Book Review

By Derryll White

Millikin, Patrick – editor (2016). The Highway Mind – Tales of Fast Cars, Desperate Drivers, and Dark Roads.

This is a great idea for a book that solicits new themed pieces from established authors. It IS America – from Walt Whitman to Jack Kerouac to Hunter S. Thompson and Cormac McCarthy, the road runs through.

Some of these writers I have never read, and will now. C.J. Box’s story ‘Power Wagon’ puts me right back on Highway 3 headed for Lethbridge, and the wonderful old Power Wagon with an A-frame rig sitting alongside the highway. How many times have I thought of winning the lottery and restoring that beauty. This story was real for me.

I was disappointed with Michael Connelly’s ‘Burnt Matches.’ Even the syntax was off, although I am reading an Advanced Copy and an editor might catch some of that. The story seemed trite and contrived, and didn’t have the focus and power readers will expect from the creator of Harry Bosch.

I don’t know who Kelly Braffet is, but I will find out. ‘Runs Good’ has all the drama, subtlety and character richness that a short story needs. I found myself invested in Caro by the end, wanting her to succeed and drive off in her new/used car.

I am always delighted to stumble on a piece by James Sallis. Nobody does noir better. ‘Who You Were Fighting For’ is the kind of piece that will make a first-time reader want to find more from this fine writer.

‘The Triple Black ‘Cuda’ shows George Pelecanos at his most formidable. The story is tight, the outcome unpredictable and he takes the reader back to the muscle car era as I remember it. Never a MoPar guy, nevertheless I still like ‘Cudas and all the memories they bring back. Pelecanos is awesome here.

‘The Kill Switch’ is definitely the kind of story I appreciate. Eddie is a loner with a sense of honour and a big heart. He not only recognizes his own needs in the kind of car he works on, but he lets Russell, a mostly deserted waif, get close to him and care about how the boy will get on and turn out in the end. Willy Vlautin tells a straight story with an ending that will ring true to many readers. Vlautin is another writer to look for.

Luis Alberta Urrea tells a tale that is beyond the understanding of most people. ‘The Pleasure of God’ is a delightful peak into the soul of a man who knows exactly who he is. “I get what I want,” Benigno says, “when I want it.” After reading this story most will be unable to say those words with the same fervor, but many will want to.

I can see where this is an anthology assembled by a bookseller. There is much very good writing and some not of the same quality but from names that sell books. In the end I don’t believe Patrick Millikin, the editor, fulfilled the potential for fast cars and dark roads that I had hoped for. Nevertheless, this is a short story collection worth reading.

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Excerpts from the book:

THE UNKNOWN – Caro didn’t know if Margot herself didn’t know, or if she just couldn’t find the words, but she knew that her mother’s terror was real. That it consumed her, that it drove her into dark soft places and sometimes, into flaming rages of fear. Sometimes when she thought of school ending and the long months and years that came after, Caro herself felt a panicking flutter of fear deep inside her, and the thought that the flutter might be something akin to what Margot felt – the beginning of it, maybe – kept her awake at night. [Kelly Braffet]

HISTORY – We all kill the past in our own way. Some slit its throat, some let it die of neglect.

Last week I began a list of species that have become extinct. What started it was reading about a baby elephant that wouldn’t leave its mother’s side when hunters killed her, and died itself of starvation. I found out that ninety percent of all things that ever lived on earth are extinct, maybe more. As many as two hundred species pass away between Monday’s sunrise and Tuesday’s.

I do wonder. [James Sallis]

GUYS – It was a good dependable vehicle, but dependable was not what I wanted. A guy’s dick should get hard when he gets under the wheel of his first car. Driving that Dart was like taking your sister to the prom. [George Pelecanos]

CARS – “Old cars are like bad women,” said Houston. “They’re fun at first but they break down a lot and take your money little by little. For me, it’s alright when it’s little by little but then always, eventually, they hit you with the big bill. But by then you’ve already put so much time and money into them it’s hard to quit, so you pay up and then it starts all over again.” [           ]

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At its best, crime fiction in this country remains a kind of outsider art form, providing a street-level view of the American landscape. [               ]

– Derryll White once wrote books but now chooses to read and write about them.  When not reading he writes history for the web at www.basininstitute.org.

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