Frederick Reiken

Wow. I mean this was one of those surprising, holy-crap kinda novels that just sneaks up on ya, grabs on, and doesn't let go until the very last page. And I read the whole thing in just a few sittings over the last 24 hours. I feel a little guilty that it took me more than twenty years to 'discover' it. It's called THE ODD SEA (1998), and it was a first novel, by Frederick Reiken. I found it at a library sale last week, and I bought it because it had a couple very laudatory blurbs on the show more back cover from two of my favorite writers, Frederick Busch and Hilma Wolitzer.

It's actually a rather quiet family drama, about a Massachusetts family, the Shumways, with five kids, whose older son Ethan suddenly goes missing without a trace. It's narrated by his younger brother Philip, who is just thirteen when Ethan disappears, and takes us through the next five years, with plenty of backstory about Ethan, Philip, their three sisters and parents. And every one of the characters is pretty damn interesting. Philip is center stage, of course, and gives us as moving and touching a coming-of-age story as you will ever find, with early tentative sexual awakening, and of course the mystery of what happened to Ethan, who was an extremely talented young musician and athlete. A local arts academy is also important to the story, as is its mysterious director, who has a "dark angel" side which gradually reveals itself in her relationship to Ethan.

But hey, maybe everyone else has already heard about and READ this compelling first novel, and I'm just late to the party yet again. But if, by chance, you have NOT read it, and you enjoy a beautifully written, artfully constructed novel, READ this book! It's THE ODD SEA (a child's mis-hearing of THE ODYSSEY), by Frederick Reiken. My apologies to Mr Reiken for taking so long to read it, and my belated thanks to Hilma W and the 'other' Frederick, the late Mr Busch for praising it those many years ago. My very highest recommendation.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less

Wow. Because yeah, Frederick Reiken's DAY FOR NIGHT is one of those kinda books, the kind that just leaves you speechless with awe and admiration. Spanning several decades and countries, its cast of characters continues to expand and become more complex as the story swoops and spirals from 1980s Florida, New Jersey and Utah to Nazi Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Israel, and back again, as it follows the lives of Holocaust survivors. The Weatherman underground appears periodically, in the person show more of a mysterious, tall woman of multiple identities, pursued over decades by a tenacious FBI agent. An evil cult abuses children, causing lasting and horrific harm. A Jewish grandfather in a New Jersey nursing home (Max Rubin, a character from Reiken's previous novel, THE LOST LEGENDS OF NEW JERSEY), marries Doris, a widow, and former resistance fighter with some dark secrets of her own. An Israeli animal specialist in the Negev desert struggles with traumatic memories and unwanted public attention. All of these and other seemingly disparate characters share connections that only become obvious as the reader moves deeper into the pages of this deeply researched and exquisitely formed novel. I was completely caught up and kept turning pages, reading deep into the night. Wow! Yeah. Reiken is simply one helluva talent, and has been recognized as just that from the publication of his first novel, THE ODD SEA, over twenty years ago. I've read all three of his books now, and will continue to follow his career with great interest. This one? Wow! My highest recommendation.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less

THE LOST LEGENDS of NEW JERSEY is a coming of age novel that is kind of all over the place as it covers the early 1980s high school years of Jewish hockey whiz, Anthony Rubin, with scattered echoes of Romeo and Juliet, The Godfather, and I'm really not sure what else. The "lost legends" of the title seem to be a number of central characters here - philandering, bipolar parents, horny teens, a widowed grandfather - or maybe actual Jersey legends, like Springsteen or the doctor-poet William show more Carlos Williams. Anthony's father is a failed clarinetist-doctor, after all. There is a large, somewhat unwieldy cast of characters here, but all are fascinating and finely drawn, and Anthony himself anchors them into a kind of awkward plot unity that keeps you reading. Although I sometimes wondered where it was all going, I never got bored, and, ultimately, well, I just enjoyed the hell out of these thoroughly messy lives, and left them feeling that Anthony was gonna turn out okay. Very highly recommended.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less

Take a woman vacationing in Florida … and her wildlife guide there … and his band’s female lead singer … and the singer's comatose brother -- and when you finally look up you'll discover you’ve followed Frederick Reiken’s tangent-filled narrative nearly 100 pages into his terrific third novel. And you haven’t yet gotten to a half-dozen other interesting characters.

Day for Night is a literary mystery of coincidences and connections. Its ten chapters (each nearly a short story) show more are told from different points of view, exploring characters' deep backstories and linking them into a growing story in progress. It calls to mind the TV series Lost and the film Crash -- the chains of events that lead people to meet and interact and discover amazing things.

I liked pulling back and considering how the stories were building and how they might all be brought together. And I liked being on each page -- traveling around the USA and to Poland and especially Israel with characters I cared about; spending time in nature and with animals; and exploring an aspect of the Holocaust that I’d not previously encountered. Highly recommended.

(Review based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher.) show less