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A bare-bones summary of this novel's plot might make it sound like more of the same-old, same-old: a down-and-out reporter stumbles onto the story of a lifetime and risks everything she has to solve a series of murders that will blow the lid off a small-town scandal. Ho-hum, right? Wrong. No reader is going to look at this book and think: "Oh, well, another story about a homeless, broke, alcoholic tabloid reporter of Korean descent, a couple of dead Elvis impersonators, and a tax attorney's missing wife." The novel, which takes its title from the Tennessee town where the lead character grew up, is thoroughly entertaining, with an offbeat sense of humor and characters with names like Floyd Loyd and Morton Beaucheete (say the last one fast). The author doesn't forsake story for funny business, though: there's a solid mystery here, underneath the goofiness. A quirky, hard-edged, slightly absurdist thriller from a writer who definitely bears watching. Things have not been going well for journalist Sandy Bloomgarten. Her job went down the drain and her marriage quickly followed. After a lengthy bender, she awakens one morning to the stark realization that she is flat broke. Nonetheless, she's still a crack reporter and when a tabloid offers her a freelance assignment in Memphis—just a stone's throw from her childhood home in Mesopotamia, Tennessee—she takes it. Though sent there for one story, she winds up tracking down another: someone is killing Elvis impersonators who perform at the annual Sing-the-King festival. The few clues lead her to several unlikely characters: a cheating local minister constantly on the make, a strange band of misfits who only cover Elvis tunes, and a small-town private eye who blew himself up along with his crystal meth lab. As Sandy’s investigation closes, she realizes that she is sitting on what could be the story of the century. The only problem is she can never reveal what she has found. Arthur Nersesian's latest novel is a satiric thriller that takes an amusing view of America's predilection with the superficial over the relevant, and celebrity excitement over real news. |
