The Last Good Day

By far Peter Brauner's best, the book compares favorably to something like Updike's RABBIT REDUX. On every page I had to pause to remind myself that I don't actually live in Riverside, the New York suburb where the action is largely set, but far away in California. That's how convincingly he draws you into the story. Most writers have no idea how to integrate the working lives of their characters into the give and take of a thriller. Here I was totally taken in by Barry Schulman's working world in the high concept life of a biotech company, by Lynn's photography and the way a reader could actually visualize many of her best pictures, by Mike's life as a small town detective with a big city style crime to solve. There was a lot of class stuff too, which again most American novelists can't handle. And most of all, the suspense which got to be so overpowering I didn't want to do anything but finish the book. The 9/11 material was handled with distinction; I liked Barry falling all over the commuter who, because he wasn't seen on the train for some time, was believed to have perished at the World Trade Center.

With Slow Motion Riot, Blauner reinvented the urban crime novel back when the so-called New Realists were still trying to cop a puff on Elmore Leonard's cigarettes. With his newest book, he stretches into new territory and takes on suburban life in the new century with the same unsparing eye. Unlike some other readers, I felt the 9/11 references were skillfully done and heartfelt, without stooping to sentimentality. And the writing is carefully wrought and richly textured from line to line. Readers looking for phony tough guy heroes and breathless escapism should look elsewhere. This is a fine American crime writer telling uncomfortable truths.

Welcome to the suburbs, crime-fiction style. This is Peter Blauner's best since SLOW MOTION RIOT. Thoreau says that most men lead lives of quiet desperation. Here's exhibit A. Except that the women are just as desperate. And the police may or may not be of much help. The Irish/Jewish interplay is honest and effective, the plotting superb, the middle-class tragic ending satisfying. Considering the fact that most of the violence is psychological and the frightening atmospherics result largely from mundane suburban situations, this is impressive work indeed. Blauner delivers all of the suspenseful un-put-downableness of a Lee Child, but with very different materials and in a quite different ethos. Bravo.

Peter Blauner's fifth novel salvaged an otherwise miserable and rainy Memorial Day weekend on Eastern Long Island. Put on some sweats, throw a few logs on the fire and begin turning the pages of an enormously readable murder mystery--probably one of the best I've read in years. Set in a bucolic Westchester bedroom community in the wake of 9/11 (a skillfully employed subtext), murder interrupts and ultimately destroys the lives of several well developed characters. With Blauner's brilliant dialogue and crystal clear images, you can almost feel the characters' pain. If the sun ever does come out, it will be a great beach read.

Blauner is one of those authors that just keeps getting better and better. From SLOW MOTION RIOT to THE LAST GOOD DAY, he brings an extraordinary sense of authenticity to his novels. His latest is his best and most compelling. Great characters, a plot that gets more and more interesting as it develops, and a wonderful ending make this the best novel I've read this year.