Book Name : Coronado
What is it about : Murder, suspense and mystery aplenty in these short stories, all set in American small towns where seemingly town folks took matters into their own hands. The jewel in the crown amongst these stories - the hunt for a missing diamond by a conman father and his just-got-out-of-jail son; ICU detailed a man on the run from suspected government agents and ended up a regular in a hospital complex, visiting cafeteria, greeting patients and nurses (think Tom Hanks in the film : The Terminal); the improbable tale of a town employing dog shooters in a bid to rid itself of strays in order to build a friendly theme park, ending the story with the murder of a promiscuous woman. By the way, Coronado was a fictional small town often mentioned by the characters in the Diamond chase mentioned earlier.
Some thoughts after having read the book : The author tried experimenting with styles and plots and I would applaud such efforts as the stories came off resonating with menace from the many colorful, if frightening characters and the themes of small town "hapnings" provided an extra layer of intrigue where law and order seemed light years away and the events inevitably spiraling out of control. Worth mentioning - the subtle writers' art of "highlighting facts by glaring omission" was skillfully deployed in these stories; or was it - things had better be kept unsaid.
Would I recommend this book to you : I made an exception for this author and took this book out from the local library, as I had not been living in such places and so it was difficult for me to relate and feel the authenticity and resonance of these locales and scenes of crime and passions. But this author depicted the scenes with enough flare and subtlety for me to have a good glimpse into the inner workings of the big lives and events in small town America. Go read !
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