Wormwood, Nevada

David Oppegaard's second novel was an excellent read! I enjoyed following the journey of Anna and Tyler as they look to expand their life's options, and the meaning of their lives as well, all within a town who's edges are unraveling. Books that blend the personal journeys of ordinary individuals within a context of extraordinary, supernatural events, can be both insightful and thrilling. Wormwood, Nevada comes through in both those respects. Oppegaard's seemingly straightforward prose, shelters a complexity of ideas, that will haunt you long after you're done reading.

"Wormwood, Nevada" is a strange, smart and wonderful book. I read it really quickly, but now I want to go back and savor the details and the small and large ways Oppegaard plays with genre conventions. Such a fun read!

Having read Oppegaard's first novel, "The Suicide Collectors", I had high expectations for his sophomore effort. Luckily, "Wormwood, Nevada" was up to task. His characters probe surprising depths (as well as the author's trademark sense of humor) in the clever dialogue filling up the otherwise quiet, colloquial space of the Mayfields' new city. Sweet, melancholy, and exciting all at once in its post-meteorite adventure, "Wormwood, Nevada" is a very rewarding read.

In early June, Tyler Mayfield and his wife Anna embark on a journey from Nebraska to Wormwood, Nevada, where they hope to start anew. Tyler, a teacher, has been alerted to a job opening in the area, and he uses that as an incentive to begin a new life with Anna, a former Miss Nebraska beauty queen. However, they have no idea how drastically their lives --- and the lives of the citizens of Wormwood --- would be changed. During the long drive, with his wife asleep in the car, Tyler glances in the rearview mirror of his Volvo and catches a glimpse of a figure with "dark, almond-shaped eyes staring back at him, cold and unblinking." When Tyler looks again, it has disappeared. Just who is this figure? And why does it remind him of his brother, Cody, and Cody's disappearance all those years ago, which still consumes Tyler to this day? Tyler assumes his backseat vision has occurred because he is overtired, but the appearance of the odd passenger is just the start of a strange, cosmic adventure for Tyler and Anna. When the couple arrives in the middle of the desert, they are greeted by Tyler's Aunt Bernice (aka Bernie) and her lovable dog, Roscoe. Bernie is the person who got word to Tyler about the teaching job in Wormwood, and she has invited him and Anna to move in with her until they can save money to buy a place of their own. Bernie is a chain-smoking, hard-drinking cafeteria worker --- one of the "Hairnets" --- at the local high school. She has lived in the desert for decades and knows how it affects visitors and even long-time residents. Not long after the couple's arrival, she warns them that the "heat gets to people." But the two seem to be doing well enough: Tyler begins teaching summer school remedial composition, albeit to suspicious and unwilling students, and Anna finds a job at a local casino. Things begin to change, however, when a meteor streaks across the sky. It lands in the middle of the Taco Thunder parking lot and leaves a deep crater. The blast from the landing propels Mr. Diaz, the owner of the restaurant, into a dumpster blocks away. Mr. Diaz is in shock, but thankfully he survives. After he returns home from the hospital, he abandons his restaurant to become a sentinel at the crash site, warning the denizens of Wormwood that "the end is near." Things turn deadly in Wormwood after Tyler and a new friend strike out in search of meteorite fragments and witness a raid on a meth lab. And it isn't long after the meteorite lands that Tyler's visions return and Anna's nightmares begin...along with a feeling of impending doom that pervades her waking hours. WORMWOOD, NEVADA is my first introduction to David Oppegaard's work. It is a haunting novel with a vivid setting and memorable characters, a story of cosmic love, loss and yearning. While I haven't read his previous book, THE SUICIDE COLLECTORS, I've added it to my reading list now. --- Reviewed by Donna Volkenannt

Tyler and Anna Mayfield leave Nebraska when he accepts an English teaching position in Wormwood, Nevada where his Aunt Bernie resides. The town is in the middle of the great basin desert, sixty-seven miles from any other hamlet. As they near the town on the second day of the boring drive Tyler nearly crashes their vehicle because he saw something in the back seat; but nothing is there. He continues to see odd beings. He believes are aliens or he else he thinks he is going insane as Anna never sees them. Instead she has nasty nightmares that the end of the world is near although she thinks it is a psychological fear of growing old and no longer able to win the Miss Nebraska beauty pageant. When a meteorite crashes nearby, the townsfolk believe the end has started while Bernie introduces Tyler to a local astronomy club who believe aliens are remaking the world in their image. This fast-paced science fiction thriller hooks readers from the opening scene when Tyler swears he saw a strange looking essence in the backseat of the car and never slows down although the end seems somewhat less exhilarating than anticipated with the build up. Anna and Tyler are fascinating protagonists as she fears aging and he never recovered from his older brother vanishing years ago. However, ironically in spite of being the leads, neither holds the plot together; instead the town of Wormwood with its isolation serves as the focus. Fans will enjoy David Oppegaard's entertaining thriller as meth labs meet ET. Harriet Klausner