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5.0étoiles sur 5
AN ACCOMPLISHED FIRST NOVEL, Aoû 24 2003
"Robert Elgin died on the street, knocked down and run over by a Second Avenue bus while pursuing a woman he thought he could not live without." How's that for an opening line grabber? With these arresting words debut novelist Samuel Ligon hooks readers who find themselves eagerly turning pages to discover just what brought Elgin to such an abrupt, untimely end. Tracking the answer to this question is pure pleasure as Mr. Ligon reveals his story in authoritative, gripping prose. We learn that Elgin was once living the good life, the very good life in Michigan. He was happily married to Laura, and the father of two young children, Carrie, 5, and Tommy, 2. He worked in county labor, a negotiator. It was on the job that he quickly discovered just how seamy political corruption can be. His boss developed an acute case of political aspirations, and told Elgin to broker an under the counter deal that would fatten the gubernatorial wannabe's campaign chest. Soon after that another shock: Elgin learns that Carrie has been sexually abused by a 12-year-old neighbor boy. Before long he and Laura are up to their necks in the miasma of a justice system that seemed to offer no justice or safety for Carrie. Laura was pleased with the counseling the girl received, and found solace in her church. Elgin, on the other hand, bolted. He stole the dirty money and went to New York where he assumed another identity. Cash, he discovered, bought more than new clothes and a hotel room; it bought a false Social Security card and driver's license - it bought a whole new life. It also bought utter loneliness. Elgin realized "...there was not one person in the whole world, the whole universe, who he could talk to, or who knew who he was now - William Oliver, with no past, no context, no human encumbrance. It was as if he were dead..." Carla, a doctoral student at Columbia University who moonlights as a paid escort, revived him. She, too, wanted to put a great deal behind her. They teamed up, and with just under half a million dollars began a luxury filled trek across the country. But, where will they wind up and why? "Safe In Heaven Dead" is an accomplished first novel. Hopefully, it is also promise of what is yet to come from this extraordinary author.
- Gail Cooke
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