Gabriel Rackett stands at the threshold of middle age. He lives north of Chicago and teaches at a small community college. He has written one novel and has no prospects of writing another, his powers stagnated by drink and loss. Into his possession comes a manuscript, written by a childhood friend and neighbour, which ignites his memory and takes him back to his mysterious mentor and the ghosts that haunted his own coming of age. Now, at the ebb of his resources, Gabriel returns to his old haunts through a series of fantastic stories spilling dangerously off the page-tales that will preoccupy and pursue him back to their dark and secret sources.
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[Dear Jasmine, I went back to Mass yesterday]***
(Seventh Star Press, 12 June 2019, 386 pages, ebook, copy @TCMPublicity and voluntarily reviewed)
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I read and really enjoyed the first book in the city quartet, Dominic's Ghosts so I had very high expectations for this. I'm relieved to say I wasn't disappointed. Trajan's Arch works on every level. The blurb simply does not do this impressive, complex, multi-layered treat the justice it deserves. The story unfolds across prose, letters and extract from clinical studies. This sounds like a lot of take in but it's really not. The book is so engaging and well-written the different elements flow together. Trajan's Arch reminds me a lot of the work of Neil Gaiman. Gaiman is one of the best. Trajan's Arch reminded me a lot of American Gods. There is a coming of age story central to this complex tale, that of Gabriel when he was younger and Trajan Bell, a man who befriended him after Trajan returns to the neighbourhood to care for his mother. I loved this central story. It's so real and incredibly sad at times. I loved the way the author weaves together different types of narrative. This is a corker.
