Full Article Text
"Back Roads,"
b, lawnl O'Dell,
VIking, 338 pages,
$24.95.-' .
By MICHAEL GILTZ the road. " ,
T!"ying to raise his" iijre~
younger sisters and hold down
two jobs while squeezing · ·iI;l
appointments with a
therapist, Harley has·, hi's
hands full. But being a.·vjrgin.
and having an . hone~t-to :, Whenever writers tell a goodness woman let hiItl.:.do
story set among the things with per, Harley. fiQds,
dirt . poor and the time.
uneducated, they inevitably Although Harley's dad .. ~eat
create a hero who is smart as all of his kids regull;lr)y ,
a whip. Tawni . and may'b~ .
O'Dell's·: debut even molested
novel, set in rural . one of 'his
Pennsylvania, is sisters, tl1ft
no exception. townspeople .
This sad little shun the kids
story, spiked with as if they w~re.
humor, is about to blame. Even
Harley Altmyer, a Harley and
1 9 -yea r -0 I d his siblings
diamond in the seem more
rough whose angry at their
mom is in jail for mom than the
killing his dad. father who
Harley may have abused them
had little or no for so long.
schooling, but The oldest of
give him 10 H a r ley's
minutes with an sisters is 16-
art book and he'll yea r -0 I d
stammer out a Amber, who
pretty .go?d definition for sleeps with any boy she can
ImpreSSIOmsm. get her hands on. Her love-
. ,'l:.ha,t .wins the heart of hate but mostly hate
j,C8.nt~ ~:a·:waiTied womanwith ';"!::T~tionship with Harley is
~}~f~~~~;,;'L~ho lives down the best thing in the novel.
~... -.(1,...:. • -
''8Iaze,'' by
Leud, Avon,
pages,$24.
By MICHAEL
Robert
was
narcotic
detective for 20
years when he
blew the whistle
on police ~·
corruption. His:'
bravery was/ •• I1ItW$ immortalized in' "r
Robert Daley's book "Prince
the City" (later turned into a
film, starring Treat Williams).
But it was a bitter victory.
Defending the integri~y of the
,work 'he"'1ov~d "U'ltimilt~ly cut Leuci off from it forever.
Leuci knows cops
particularly New York City
cops. But his new book seems to
draw as much inspiration from
portrayals in movies and on TV
as it does from actual
police work.
an average
<>f"&'I'f""u<> Tough as
"'I:~"",,;UGl";:), she's a rising
in the force
drop-dead
, with hair
falls down to
waist. It's hard
imagine other
,~:";,:,:"",,,C' taking her
ously with all
at flowing hair,
t they clam up
n hearing her
record.
11!lI]R ~} Based on that, m Nora's superior
her to track down a
hood named Blaze
Longo, a psycho who cuts off
the ears of people who owe him
money. Nora can't quite figure
I o~t why the case is such a I
,
...
.rl~ .. =::."
Their awkward. atteml?ts : •. ,::,,:
at understandmg, mIn
gled with a vague~y
sexual undercurrent, IS
disturbing and fresh.
. Ultimately, though,
"Back Roads" relies more :
on. ilot-so-surprising plot
twists than on, the
complicated people 0 Dell
has 'begun to une~rth.
Angry confrontat1o~s,
breakdowns dUI'~ng
therapy and shocku?-g
revelations are all m
abundance here. But
these moments of
melodrama aren't nearly
as compelling as the
small truths that a~e
scattered throughout thIS
fitfully promising novel.
priority. (It turns out her
boss is sleeping with a
gangster 's moll, whose
dad was threatened by
Blaze.) Plus, she has her
own problems.
Nora is getting a
divorce from her
husband, who bats her
around and steals a gun
out of her safe-deposit
box. Nora's partner is
retiring and all his pent
up romantic feelings for
her are coming to the
surface. Worst of all,
she's attracted to an
informant named Nicky
the Hawk, who comes
with a kid he adopted off
the streets.
Leuci's prose takes
some effort to plod
through, but he knows
the territory , especially
how good cops can be '
compromised when they
ask for favors. And when
he reaches for a happy
ending, you can't fault
Leuci for wanting fiction
to work out more
satisfyingly than reality.
b, lawnl O'Dell,
VIking, 338 pages,
$24.95.-' .
