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ext up in the MWA Edgar Awards category of Best First Novel is Jordan Harper’s novel She Rides Shotgun. It’s a mesmerizing, nail-biting, fast-paced and tightly plotted tale of good vs. evil with an unusual protagonist – an 11-year old, teddy-bear toting girl with ice-blue eyes and a talent for violence.
Polly McClusky’s dad, Nate McClusky, has been sentenced to death. Not by the judicial system – although he is a felon – but by the leader of Aryan Steel, a gang of white supremacists. It’s a particularly vicious sentence, because it dooms not only Nate, but ex-wife Avis and their daughter. Nate comes home to warn them, but he’s too late – Avis and her new boyfriend are dead. He scoops a wary Polly up from the sidewalk in front of her school, and they begin a deadly cat-and-mouse game with one objective: lift the “green light” and save Polly’s life. Tracking them both: Detective John Park.
Nate’s initial plan is to get Polly to a relative’s home, where she’ll be safe. On the way, he passes on the life skills taught to him by his partner in crime and dead older brother, Nick. Skills like how to take a punch. When to run. How to fight dirty. Where to stab. How to use your skinny arms to make a grown man lose consciousness. Most importantly, how to keep going when doing so is impossible, but the alternative is death.
It’s no surprise to learn in She Rides Shotgun that no place is safe and that friends can betray you, but also that there can be unexpected allies. The story is primarily Polly’s, and Harper does an amazing job of letting you inside Polly’s head, to see the confusion and sadness, but also the hard core of steel and the fierce loyalty there. Nate has been pretty much absent from Polly’s life, but is redeemed by the journey and his quest to save her, overcoming his own misjudgment through sheer will. Det. Park is wily, but one step behind.
I think you are getting the point that She Rides Shotgun gets an enthusiastic thumbs up from me. How does it compare to Tornado Weather, the first book reviewed in this category? Tornado Weather is an interesting, insightful, and thoroughly readable book. But She Rides Shotgun is a compulsive, propulsive read, with out-there-but-believable characters that you care about. No competition: She Rides Shotgun takes top spot.
Literary Lunchbox Rankings: Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award, Best First Novel
- She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper
- Tornado Weather by Deborah E. Kennedy
Yes, the Mystery Writers of America have announced the nominees in all categories for fiction and nonfiction 
Harlen Coben’s up to 30 books, both series and standalone, and I’ve been reading him since his Myron Bolitar days. (I like humor, and snark as well.) 
Also back is Kathy Reichs with 
Finally, Anne Perry is back on the mystery scene with A
Bittersweet for me was reading Sue Grafton’s 
A more thrilling read is Louise Penny’s new Chief Superintendent Gamache novel, 
Third up is Michael Connelly’s 
Friends, I am heartily sorry for spending the last five months away from my book blog, but I resolve to turn over a new leaf! Where I left you last was waiting for the outcome of the Edgar Awards banquet in New York City, after having read, reviewed and ranked finalists in three categories. I’ll cut to the chase: I’m batting .333 here – Edgar judges only agreed with me on the Best Original Paperback. We both selected Adrian McKinty’s 
For Best First Novel, I picked Heather Young’s 
And for Best Novel, I gave the Literary Lunchbox Edgar to Lyndsey Faye’s 
Dark Chapter depicts real life
Grappling with a traumatic experience through writing is common enough, and to wrest a publishable book from the experience is laudable, but to achieve an Edgar nom is only slightly short of miraculous. What takes Dark Chapter out of the “here is the horrible thing that happened” category of fictionalized memoir is Winnie Li’s decision to tell both stories: that of the raped woman and the rapist boy.
She does so with some psychological insight and craft, alternating between Vivian’s perspective and that of the boy who rapes her. John Michael Sweeney is a traveler, born rough and raised rougher. He loves his ma, but the girls he kisses, fingers and forces into sex are less than people to him. His panic following the rape, the way his friends and brother support and help him, is contrasted with his father’s expectation that he turn himself in and take responsibility for his action. The reader has limited sympathy for Johnny, and no small measure of disgust.
Vivian Tan is a career woman in a glamorous field, with a good head on her shoulders despite some poor decision-making, and she is steadfast in her decision to hold Sweeney accountable. She is so steadfast that the reader is distanced from the pain and trauma Vivian experiences following the assault. The confusion regarding her background – is she a Chinese tourist? No, American – rings true but isn’t really necessary to the plot.
As a debut novelist, Winnie Li has chosen a compelling story – her own. But it seems to me that she has adhered too faithfully to the facts as she sees them, resulting in a plot that marches forward. How characters are presented is particularly important in any book, but particularly so for Edgar nominees. But there is too much good in the good Vivian and too much bad in the bad Johnny. Neither character has much complexity.
Men come off particularly badly in Dark Chapter. Where are the good guys? I sincerely hope that in real life, Winnie Li has found a strong, supportive, loving man to be her partner in life. The shallow narcissist that is protagonist Vivian’s first post-rape boyfriend is just too real to be fiction. And Winnie – heck, every woman! – deserves better.
How does Dark Chapter stack up to the two already reviewed nominees? For the faults noted above, it will go to the bottom of the ranking.
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Posted in Commentary, Edgar, Review
Tagged Dark Chapter, Edgar, mystery writers of america, ranking, Review, She Rides Shotgun, Tornado Weather, Winnie M. Li