23.95).

Author’s background: Silver is a Los Angeles film director who wrote Babes In Paradise, a critically acclaimed short story collection.

Plot in a nutshell: After their father abandons them, Caroline moves with her ten year-old twins to Los Angeles, to live with her mother and father. Caroline’s mother suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, her her father has hired Mexican immigrant Amador to help care for her.

Meanwhile, the twins’ half-sister, Marlene, and Amador’s young son, Rogelio, are also on journeys to fill the void their fathers have left. All paths lead to a single home in L.A., where each individual re-examines the meaning of family.

Sample of prose: "The dementia introduced itself gently over the past five years, then suddenly foisted itself upon her during the last nine months like a pushy party guest at one of those long-ago affairs, standing too close, demanding her attention. Her lifetime is cleaving open, and he is being allowed a glimpse inside the seams and chasms of her past. As Eleanor unravels her hidden history, he realizes that he does not know her or his marriage more emphatically, only more sadly.

Author reminds me of: Mona Simpson and Louise Erdrich, who also show us the many faces and bonds of family.

Best reason to read: Silver aptly and sensitively captures the small moments of life that comprise the whole. Her deft portrayal of the wise-beyond-their-ages children and the ailing grandmother lends a powerful poignancy to the story.

Joan Hinkemeyer



The Traveler

By John Twelve Hawks (Doubleday, 400 pages, $24.95).

Author’s background: The publisher reports that Hawks lives off the "grid" and apparently wishes to remain anonymous.

Plot in a nutshell: A secret society known as the Tabula aims to control mankind using the invisible technology surrounding the modern world — "the grid." In the past, the Tabula has attempted to eradicate Travelers (those who can travel to other dimensions a la Matrix-style out of body experiences) because of their threat to the grids goals. But they now believe that Travelers, almost extinct, can help them reach the next step of evolutionary and technological advances, and, thus, they must find the last two travelers and bring them in.

Meanwhile, a group known as the Harlequins are the protectors of the Travelers. Maya, who previously renounced her role as a Harlequin, is trying to live a normal life when her father summons her to Prague, and instructs her to leave her life in London and find the brothers who are now in grave danger and must be saved in order to save society. When a man intent on hunting the brothers for the Tabula follows Maya to the U.S., all hell breaks loose.

Sample of prose: "Vicki decided to make a fruit salad while Hollis fried grilled-cheese sandwiches. She liked standing at the counter and slicing up the strawberries. It was uncomfortable to sit next to Maya. The Harlequin looked exhausted, but she couldn’t seem to relax. Vicki thought that it would be painful to go through life always being ready to kill, always expecting to be attacked? ‘You told me a few things about Travelers when we were in the van,’ Gabriel said to Maya. ‘But what about the rest of it? Tell me about the Harlequins.’ Maya adjusted the cord on her sword’s carrying case. ‘Harlequins protect Travelers. That’s all you need to know.’

Author reminds me of: George Orwell meets the Matrix meets Minority Report meets Dean Koontz.

Best reason to read: In the same wondrous way Audrey Niffenegger (The Time Traveler’s Wife) allows readers to suspend disbelief and become fully engrossed in a fantastical novel, Hawks accomplishes the total immersion of his reader. His debut is a fast-paced, exciting thriller, postulating the potential of living in a high tech age, where government, business, and anyone else with enough of an interest can control your destiny and everyday life. Full of action, suspense, intriguing characters and numerous plot twists, this book will grip even those who don’t enjoy fantasy or speculative fiction.

Justin Matott



Twins

By Marcy Dermansky (Morrow, 304 pages, $21.95).

Author's background: Dermansky's short stories have appeared in numerous publications, including McSweeney's. She's a film critic for About.com and lives in Astoria, NY.

Plot in a nutshell: Twins Chloe and Sue tell their story in alternating voices, both struggling in very different ways with two-times the identity issues most teenagers face.

Chloe, the "golden" twin, is the object of Sue's obsession. Sue seethes in her growing brew of both worship and hatred of her sister. Sue is defiant, angry, anti-social and thinks "they" should be everything each other needs, excluding family, friends and any activities that may disturb their sanctuary relationship. As Chloe starts to move out socially, Sue acts out in bizarre ways. Chloe wants desperately to establish her own identity, causing Sue to increase in bizarre behavior.

The story includes the twins' rich, detached, divorcing lawyer paretns, who treat them interchangeably; a manipulative, aspiring and spoiled model; her famous basketball star father who takes an interest in Chloe; troublemaking boyfriends, and college students who add an unexpected dimension to Sue's life. Through the twins' journey toward adulthood, they strangely find their own "voices" by actually becoming interchangeable in some ways.

Samples of prose:(Sue): "School...had always been a disaster for me. I was in preschool the first time I got in trouble, for trying to color orange spots on the class hamster with a Magic Marker. But Chloe had always liked it. She had always been a Goody Two-shoes, climbing onto our kindergarten teacher's lap during story time. I hated school more than I hated Chloe. Kids called me queer because I liked to wear men's extra-large shirts. The kids sucked, the teachers sucked, the homework sucked."

Author reminds me of: Go Ask Alice's diary entries and the dysfunctional relationships on the HBO series Six Feet Under — compelling, dark and like a traffic accident that you try to look away from, only to find your gaze returning with odd fascination.

Best reason to read: This well-written book gives readers a voyeuristic, insiders' glimpse into the lives of not only twins, but teenagers. Though at times uncomfortable, the novel is comically and darkly entertaining.

Justin Matott