Review of The Garden of Last Days: A Novel (Hardcover)

While House of Sand and Fog addressed the heartbreaking dilemma of a proud Iranian immigrant faced with the intractable demands of a young woman and a bureaucratic blunder with tragic consequences pre-9/11, The Garden of Last Days tumbles into a much darker landscape on the eve of America's loss of innocence. The internal drama is played out on the tawdry runway of a Florida Gulf Coast strip club, the Puma Club for Men, where April is forced to break her own strict rule, taking her three-year-old daughter, Franny, to work rather than miss an opportunity to salt away more money toward a future free of the decadent circumstances in which she now makes her living. April is a bit of an anomaly, with a well-thought out plan for escaping the downward spiral of such employment, most of the other dancers fortifying themselves with drugs and the occasional extra date with customers after the club closes. But April is thrown off the usual rhythm of her bifurcated life, the dayworld/nightworld of April/Spring when her landlady goes to the hospital unexpectedly with an anxiety attack.

Deeply troubled by this merging of two worlds, April has every reason to doubt the wisdom of her decision as the shift grinds on. Tina, who agrees to keep an eye on Franny while April dances is at best lackadaisical about Franny's care in a cramped office just off the women's dressing room, Tina easily distracted by the demands of her boss. Tiny Franny, in her pink pajamas, is by turns enthralled by her Disney movies and snacks, but needing constant reassurance that her mother will soon take her home. The following hours are filled with a heart-stopping chain of events portending disaster, the incessant beat of the DJ's selections as each stripper takes to the stage, the drunken shouts of customers paying for a show, the exchange of money for services, all under the guise of a good time. April is watched: by Louis, her lascivious boss; by Lonnie, a bouncer who views "Spring" as different from the others; by Bassam, a chain-smoking, intense young man from Saudi Arabia who walks straight into the embrace of evil, unable to resist the seduction of this foreign country's blatant disregard for modesty. On the cusp of a great personal sacrifice, Bassam covets April's attention in the private Champagne Room, willing to pay handsomely for his moral digression.

Fleshed out by the disaffection of a loud-mouthed customer, AJ, who is thrown out of the club for unacceptable behavior, a terrible chain of events is set in motion, AJ desperate to reclaim wife and son, a victim of his own excesses and a fixation on a wide-eyed dancer whose only interest is in his wallet. As AJ's transgressions pile up in contrast to his best intentions, pinballing over the wreckage of his past actions, Bassam focuses on April/Spring, alternately judging and lecturing while April cannot keep her eyes from the hundreds of dollars that will bring her dream that much closer. As the hours pass, a diverse cast divulges their secrets, the individual histories that have led to this fateful night on the Gulf Coast, the shattered dreams, the misspent promise of youth, lives sidetracked by necessity and bad choices, at the heart of it the slightly ranting of a fanatical Bassam, seduced by the imperfections of the flesh while embracing the distortions of his extremist education.

April otherwise engaged, a little girl awakens, alone and afraid, crying for her mother; a drunk, angry man notices, blundering through his own vague yearnings. And once more, through the minutiae of random struggles, a greater tragedy evolves. Certainly Dubus is a master of the unexpected confluence of events begun through the collision of human frailty and false pride, an impending cultural cataclysm that erases America's innocence. Based on fact, this novel's exploration of the seedy underbelly of modern culture is both intense and broad, Dubus once more shaking a distracted psyche and reminding us to pay attention. Luan Gaines/ 2008.




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Review of The First $20 Million is Always the Hardest: A Novel (Paperback)

Author and Silicon Valley insider, Po Bronson, writes a very funny novel about four quirky guys with the right stuff who want to create something that matters in the realm of computers.From cutting edge software and hardware development companies to Palo Alto think tanks, the plot follows the creation of a less than $300 computer from a list of low priority projects at the think tank level to the actual modeling of a prototype that gets one rival top dog engineer's undies in a knot.The trials and tribulations that face the group compare to the highs and lows of an EKG with enough back-stabbing, personality manipulation and corporate espionage to keep the reading at a wonderous pace up until the last 20 or so pages. The crafting of the dramatic persona, especially the four progtammer/hardware specialists hinges closely to the usual stereotypical portrayals of techno geeks seen in movies and television shows.However this does not detract from the fun level of the story; indeed one gets the sense that these portrayal closely model reality.What does detract is the rather abrupt ending which winds down what could have been an all out page-turning business adventure with a stop-on-a-dime conclusion that certainly did not satisfy me.

Perhaps having seen the rather burlesque film version of this novel, I naively was expecting more bells and whistles and a more thorough troncing of rival engineer and threat Benoit.It never came, but perhaps that is due to the fact that I know nothing about the world of Silicon Valley where Bronson's could-be spoofs on the computer industry's behind the scenes star would lose their bite.Happily, the novel does not force a romance between Caspar and his housemate as in the movie version; here the attraction is noted and the reader can use his imagination to determine the outcome. Thank you, Po.

All in all, I enjoyed the novel; I just wish it had a longer ending.



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Review of The Strong, Silent Type (Paperback)

Simply stated, The Strong, Silent Type by C. Kelly Robinson is one of the best books this reviewer has read so far in 2005. Although he has four novels under his publishing belt, Robinson's name is not as widely known as say, Eric Jerome Dickey or E. Lynn Harris. However, if Robinson keeps writing compelling tales like this, he will no longer be a silent bestseller, but a prominent and popular author.

While Dickey is the king of drama and Harris brings the DL heat like no other, Robinson ranks supreme in storytelling. He goes back to the basics of a well-written story and combines flawed characters and an engaging plot, with a few twists to boot. More than anything, readers will appreciate the unique and refreshing storyline.

The main character, Deacon Davis, is an ex-professional football star who works as an executive director of the American Dream Party, a political organization started by his late father. But when Deacon stutters horribly during an important nationally televised interview, he is forced to resign. Frustrated that his tongue had failed him and cost him his job, he's determined to do something about his stuttering and get back to fulfilling the duty of continuing his father's work.

He seeks professional help at the Speech Recovery Clinic, where he meets Maria Oliver, an attractive speech therapist. Before either of them knows it, they are breaking the clinic's fraternizing rule and if anyone finds out, she too, will be out of a job. Adding to her stress is another dilemma. While battling with drugs in the past, she gave her baby to her brother, Thomas and his wife to raise as their own. Now, when Maria is clean and sober with a successful career, she can't deny the maternal feelings she has. She wants her son back. Despite Thomas's litigation threats, she wants her son to know the truth, that she is his mother, not his aunt.

Maria's not the only person wanting truth revealed. Deacon's brother, Miles plans to write a tell-all book, detailing his theory that his father's mysterious death was not an accident, but an assassination. However, there are a few holes in Miles' theory, and Deacon knows the one person who can confirm or shatter Miles' suspicions.

The Strong, Silent Type is a great read. C. Kelly Robinson has a masterful way with descriptions that truly bring characters to life.The scenes are vivid and the dialogue, authentic. Robinson should not only be commended for penning an intriguing tale, but he should be applauded for enlightening a few readers, like this reviewer, about the impact stuttering has on people who have the communication disorder. If you're looking for a book that has it all--romance, suspense, drama and excellent writing--pick up The Strong Silent Type. You won't be disappointed.




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