crime fiction - an occasional "feature"

I review crime fiction for the undervalued, under read Pages Magazine - a publication which has greatly improved in both design and content since I began writing the mystery news column about 4 years ago...hard to believe that but true. They post teasers on the website, but I never seem to be one of the "in focus" items, lord knows why, so if you find my comments and attitude of interest, I guess there's only one way to get more.
I recently wrote about (and interviewed him) Edward Falco's terrific new novel, Wolf Point. Whether or not you think crime fiction can literary or will always remain beneath that quantified and oh-so-hallowed categorization, take it from me, this guy can write his ass off. Here is a compelling, insightful and compulsively readable crime novel that, of course, really isn't about crime, (tho Falco makes the most artful use of the genre's conventions) but instead reveals (and revels in!) one of Falco's favorite themes: how fast circumstances can change - and thus change one's life - in a flash...he returns to this theme over and over in the story, which revolves around an aimless divorced guy, "T" who picks up a couple of hitchhikers as he drives in a sort of haze around upstate New York. Of course they're bad people, but we don't really find out for quite some time. The three end up in an isolated cabin on the shores of the St Lawrence River, where the fun begins. And "T" isn't a saint, either: his marriage and okay family life has exploded apart because he downloaded what is taken to be a picture of child pornography. (There it is again - that single moment of, in this case, horrendous change) Now, this picture is never quite described as flat out exploitive porn, but we get the idea that "T" really shouldn't have gone there...
Anyway, this story moves in the most unexpected - and dramatic -- directions so that by the dreamy and most satisfying ending we know we've just been taken for a thoughtful, entertaining and absolutely imaginative ride -- one that, like the best fiction, period, stays in our minds for a long time after that final page is turned. Don't miss it.