By MICHAEL GILTZ the road. " ,
T!"ying to raise his" iijre~
younger sisters and hold down
two jobs while squeezing · ·iI;l
appointments with a
therapist, Harley has·, hi's
hands full. But being a.·vjrgin.
and having an . hone~t-to :, Whenever writers tell a goodness woman let hiItl.:.do
story set among the things with per, Harley. fiQds,
dirt . poor and the time.
uneducated, they inevitably Although Harley's dad .. ~eat
create a hero who is smart as all of his kids regull;lr)y ,
a whip. Tawni . and may'b~ .
O'Dell's·: debut even molested
novel, set in rural . one of 'his
Pennsylvania, is sisters, tl1ft
no exception. townspeople .
This sad little shun the kids
story, spiked with as if they w~re.
humor, is about to blame. Even
Harley Altmyer, a Harley and
1 9 -yea r -0 I d his siblings
diamond in the seem more
rough whose angry at their
mom is in jail for mom than the
killing his dad. father who
Harley may have abused them
had little or no for so long.
schooling, but The oldest of
give him 10 H a r ley's
minutes with an sisters is 16-
art book and he'll yea r -0 I d
stammer out a Amber, who
pretty .go?d definition for sleeps with any boy she can
ImpreSSIOmsm. get her hands on. Her love-
. ,'l:.ha,t .wins the heart of hate but mostly hate
j,C8.nt~ ~:a·:waiTied womanwith ';"!::T~tionship with Harley is
~}~f~~~~;,;'L~ho lives down the best thing in the novel.
~... -.(1,...:. • -
''8Iaze,'' by
Leud, Avon,
pages,$24.
By MICHAEL
Robert
was
narcotic
detective for 20
years when he
blew the whistle
on police ~·
corruption. His:'
bravery was/ •• I1ItW$ immortalized in' "r
Robert Daley's book "Prince
the City" (later turned into a
film, starring Treat Williams).
But it was a bitter victory.
Defending the integri~y of the
,work 'he"'1ov~d "U'ltimilt~ly cut Leuci off from it forever.
Leuci knows cops
particularly New York City
cops. But his new book seems to
draw as much inspiration from
portrayals in movies and on TV
as it does from actual
police work.
an average
<>f"&'I'f""u<> Tough as
"'I:~"",,;UGl";:), she's a rising
in the force
drop-dead
, with hair
falls down to
waist. It's hard
imagine other
,~:";,:,:"",,,C' taking her
ously with all
at flowing hair,
t they clam up
n hearing her
record.
11!lI]R ~} Based on that, m Nora's superior
her to track down a
hood named Blaze
Longo, a psycho who cuts off
the ears of people who owe him
money. Nora can't quite figure
I o~t why the case is such a I
,
...
.rl~ .. =::."
Their awkward. atteml?ts : •. ,::,,:
at understandmg, mIn
gled with a vague~y
sexual undercurrent, IS
disturbing and fresh.
. Ultimately, though,
"Back Roads" relies more :
on. ilot-so-surprising plot
twists than on, the
complicated people 0 Dell
has 'begun to une~rth.
Angry confrontat1o~s,
breakdowns dUI'~ng
therapy and shocku?-g
revelations are all m
abundance here. But
these moments of
melodrama aren't nearly
as compelling as the
small truths that a~e
scattered throughout thIS
fitfully promising novel.
priority. (It turns out her
boss is sleeping with a
gangster 's moll, whose
dad was threatened by
Blaze.) Plus, she has her
own problems.
Nora is getting a
divorce from her
husband, who bats her
around and steals a gun
out of her safe-deposit
box. Nora's partner is
retiring and all his pent
up romantic feelings for
her are coming to the
surface. Worst of all,
she's attracted to an
informant named Nicky
the Hawk, who comes
with a kid he adopted off
the streets.
Leuci's prose takes
some effort to plod
through, but he knows
the territory , especially
how good cops can be '
compromised when they
ask for favors. And when
he reaches for a happy
ending, you can't fault
Leuci for wanting fiction
to work out more
satisfyingly than reality.