“Evening Road,” “All I’ve Done for You” and more
The Evening Road By Laird Hunt (Back Bay Books/little Brown)
Two women, one black the other white, set out on an August day in 1930 to witness the lynching of two black men in the Indiana town of Marvel. Their stories which are told separately although they intersect, are tales of a savage event that makes the two women delve into the complexities of their own lives.
Ottie Lee Henshaw, the white woman, is accompanied by her lecherous boss and her failure of a husband as they wend their way down the road, the trip interrupted by a black boy on a stolen bike, two dogs wearing neckties, a car accident, even busses filled with church-goers excited to see the hangings.
Meanwhile, Calla Destry, a black girl, also heads to Marvel, driving a bright yellow Dictator belonging to her foster parents. Sickened by the festivities , she drapes the Indiana flag around a mop and hangs it out the window of the courthouse. She’s confronted by incensed whites, who pursue her, as she cruises the back roads in search of her paramour.
Both women have secrets that are exposed layer by layer. Ottie guards a fear that threatens her marriage, while Calla seethes with anger as she deludes herself about love.
“The Evening Road,” written by University of Denver professor Laird Hunt, at times approaches literary slapstick, but it is really a tale of the dark side of humanity. You are struck from the first page at the brutality of carnival air that surrounds the vicious murder of two men. This is a strange, unset- tling work, based on a real event, the writing subtle and powerful. The result is a memorable piece of fiction.
All I’ve Done for You By Joanne Greenberg (Mcmania)
In her many novels, Joanne Greenberg has taken on a long list of topics, from mental illness to evangelical religion to the York, England, massacre of
Jews. Now, in “All I’ve Done For You,” she zeros in on revenge.
Lily Beausoleil commits suicide on the day of her retirement from a bank in Gold Flume, a Colorado mountain town that resembles Aspen or Crested Butte. Her family thinks she must have a fatal illness and wants to save them the trauma of taking care of her. But Lily has a darker motive that she slowly unveils as she floats over Gold Flume. The motive is revenge—revenge for the way the town treated her after her parents, both retarded, were killed in an accident. The good people of Gold Flume believe they took care of Lily, that she should be grateful. But Lily is tired of being grateful and for years has gotten back at them. Only a childhood friend, now a drunk, understands the burden of being grateful.
As Lily’s perfidy is unveiled, family and friends are horrified, oblivious to the motive for Lily’s secret life.
The tightly written story is told from the standpoint not only of the dead Lily but from her bewildered children and grandchildren, her friends, and those who thought they were her friends. “All I’ve Done for You” is an engaging tale of hypocrisy, of betrayal and revenge and ultimately of a daughter’s love.
Light It Up By Nick Petrie (Putnam)
Peter Ash is a former Marine suffering PTSD, when a friend asks him to help transport a shipment of marijuana money from a Denver grow house to the mountains. A previous shipment disappeared, along with two guards, one of them the son-in-law of the friend. In a wellplanned trap, professionals waylay the transport team of five men, murdering four of them. Ash the only survivor, kills five of the thieves and vows revenge on the one who escapes.
“Light It Up” is a thriller involving Ash, a mysterious friend named Lewis, who shows up in the nick of time with guns and legal help, and Ash’s girlfriend, June. Most of the action takes place in Denver, where Ash chases the bad guys down Colorado Blvd. to the zoo and around the City Park golf course, then has a shoot-out at a grow house on 45th and Havana.. He stays in a house in Capitol Hill (does anybody here really call it Cap Hill?) and drives into the mountains and stops on Interstate 70 past Lawson where there’s a gun shop. (Really?)
There’s plenty of action, and it’s fun to imagine it taking place in familiar territory.
Mister Tender’s Girl By Carter Wilson (Sourcebooks Landmark)
Life’s been pretty rough for Alice Hill. When she was 14, she was attacked and nearly killed by two friends who were inspired by the graphic novels produced by Alice’s father. The books featured a sinister character named Mr. Tender, who drove people to commit crimes to be rewarded with their hearts’ desires.
Alice barely survived and was taken to the U.S. by her mother. Now, her last name changed, Alice runs a coffee shop and has little to do with her self-pitying mom or her zonked-out brother. She thought she’d hidden her past until she’s contacted by “Mr. Interested,” whose name is an anagram of Mr. Tender. She discovers a website devoted to her with her new name and all the details of the stabbing. And it contains recent pictures of her.
Mr. Tender’s admonition is never trust anybody, and Alice is hampered by her paranoia, as the story goes through twists and turns. The stalker could be anybody from her tenant, Peter, to the twins who tried to kill her. They’ve been recently paroled. Then there’s their mother, who operates a New York bar and carries a frightening secret.
Written by Boulder author Carter Wilson, “Mister Tender’s Girl” is a frightening tale of a women persecuted by madness.