LONELY WHEN YOU'RE DEAD

Chaney’s latest crime thriller follows a struggling freelance writer who gets more than he bargains for while covering a seemingly benign poetry festival.

Claude Murphy works for a Boston-based magazine that features “an eclectic mix of artistic oddments.” His morally ambiguous boss, Ambrose Bunt, wants Murph to write an article centered on two featured poets, Ian MacGregor and Georges Zazou. After arriving in Quebec City, Murph sets out to locate the two poets but soon finds himself in the middle of a riot sweeping through the city. Buildings are set on fire, and one of the poets (Zazou) is found stabbed to death: “Murph wondered why the newsreader hadn’t mentioned the Quebecois sovereigntists, with their push for an independent French Canada.” During the chaos, Murph meets numerous disreputable characters (including members of biker gangs, unethical entrepreneurs, and possible drug smugglers) and is ultimately detained by investigators with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (“Mounties”) for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Murph is eventually freed from the detainment center and focuses on finding MacGregor—the “outlaw poet”—amid the violence crippling the city. The carnage he uncovers is deeply troubling, and it only raises more questions. The intriguing backdrop (including the Quebec Poetry Festival), impressively knotty plotline, and cast of memorable characters notwithstanding, Chaney’s unique descriptive style is what fuels this narrative: “The thin goatee on his chin had an amateurish effect, and his ears extended out from his head at right angles, [like] coffee cup handles”; “Rows of tombstones like crooked gray teeth [stretched] to the cloudy horizon.” Chaney ticks all the right boxes in this satisfying thriller, featuring nonstop action, complex plotlines, unadulterated brutality, a cast populated by shady characters, and more. The unexpected ending will keep readers thinking long after they’ve reached the final sentence.

A darkly lyrical crime thriller with a riveting plot that constantly challenges reader expectations.