Over the Edge
Review by Darren Sutherland
Over the Edge
by Marc Paul Kaplan
Komenar Publishing. $24.95
|
An admission: I sometimes find reading first novels from new publishers daunting. So it was with some trepidation that I picked up Marc Paul Kaplan’s Over the Edge, just released this month from Komenar Publishing, a start-up publisher from San Francisco. Knowing nothing of the book, I waded in gingerly… and was hooked before the third chapter.
This debut thriller crackles with energy. The story centers on Matthew Green, a Vietnam vet dealing with both the physical and mental scars left to him by the war. Trained to kill, he is seeking only peace in the (then) small ski haven of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, circa 1969. But that wouldn’t be any fun, would it?
Enter Frankie Fiorini a low-level mobster with an education and an attitude. Kaplan does a wonderful job of making this character sympathetic even as he bumbles his way through the small western town. Frankie has been sent to hunt down the man who has turned his father over to the Feds, knowing only that he now lives in Jackson Hole, as part of the newly instituted Witness Protection Program. As Frankie and Matthew settle into their own roles in the small western town, we can feel their arcs heading towards confrontation, particularly with the arrival of the new girl in town, Sarah. Kaplan has created a slew of interesting characters, such as Wesley, an ex-Korean War veteran who has found an uneasy peace with his demons. Wesley becomes Matthew’s foil, tenuously leading him through the pitfalls of his post-war rage, as both Sarah and Frankie swirl at the perimeter.
The local Jackson Hole crowd will ring familiar with many readers having their own acquaintance with a small western ski town. The tension between the city and town rings true, as well. But above that, Kaplan has fashioned a taught thriller that I didn’t want to put down. This new publisher’s website states, as a sort of mission statement, “KOMENAR Publishing believes that a novel should be a compelling read… Readers are entitled to stories with strong forward momentum, engaging and dynamic characters, and evocative settings.” Marc Paul Kaplan has given them a head start towards this goal.
Return to Reviews Page
|
