Review: "The Smack" by Richard Lange

Even as I was nearing the 300 page mark of this 352 page book, Richard Lange’s new novel The Smack presented itself as an entertaining, yet by the numbers thriller the likes of which I have seen from a various number of writers, with Michael Farris Smith’s disappointing second novel Desperation Road coming to mind as I continued to read. But near the end, the book does something that floored and gutted me. I will try not to spoil it with this review, but it is something that happens that sheds some much needed light on the book’s events. Coming into this novel I was worried. I had really liked Lange’s two short story collections, Dead Boys and Sweet Nothing, but I had this itch in the back of my mind that his brand of storytelling might not lend itself to longer forms. And while the beats this book takes are familiar, but no less exciting, it is the bravery of those stories that really sets this book apart from some of its contemporaries: Lange’s world is one of missed opportunities, last chances and no fancy prize for being a runner-up. It’s a world where actions count more than words, and a few wrong moves can get you killed. It is also a world filled with hardworking people and interesting characters who carry a world of hurt on their backs and are constantly in search of a path that will lead to happiness. Rowan Petty is one of those people. A lifelong con man sliding ungracefully into his 40’s, we first meet him while running a phone scam in Reno, a mere underling to the younger Avi whom Petty helped when he was starting out. Two meetings set him on a path toward something like redemption. First, he meets a flirtatious and beautiful hooker who calls herself Tinafey who offers to spend the night with him. Second, he meets with Don, a mirror image of Petty if he lives so long, who gives him a tip on a possible score with scant details. Barely hiding his desperation, Petty and Tinafey head to LA in search of hidden stash that might not even exist. In this search, Lange introduces a myriad of fascinating and well-drawn characters, like Beck, a washed actor and ex-husband of an Oscar-winning actress, Tony, a wounded army vet whose character arc is undeniably the saddest and Sam, Petty’s estranged daughter whom he suspects is one drugs but is suffering in a much more serious way. A few bodies drop, plans are etched and carried out, but it doesn’t always go as planned, and the characters don’t always act, as you’d expect: evil people can sometimes have good motivations; good people can do evil things under pressure. But with all that said, this is also a world where actions have direct and indirect consequences that will break your heart. I was very taken aback by this story and the places it went. It rises above some of its more cliché genre elements and gives us something that feels immediate and important.

Rating: 5/5

Review: "Dead Boys" by Richard Lange

While I did not like it as much as I liked his most recent collection, Sweet Nothing, Richard Lange’s debut collection Dead Boys is quite a revelation for those who are just being introduced to a writer who has been described as the heir apparent to writers as varied as Raymond Carver and Jim Thompson. He perfectly melds each of those writer’s most famous attributes into a short form of storytelling that is both intimate, swift and brutal but with a keen sense of what is good in all of us and what makes us sally forth during tough times. It’s subject matter also reminded me of the debut collections of writers like Donald Ray Pollock and Frank Bill, but while those collections focus on the swift and brutal nature of their settings and characters, these stories take a bit longer to gestate in the reader’s mind and we don’t realize how much they will linger until the echo so their final lines. They take place mainly around the Los Angles area, but instead of the glitz and glamour that city is associated with, Lange’s stories focus on the downtrodden and slightly seedy areas that are juts down the road. I found the varied settings very refreshing here, which exhibit Lange’s understanding of many different walks of life, and how most times, whether they are a borderline criminal or someone desperately trying to get by, their desires are often one in the same. As with all of my short story reviews, I will pick out my favorites and tell you why I liked them so much. I’ve come to figure out that short story collections are only as good as their first story, really their first chance to make a good impression, and this one does, with the story “Fuzzyland” about a man who visits his sister, who has juts been raped, and wrestles with feelings for wanting a child with his wife through his niece. Like most stories here, the main character is brooding, pseudo-tough guy who is uncomfortable with his feelings and takes whatever life dishes out and by the end, has shed his thick outer layer and revealed his true self, whether willingly or unwillingly, and this story is a good example of that. While this collection is big and big-hearted, some of the smaller stories really shined as well, like “Culver City”, about a man whose wife finds damning photos at a celebrity house party and uses them for blackmail. That interesting concept however, becomes a great metaphor for the guy’s feelings about his doomed marriage. If I had to pick my favorite, it would be “Bank of America” which turns the bank-robbing story on its head by making not only making the story villain-less, but also have a somewhat shaky happy ending. It is the most unexpected stories since Wells Tower’s “Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned”. These powerful stories exist on the precipice of hope and despair, love and self-loathing, and you won’t soon forget them when you are finished. An incredible collection.

Rating: 5/5