lisa_mc's review
2.0
In this debut novel, wounded Iraq war veteran Marcus Green returns home to Ohio, trying to fit back into civilian life. He reconnects with a high school girlfriend, goes to Mexico to visit a half-brother he hasn’t seen since childhood and halfheartedly thinks about work and college.
Nicholes has assembled some good ingredients for a story here, but the pot isn’t stirred and the story isn’t fully cooked. He throws in details and subplots ripe with potential — discrimination as Marcus tries to apply for a job, a fugitive stealing his wallet — but they mostly go nowhere.
The main problem is that we don’t really see what’s driving Marcus — what, if anything, motivates him or why. Maybe he doesn’t know himself, but the third-person narration doesn’t give much of a window into his character. There’s not much of a window into any of the other characters, either: Most of the supporting characters are sketches at best, details here and there but no more than rough outlines. Perhaps that’s how Marcus sees them, but the overall effect is a book that feels like a rough outline, a story that needs more meat on its bones.
Nicholes has assembled some good ingredients for a story here, but the pot isn’t stirred and the story isn’t fully cooked. He throws in details and subplots ripe with potential — discrimination as Marcus tries to apply for a job, a fugitive stealing his wallet — but they mostly go nowhere.
The main problem is that we don’t really see what’s driving Marcus — what, if anything, motivates him or why. Maybe he doesn’t know himself, but the third-person narration doesn’t give much of a window into his character. There’s not much of a window into any of the other characters, either: Most of the supporting characters are sketches at best, details here and there but no more than rough outlines. Perhaps that’s how Marcus sees them, but the overall effect is a book that feels like a rough outline, a story that needs more meat on its bones.
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