Family Matters
By Joel Rosenberg
Fiction
A Forge Book - website
Published by
Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10010
Hardcover, 320 Pages
ISBN 0-765-30499-6$24.95
If Sheriff Ernest Hemingway sounds odd to you, you can only imagine how strange it sounds to Hemingway himself. Of course this is not Ernest Hemingway the novelist; this is Ernest Hemingway laid-back freelance science fiction and fantasy copyeditor and longtime resident of Hardwood, North Dakota. Better known to locals as "Sparky," Hemingway has long become accustomed to reactions to his famous moniker, but as for the sheriff business, only the threat of a prison sentence could get him thinking seriously about taking on that particular job. Unfortunately, unless Sparky can quickly transform himself into a duly appointed officer of the law, he could find himself on the inside of prison bars looking out.
His predicament springs from the battle between the two tiny communities of Hardwood and Thompson over a level-three trauma center. The town that gets the new center will enjoy the economic spin-offs derived from four million dollars in annual salaries. The other will, like countless other small Midwestern towns, face continuing decline and eventual oblivion. Make no mistake, the fight for the trauma center is a fight for survival. With so much at stake, it's only a matter of time before the gloves come off. At this point the tactics have devolved into flinging charges of wrongdoing at prominent citizens of the rival community.
Unfortunately for Sparky, a few months ago, he broke the law in an innocent, but potentially very serious way. Sparky wanted to get a close-up look at a car full of dead big city gangbangers who had driven into Hardwood with plans to murder Sparky's foster daughter Tenisha and probably Sparky too. The killers' luck turned sour when their car went off the road in the middle of a blizzard. Carbon monoxide fumes had done the rest. This was the same gang Sparky and a few of his old army buddies had come up against in Home Front, an earlier novel that recounted the rescue of Tenisha from the Minneapolis street scene.
Flashing a badge passed to him by Jeff Bjerke, Hardwood's town cop, Sparky made his way into the crime scene only to be spotted by a suspicious state police detective. Unless Sparky can find a way to turn his masquerade into reality, he and Bjerke could end up being charged with criminal conspiracy. Worse, the fallout could finish off Hardwood's hopes of winning the trauma center.
The problem with Family Matters is the premise of the feuding municipalities is ultimately too thin to sustain the plot. There's just not much mystery to this mystery. And if you're into action-packed adventures, this is definitely not the book for you.
Fans of Hemingway the novelist, shouldn't waste their time looking for references to their favorite author in Family Matters. The only things shared by Papa and Sparky are their cognomens, a certain conversance with firearms, and an enthusiasm for blood sports. It's pretty obvious that the author's real intention is to give fans of the earlier novel, another chance to spend some time in Sparky's company. These would be people who enjoy first-person novels narrated by an opinionated character with a self-consciously clever and not entirely self-deprecating voice. This will definitely not appeal to everyone, and there are those for whom the thought of being seated next to a Sparky on an extended flight is the stuff of nightmares.
A rather minor quibble: there's no real reason to expect flawless copyediting in a novel just because the main character is a copyeditor. However, alert readers will no doubt be entertained by a couple of minor continuity gaffes that any copyeditor should have nailed. If you enjoyed Home Front, you may well enjoy Family Matters, but be warned; it's a book that really doesn't stand up well on its own.
Bill Stephens
GWN Book Reviewer
bill_stephensca@yahoo.ca
Three badges out of five
