THE NARROWS by Alexander C. Irvine

Here is another review originally published with SFReader in 2006. It is a great novel, and one I hope all of you take a look at--it is very much worth the time and effort. Not to mention it is extraordinarily entertaining.

Next week I will--finally!--have at least one original review here at Gravetapping; to wet your appetite I'm just finishing A Fine Night For Dying by Jack Higgins, and Pulitzer Prize winner The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Maybe one, or hell I may go wild and get both reviewed and online sometime next week.

The Narrows by Alexander C. Irvine is an urban / historical fantasy novel set in World War Two Detroit. It is the story of Jared Cleaves. Jared works on the line of a golem factory in Detroit--the factory is owned by Henry Ford, but the work going on inside is certainly not automobile manufacturing. While Jared's job is unusual, it is routine, if not down-right tedious, as he sifts through clay looking for anything non-organic: iron, steel, barbed wire, fencing or anything else that might destroy the golem's awakening. An old rabbi who works just off the plant floor uses ancient magic to bring the golems to life. And they are sent out into the world to fight the Nazi menace.

This novel is anything but routine. Irivine develops a cast of seemingly real, living, breathing characters. Jared Cleaves is a working class kid with a wife, a young daughter and a smashed up hand that keeps him out of the war. He has tried to enlist, on more than one occasion, but they designate him 4-F every time. He doesn't want much, but he wants to do his part, make his sacrifice for the war effort. And, he tries to convince himself, he is doing just that in the golem factory, but he can't seem to shake the idea that he is a slacker, a bum, or even worse, a coward. These emotions make Jared the perfect target for a game of spy versus spy. He doesn't know much, but everyone, including a talking bird, a couple competing German spies and an American outfit called the OEI, wants everything he has and more. It begins when his supervisor bullies him into getting information about Henry Ford's newest plant at the Rouge, and it doesn't end until Detroit is brought to its knees by a race riot, and Jared is in the middle of it all.

The Narrows is that unusual novel that is able to mix fantasy--curses, magic, and wonder--with a well focused historical setting that seems not only real, but also accurate and factual. Irvine's descriptions of wartime Detroit are harrowing and complete. He has an ability to bring the city and its residents alive. The reader can see the streets, the factories, and more importantly the people as they struggle through their journeys. The fantasy is a small element that, as the story progresses, gains more and more significance, until it overshadows the history and makes the story plain with its own simplicity.

Alexander Irvine is a writer that has the ability to tell a gritty, real and worthwhile story and entertain at the same time. The Narrows is one of the best novels--fantasy or anything else--released in 2005. Its look at racism, war, and the working class is poignant and thought provoking, while its replacement of monsters (golems, werewolves and dragons) for the monsters-that-are-men (Nazis, war, and the over-zealous) is excruciatingly accurate. The Narrows should be on every reader's list, but short of that lofty goal, it should at least be on your reading list.

The Best of 2006

I know you have been waiting all year to read my best of 2006 list, and so to satisfy your hunger, here it is. But first, a few remarks: 1) These titles weren't necessarily published in 2006, but rather I read them in 2006; 2) I tend to re-read some of my favorite authors / titles, and to keep the list fair, a book has to be new to me to be included; 3) I completed fifty books this year, down from 77 last year, and 75 the previous year--a slump, or am I just busy? The latter, I think.

Drum roll, please. And picture your favorite celeb at the podium in their best dress / tuxedo with a modest smile and outrageously expensive haircut. Ready? Here goes. (They are listed in descending order, and order in this case does matter.)

5) Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston. This was a two day wonder. I opened, I read and I damn near couldn't put it down. Damn sleep, damn school, damn work. Preston is best known for his collaboration with Lincoln Child, but Tyrannosaur Canyon is all Preston, and I liked it as well, and better than most, of his collaborations. The action is swift, the characters are likeable, and the story is sharp. I was disappointed when this one ended.

4) Caught Stealing by Charlie Huston. This is the first installment of Huston's Hank Thompson trilogy, and it rocks. If you want cool, Huston writes it. If you want adventure, crime, violence, scary-as-shit suspense, Huston writes that, too. Start at the beginning, and read them all.

3) The Narrows by Alexander C. Irvine. I read this one for SFReader, and I loved every minute of it. It is an urban fantasy / historical novel set in World War 2 Detroit. Irvine's descriptions of the city feel so real you can almost hear the slightly disgruntled baseball fans watching the Tigers lose again and again, and even better you can damn near smell the hot dogs and beer. If you like historical novels, fantasy, or just great story-telling read this book.

2) An Obituary for Major Reno by Richard S. Wheeler. I read this book in January, but its images of a haunted Major Reno and his role at the battle of the Little Bighorn is still fresh in my mind. Wheeler takes the much maligned Major Reno and gives him a face, a life, and allows the reader to observe the man as a man, rather than a scape-goat. Richard Wheeler is a master of the western story, and this book very well may be his masterpiece.

1) The Crimes of Jordan Wise by Bill Pronzini. Pronzini is a master of the mystery, and while his Nameless Detective series is terrific, I always look forward to his stand alone novels because they have an atmosphere and tension that set them apart from his series books. The Crimes of Jordan Wise is part crime novel and part philosophy. The action is there, the atmosphere is sharp and haunting, but the story peels away to reveal something far deeper. My only wish is that more people read Pronzini. And he wrote several dozen a year.

Well, there you have it. For better or worse, was it worth the wait?