Wyoming

Although this debut novel is littered with crimes (ranging from vandalizing a car to drug trafficking and more), I would hesitate to call it a crime novel. It's more of a domestic tragedy, revolving around Shelly, a ticking time bomb of resentment and contrariness who is his own worst enemy. Set in 1988, with portions flashing back over the years, and ranging across Wyoming, Colorado, and Texas, the story covers Shelly's fraught relationship with those around him -- especially his ex-con big brother, whom he blames for his mother's death. The book opens with promise -- describing Shelly's hourly construction job, framing houses, and the fire that strikes while he's on one job. When that all goes south he makes bad choice after bad choice, and doubles-down on being a jerk to those around him. He lurches from incident to incident, never quite escaping self-sabotage. There are plenty of compelling portions -- including a tense stay at a motel and confrontations with the motel owner and his family, and another uncomfortably tense overnight at his ex-wife's house with their child (whom he hasn't seen in years) and the nice-guy new husband.However, despite some fine writing and some excellent sections, it never quite jelled for me. The time shifts certainly don't help, but like a lot of first-time novels, it has the feel of several well-honed stories spot-welded together. It says something that a week after finishing it, I have no particular recollection as to how it wraps up or where Shelly ended up. I suspect he's basically right back where he started and none the wiser for all he went through. That said, I'll definitely keep an eye out for the author's next book, because there's definitely promise in the writing.