Matala

I have now read every thing published by Craig Holden. This book, with its tight prose, tighter characters, and swirling plot, does not disappoint. Like all Holden books, it is not like the other ones before except in the need of each main character to find some redemptive innocence in the impossible circumstances in which Holden draws them. Like all of his books, it is tough. There is no room for flinching. You can't look away. You can only hold on and wait.

Thirty years as a psychotherapist taught me a lot, but only a few constants. One was that wherever you find sadism you will find masochism. Not something particularly original, both Freud and Hegal emphasized the ubiquity of sadomasochism in the human emotional repertoire: the master needs the slave and vice versa. Sadomasochism drives many relationships and is an ingredient of our love of horror stories and thrillers. An illustration is Craig Holden's sixth novel, "Matala." Holden has been labeled a writer of "literary thrillers," a tag perhaps deserved for his first three novels (beautifully written police procedurals, one of which, "The River Sorrow," received glowing praise from Michael Ondaatji, one of our finest literary novelists). But with his fourth endeavor, "The Jazz Bird" (an historical novel about a murder in Ohio in the twenties), Holden moved in a more purely literary direction. Curiously enough, that move coincided with his interest in the protean shades of sadomasochism, where impulse and perversity dictate whether cat becomes mouse, or mouse becomes lion-tamer. His next novel, "The Narcissist's Daughter," about a young man who, when his affair with his employer's wife ends badly, seduces her 17 year old daughter (an act of revenge that is avenged from the grave), established Holden as a master of the twist as well as an adept investigator of the human psyche. With "Matala," however, Holden catapults his exploration of sadomasochism into diabolical heights. For a high school graduation present Darcey Arlen's parents have sent her to Italy. Bored and adventurous, she ventures alone into Rome only to encounter what she thinks is a familiar face from high school. "Call me Will," the young man says when she approaches him. We soon discover that 22 year old Will is one half of an international grifter team. The other half, Justine, an older woman with whom Will is having a torrid, maybe even incestuous, affair is an expert in the pleasure of pain. The tension is immense: The little lamb has wandered into the Wolves' den but, in Holden's hands, Darcey Arlen becomes the victim from hell. This little lamb likes her wolf with fava beans and a good Chianti. This predator/prey relationship seesaws across Europe, from Rome to Venice, finally culminating in Matala, a village on Crete: a thrilling ride, but not only thrilling. The parallels with Durrell and De Sade, both of whom wrote novels entitled "Justine" that explored sadomasochism, are both obvious and pleasurable. So is Holden's literary technique: he allows the reader to live inside the psyche of his characters by presenting each chapter from a different point of view. When he wants to deliver an intimate portrait, he employs the first person, but in doing so, he exposes that character's vulnerabilities. When he wants to present a more reliable account, he writes in the third person. Holden's switching narrators and points of view is seamless: the novel folds in around itse

I strongly recommend this for any reader who loves mystery, modern noir and appreciates the kind of masterful writing where the words somehow transform into images with such fluidity that you aren't even aware of yourself reading. I picked up the book for a recent red-eye flight from LA to NY, couldn't put it down and found myself finishing it up in the cab on the way to the hotel. The story is a taught, sexy little thriller that sucks you in with it's intrigue from page one and doesn't let go. The characters are immediately involving and the pace is just perfect. The ending of each chapter is such that it's very difficult not to move on to the next right away. I love that kind of a read! Craig Holden is a hugely gifted author, a true master of his craft. If you're looking for a speedy, entertaining and a rewarding read -- GET THIS BOOK!

Approach this thin volume with caution: its spare prose and storybook opening (sweet college girl on a dream vacation to the art and architecture capitols of Europe) belie a den of figurative snakes. We learn very quickly that the trio portrayed here are duplicitous, cunning, and hungry takers. What makes them so interesting is that they are also naive, vulnerable, and a lot closer to our own humanity than their secrets and lies would have us believe (or comfortably contemplate). Holden is a new author to me and this twisting narrative, with its stunning trek across Europe and its surprising climax in Crete, its amoral characters, and its twisting, turning, and always surprising plotline, will ensure I read more of this author's work. Matala is the darkest of flowers, with a cloying scent that paradoxically attracts and repels. Highly recommended.

The unpredictability of human nature is Holden's trump card in this small but potent tale of a young girl's initiation into the sophisticated corruption of a world where opportunists gather around a potential victim like sharks circling a flailing swimmer. When Darcy Arlen breaks from her boring European tour while in Rome, she intends only to briefly escape into the "real" city, to sample off-tour reality. It is entirely by chance and the fickleness of fate that Darcy encounters the prematurely world-weary Will, an American on the downside of an offbeat adventure far from home. Finding the young man eerily familiar, Darcy strikes up a conversation, the two drawn into a seductive relationship that begins with dinner (Will hasn't eaten for two days) and segues into an unexpected detour for Darcy, who bolts her tour for the exciting unknown beside her new friend. What Darcy doesn't realize, but soon learns, is that Will is not alone, attached for the last two years of his wandering to Justine, an older, more jaded traveler, a natural con who has been schooling Will in the fine art of fleecing the innocent to support an unpredictable lifestyle, fencing credit cards, indulging in other petty crimes when expedience demands. The relationship between Will and Justine is unusual, to say the least, peripatetic lovers and thieves grown weary of the game by the time Darcy presents herself, too ripe and full of promise to be ignored. Taking advantage of the nineteen-year-old, well-heeled young woman proves remarkably easy, irresistible, in fact. When Justine makes arrangements to deliver a package to far-away Crete, Darcy is surprisingly accommodating, financing the journey and happily accompanying her two new friends. The unpredictable element in this short, shocking tale of treachery and deceit is Darcy, perched on the edge of discontent the afternoon she meets the handsome stranger, her indulgent parents sufficiently distant to allow a margin of rebelliousness. Her eye on Will, Darcy indulges Justine's need to control the situation, soon becoming a worthy and unexpected adversary. As the package moves closer to its destination, the balance of power subtly shifts, the trio enacting their own small drama from bar to bedroom, largely oblivious to the criminal element that infects each city they visit. At the end of the line, the devil demands his due, Darcy, Justine and Will confronted with the price of their reckless odyssey. Sharp-witted and exotic, Holden's novel provides the dark thrills of the forbidden, a knife's edge of danger creating a precarious balance of impulse, abandon and greed. Luan Gaines/ 2007.