Girls: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle) (1997)

A troubled soul wanders through the labyrinth of life after losing his infant daughter. The story reveals itself very slowly and intricately. The beginning is the end and there is no resolution to many of the issues in the book—true to life. This would not work if it were tied up in a neat bow at the end.

What was the purpose of the secret service issue. Seems like just part of the author’s political agenda—didn’t fit in unless I’m missing something. ( )

Girls are missing from this college town and a lowly maintenance worker is brought into the fray. Brilliant writing. ( )

This book was hard to follow for me. Because of the writing style, I found myself re-reading sentences and paragraphs just to get the tone right and really understand what he was talking about. I think the main character was supposed to be sarcastically witty, but it didn't get pulled off...and the wife, although going through a tragic pain..annoyed me. ( )

(#27 in the 2003 Book Challenge)

It's a suspense story, but the writing style is really very unusual. One of the things I liked about it is that the reader is never exactly sure how she feels about the various characters, they all seem to have good and bad sides. Our narrator is a security guard at an upstate New York college, and has recently lost a daughter -- the title refers to the various young girls that intersect his life, and his drive to protect these girls from harm. I got into an interesting conversation with a bartender while I was reading this book, about the fact that the title "Girls" seems like it should be salacious. I think the author plays with this idea, too.

Grade: B+/A-
Recommended: to people who like suspense, but are also interested in the psychology of the various characters in the story. This is almost more like an atmosphere piece than an actual mystery. ( )