Review: "Broken River" by J. Robert Lennon

It is really nice to see a story you read early this that was not very good done extremely and uniquely right. Earlier this year, Joe McGinnis’ second novel Carousal Court disappointed me, and when I think about it still, it bothers me even more. But thankfully, Broken River, the new novel by J. Robert Lennon (a last minute addition to my second half of the year reading lost) does everything right that Carousal Court did wrong, and with a nice twist that in hands of a less skilled writer, would turn the whole novel into a hackneyed mess. But with Lennon, it elevates what is a rather simple story of murder in a small town to something more ethereal, otherworldly and deeply haunting. My only other contact with Lennon’s writing was his last book, the short story collection See You in Paradise, and with the exception of one story (his most famous story, “Portal”, which is way better than it should be on paper, which I see now as a pattern with Lennon’s writing) not much contained within its pages is that memorable. But those apathetic feelings are smashed with this meditation on truth, time and family disguised as a break neck thriller. While not as out there, I couldn’t help but think of Dan Chaon’s Ill Will: both novels move between the somber and the disturbing with the greatest of enviable ease. You’ll know your in the hands of someone who wants to give you something new just by the first chapter alone. A family is fleeing their home in the middle of the night. They try as hard as they can to escape their fates, but it is too late for them. All of this is being watched by some being, which presides over the events in the novel. Called the “Observer”, we never really know who this being is. Are they an angel, doomed to watch events unfold yet unable to intervene, much like the angels in Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire? Or are they an alien or human from the future, looking out toward the past at the wreckage wrought on a few select people? What they aren’t for sure is a cheap ploy to draw your attention from the main story, which involves a family of three moving into the house where the murder takes place. Karl, a womanizing artist, his wife Eleanor and their daughter Irina moved there from New York to heal from Karl’s transgressions. Slowly each sinks into their own world of lies, as the past crimes come forth again in harrowing and violent ways. As the cast grows, so does Lennon’s ability to draw you in. He can make you sympathize with Louis, under the thumb of the violent and evil Joe, as well as Sam, whose link to the past is tenuous and brought by Irina’s obsession. This is an entirely unconventional take on a rather tired trope, so much so that as the book closes, much in the same place as it started, there are no easy answers, great personal revelations or emotional breakthroughs. Bad things simply happen to people and life goes on whether people are ready or not. A strong thriller that smashes expectations while entertaining the hell out of you, this is one novel worth seeking out as soon as you can.

Rating: 5/5