Kings County: A Novel

LOCAL AUTHOR

Don’t give up on this book. The halfway mark will bring you a suspenseful story with full-blown interesting characters. The first part of the book seems like it is going nowhere. There are some minor factual errors, like calling Benton Harbor, Michigan, “lakefront” and its Sisterlakes School, Sister Lakes. Although Benton Harbor has a river running through it, the St. Joseph River cannot be confused with Lake Michigan, which fronts a much wealthier city.

Stay with this story of trailer park NASA groupies, a Wall Street money man, a literary editor, and a tough, tattooed rock ‘n roller named Audrey. Both Audrey and her best friend are go-at-it heroines. The men who love them love their quirkiness and would do anything to protect them. This will be necessary because three of the characters share a dark secret. When all this comes together, the story really rolls and justifies the time the author took to build characters and set up the story. Three of the characters come from wildly dysfunctional homes and the fourth wishes he was not so normal and rich. The story, for the most part, is set in New York, and the author’s love of the city is evident in his name places homages. Fun and exciting to read.