MERRY BAND OF MISFITS

Grey presents an offbeat heist novel featuring a cast of characters with disabilities.

Thirty-year-old Nicholas Murphy has built his life around taking care of his fraternal-twin brother, Vinnie, who has Down syndrome; he also helps care for a group of others with disabilities, whom he refers to affectionately as the Family. Garth Cartwright is a six-foot-four Special Olympics weightlifter who is Deaf and grew up with developmental delays. William has autism and severe obsessive-compulsive disorder and a fixation on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Floyd McCallister, who uses a wheelchair, is a genius with acquired savant syndrome; he’s had problems with language and memory after he was struck by lightning. The Family all live in a house together with Nicholas, a certified nurse practitioner, at the helm. They’re prone to disagreements, but they’re generally happy together and are better off than they would be in an institution. The arrangement comes crashing down, though, when Garth’s wealthy mother Agnes dies, because she’d been providing financial backing to keep the house running. Garth’s cruel sister, Charity, decides to cut that funding, which results in an emergency situation. With few resources at their disposal, the Family decides to do the unexpected and rob a bank. Grey’s narrative ably melds serious issues into a lighthearted heist narrative. For example, the story makes clear that the Family would rather not resort to crime, but they exist in a world that’s short on empathy; Nicholas serves as Floyd’s speech therapist because “state funding cuts made his real sessions financially impossible.” The story also tackles disability-related topics with frankness; one character notes, “We don’t have superpowers, we have disabilities,” and the work is straightforward about characters’ sexuality. The plot takes a leisurely route to the main action, which makes the book feel longer than it is; for example, readers learn many details about Vinnie’s struggles at his restaurant job before the main action of the plot kicks in. Once it does, though, readers will be engaged by the question of whether the Family will manage to stay intact.

A sometimes-playful but also serious caper novel starring a memorable group of heroes.