With the tone of a vintage crime caper, this could be the first novel in a series starring Mize; there’s no chance of the...
What could be worse than being convicted of a crime you didn’t commit? The hero of Silva’s novel finds out almost the minute he ventures outside prison walls for the first time in seven years.
J.D. Mize isn’t what you’d call a lucky guy. When the son of a California state senator dies as the result of a barroom brawl in which he was involved, Mize finds himself in prison for seven long years. Now a parolee, he reports to the tough Delilah Jones every week. It doesn’t take him long to get into trouble, thanks to his ex-wife’s careless comments to the wrong people. Who could be a more perfect patsy than Mize when Michael Sirocco, a crooked businessman, wants Sen. Thackery dead? Just to make sure he’ll see things their way, Sirocco’s stooges kidnap Mize’s sister, Verna, and beat up the boss of his new love interest, Terry—and when that doesn’t do the trick, they frame him for Thackery’s murder. But they haven’t reckoned that a surprisingly resourceful Mize will do whatever it takes to rescue Verna. Mize is an endearing hero, whether he’s charming his hard-as-nails parole officer by getting her teenage son out of trouble, trying to warn the senator or turning the tables on Sirocco and his band of killers. Silva’s characters intrigue, and events move deftly from the prison to a hotel to Sirocco’s yacht and beyond. The book’s biggest drawback is the lack of believability of some plot points; in particular, the police seem no smarter than Keystone Kops in their pursuit of Mize. Silva doesn’t trust his readers enough not to continually remind them who Verna and Jones are, and lines like, “I have to go along while they’re holding Verna, my sister,” spoken to Mize’s ex-wife, no less, is just one example of the often-awkward dialogue. The short chapters often don’t work well; this isn’t a James Patterson page turner, so there’s rarely a good enough reason to break things up so often, particularly not in the middle of a scene.
With the tone of a vintage crime caper, this could be the first novel in a series starring Mize; there’s no chance of the poor guy staying out of trouble for long.Pub Date: May 29, 2012
ISBN: 978-1468089431
Page Count: 302
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Downbeat but often engaging poems and stories.
A slim volume of largely gay-themed writings with pessimistic overtones.
Poe (Simple Simon, 2013, etc.) divides this collection of six short stories and 34 poems into five sections: “Art,” “Death,” “Relationship,” “Being,” and “Reflection.” Significantly, a figurative death at the age of 7 appears in two different poems, in which the author uses the phrase “a pretended life” to refer to the idea of hiding one’s true nature and performing socially enforced gender roles. This is a well-worn trope, but it will be powerful and resonant for many who have struggled with a stigmatized identity. In a similar vein, “Imaginary Tom” presents the remnants of a faded relationship: “Now we are imaginary friends, different in each other’s thoughts, / I the burden you seek to discard, / you the lover I created from the mist of longing.” Once in a while, short story passages practically leap off of the page, such as this evocative description of a seedy establishment in Lincoln, Nebraska: “It was a dimly lit bar that smelled of rodent piss, with barstools that danced on uneven legs and made the patrons wonder if they were drunker than they thought.” In “Valéry’s Ride,” Poe examines the familial duties that often fall to unmarried and childless people, keeping them from forming meaningful bonds with others. In this story, after the double whammy of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hits Louisiana, Valéry’s extended family needs him more than ever; readers will likely root for the gay protagonist as he makes the difficult decision to strike out on his own. Not all of Poe’s main characters are gay; the heterosexual title character in “Mrs. Calumet’s Workspace,” for instance, pursues employment in order to escape the confines of her home and a passionless marriage. Working as a bookkeeper, she attempts to carve out a space for herself, symbolized by changes in her work area. Still, this story echoes the recurring theme of lives unlived due to forces often beyond one’s control.
Downbeat but often engaging poems and stories.Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5168-3693-2
Page Count: 120
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A volume of poetry that shines when focused on the author’s experiences of race and culture.
A collection speaks in part to the poet’s Mexican-American heritage.
In these multifaceted poems, Mexico-born, Houston-raised Salazar (Of Dreams and Thorns, 2017) explores general human themes like love and war in addition to specific experiences as a person of color. The book begins with a sensual meditation on desire, featuring luscious descriptions of a lover, from lips “moist like youth” to the body’s “softest velvet” slopes. The poems shift to odes to cultural icons like the Tejano star Selena and Mexican-German painter Frida Kahlo as well as occasion pieces honoring his brother’s 40th birthday and a friend’s mother’s memorial service. The author hits his stride when he delves into identity. In “I Am Not Brown,” he contemplates the societal implications of skin tone and his inability to fit into the rigid category of Caucasian or Latino. “For white and black and brown alike / Are slaves to history’s brush strokes,” he writes. “Grateful for the Work,” perhaps Salazar’s loveliest poem, catalogs the day of a laborer, starting with an early morning awakening and following him as he toils in 100-degree heat, enjoys tacos from his lunch pail, buys beverages from a child’s lemonade stand, and returns home to an equally hard-working wife. The author then makes an abrupt turn toward Syria in a series of poems that condemn that country’s president, Bashar Hafez al-Assad. They serve as a rallying cry for Syrians and grieve for the murdered masses. Salazar’s closing poem, “Sons of Bitches,” is a clunky rant about a 20-year-old immigrant shot in the head by a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent. The gratuitous violence and political theologizing are ill at ease with the intimate, personal experiences that preceded them, such as the fablelike “A Mexican is Made of This,” in which Salazar beautifully describes the “rainbows, bronze, backbone, butterflies” that his people embody.
A volume of poetry that shines when focused on the author’s experiences of race and culture.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-9991496-3-8
Page Count: 166
Publisher: Bronze Diamond Productions
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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