Gary's Corner - 2006

Before You Know Kindness

by Chris Bohjalian.

Three generations of the Seaton family have gathered at their summer home in New Hampshire for a season of swimming, tennis and badminton. Unfortunately, two events collide. John Seaton has a jammed deer rifle put away in the trunk of his car and his thirteen year-old niece; Charlotte McCullough desperately wants to be a grown-up. To make matters worse, Spencer McCullough, Charlotte's father is a member of a fanatic animal rights group, FERAL. This book is a tragedy full of secrets. John keeps secret his desire to hunt deer that are devouring the family's summer garden, something that Spencer would never countenance. Spencer's wife Catherine is bored with her marriage and alleviates this by flirting with younger men on the tennis court and hides other carnivorous needs by keeping slim jims in her purse. Charlotte and her cousin, Willow (John and Sara's daughter), keep secret their use of pot and beer on the night of the accident.

When Spencer is accidentally shot by Charlotte with the aforementioned jammed rifle she claims to be aiming at a deer, her motivations are never really clear. FERAL decides to initiate a lawsuit against the gun manufacture, even though it becomes clear that there is nothing wrong with the gun. As all the secrets come spilling out, it becomes clear that the central theme is that of a family in crisis.

Chris Bohjalian's novel is a book of superb and complicated characterizations. Each one crafted down to precise action and vocabulary from Seaton Matriarch, Nan, down to the myopic and sometimes venal lawyers at FERAL. All in all, it is a story of relationships and family brilliantly viewed through the microscope of crisis.

The Emperor of Ocean Park

by Stephan Carter.

Talcott Garland has got problems. His father, conservative giant, Oliver Garland, the emperor of Ocean Park, has just died of a heart attack. His sister, Mariah thinks that it is murder. Strange things begin happening. People start coming to Talcott about the "arrangements" which only he is supposed to know about, only he doesn't. His wife, Kimmer, is obsessed with getting a prominent judgeship and her mysterious and suspicious absences have become long and frequent. Talcott is being followed by more than one person, while people close to the judge start ending up dead. As he is dragged deeper into the mystery that is the judge's life and vendettas, his professorship at a prominent law school becomes precarious.

In addition to being a mystery, this is a sociological slice of life of upper-middle class African-Americans, or as the Garland family refers to themselves, "The Darker Nation." The action takes us from Washington D.C. to the college town of Elm Harbor to Martha's Vineyard.

As the clues are parceled out chapter by chapter, this book is a true mystery, fast-paced and erudite, which holds secrets until the last page. Surprise after surprise makes it impossible to put down.