WILLOW'S RUN

A woman fleeing from her cruel husband lands in a place that’s no stranger to violence.

In Bockstael’s debut novel, Alcima “the Willow” Willoughby is on the run in the “Excited States” after stealing her abusive dot-com millionaire husband’s beloved luxury RV. She plans a Thelma & Louise–style ending for the camper after quickly exiting the motorhome. But the 6-foot, 6-inch former Olympic volleyball star’s plans are thwarted when Fall River Police Sgt. Terry Gansworth finds her in violation of “a whole stack of local and state ordinances.” While she’s following the officer’s car to an overnight rest stop, her RV becomes unbalanced and overturns, and Alcima finds herself stuck temporarily in Fall River. While she’s in the small town, the local police promise to keep her husband, Reg White, from finding her. He's a monster, and Fall River is home to something far more terrifying that scuttles with the multitude of rats below the town’s quaint movie theater, bank, and Carnegie library. The theater’s owner, Don Anderson, disappears. A light goes on in the library after it’s been locked for the night. The librarian, widower Booker Thompson, is on alert when he hears thumps on the stairs after hours, and someone rifles through the Local History Room. But Booker balances trepidation with romance after he falls hard for Alcima. There’s a lot to unpack in this story, which might have benefited from jettisoning the Reg subplot and concentrating on the mysterious, malevolent events in Fall River. A sadistic serial killer/voyeur—one who enjoys the thought of poisoned “rats twitching and bleeding and dying of thirst”—will hold the audience’s attention. Other characters are well drawn, too. Cases in point: Alcima is strong, cocky, and sexy; Booker is scarred and sad, and for good reason. An example of smart dialogue: “‘She’s a bit desperate. Does me favors from time to time.’ ‘Define desperate.’ ‘Poor.’” The descriptions of the workings of a former performing arts theater, now a cinema, are particularly well crafted.

A suspenseful page-turner about the evil lurking in a small town.