Travis Mulhauser

This is a STUNNING debut featuring a marvelous, scrappy, deep teen heroine, Percy. Every line is a master class in character and the book's gripping emotional landscape. The structure is solid, page-turning perfection. The book is funny, heart-breaking, thrilling. I think Mulhauser is a disciple of one of my other writing icons, Charles Portis (and one of his deeply flawed heroes is named "Portis"). Mattie Ross ([b:True Grit|257845|True Grit|Charles Portis|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1436277655s/257845.jpg|1320617] speaks through Percy as she struggles to save a baby in the pitiless northwest Michigan winter. The story veers into almost fairy-tale-like territory after Percy is prevented from reaching a hospital and must deal with neverending snow, rampaging meth addicts, hired killers and trucks stuck in the deepening drifts. This one's going on my classics shelf along with [b:To Kill a Mockingbird|2657|To Kill a Mockingbird|Harper Lee|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361975680s/2657.jpg|3275794], [b:The Lovely Bones|12232938|The Lovely Bones|Alice Sebold|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1457810586s/12232938.jpg|1145090] and [b:A River Runs Through It and Other Stories|30043|A River Runs Through It and Other Stories|Norman Maclean|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924914s/30043.jpg|2455271].
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My first 'mystery' novel from Blind Date with a Book, and such a good selection! I don't know if I would ever have chosen to read a book like this, but I thoroughly enjoyed the story.

'Everything got sideways,' he said. 'It all got twisted around.' So says one of the characters in this quirky adventure, and I couldn't put it better myself. Sixteen year old Percy James heads through the snow in northern Michigan to find her estranged doped-up mother at a notorious dealer's house, and instead finds a neglected baby freezing to death by an open window. Instead of returning to her truck and driving to hospital, Percy sets off on foot with the baby to her mother's ex boyfriend, Portis Dale, seeking help. When she changes the baby's nappy, they find terrible sores on her body and realise she needs urgent medical attention, but Portis' truck is also parked miles away. So they have to hike through the woods, in a blizzard, with a malnourished baby. And then they realise that Shelton Potter, the dealer living with the baby's drug addict mother, is coming to get the baby back.

A breathless blend of True Grit and Fargo, I found myself instantly caught up in Percy's (mis)adventures - all she wanted to do was keep the baby safe from her whacked-out mother, only to find herself on the run from a dangerous and completely unstable man, in sub-zero temperatures, hiking across treacherous terrain in unsuitable footwear. Whatever happened to just calling the police? Percy is a great character with a pioneer spirit and a wry sense of humour, and Portis is equally droll but also full of midwestern wisdom. I even felt sorry for addle-brained Shelton, mourning the death of his dog and trying to do the best by the baby and his mother. There is a lot of substance abuse in this book, but I'm guessing there's not a lot more to do in small, cold town.

This is the author's debut novel, but I would definitely read more of his work. Recommended.… (more)

Oh my word. Travis Mulhauser!

Signs of a great writer:

1) The ability to horrify the reader with what's happening while making them laugh. Check.
2) Writing from first person POV and swapping with third person - and reader doesn't care/notice/give a damn. Check.
3) Writes about what's happening to his characters in such a way the reader rubs her toes, thinking they too are frost bit. Check.

I read this while flying to and from New Orleans for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance. It was the perfect airport/plane seat read because I had no clue I was trapped in such crowded conditions. Nope. I was in Michigan with Percy, Shelton (Jughead!), Portis, and all the others.… (more)

I think SWEETGIRL was a Michigan Notable book a couple years back, and deservedly so. Travis Mulhauser is quite a writer. This story of drug addicts and crazies in northern Michigan is just one hell of a ride. Its heroine, 16 year-old Percy James, is doing her best to rise above her roots and her meth-addicted mother. And then suddenly there's this screaming, neglected baby that she finds in a meth house, and of course she has to rescue it, and it all takes place in the midst of a raging northern blizzard. And therein hangs this tale - a barreling, non-stop ride of terror and tenderness, leavened with chuckles and amazement at the stupidity & brain-scrambled, drug-addled madness of Shelton Potter, a 'big-headed' villain you can't quite bring yourself to hate. And there's Portis, the closest thing to a father that Percy's ever known, whose wisdom and love shows through the cracks of his whiskey-soaked sadness.

And speaking of Portis, you can't help but think of TRUE GRIT's heroine as you share Percy's flight through the snow-covered woods seeking aid for the baby she's grabbed and run with. I thought too of another classic thriller, John Smolens' chilling Upper Peninsula novel, COLD. Or another winter chiller that came to mind was Bill Roorbach's THE REMEDY FOR LOVE. But that's just me - always looking for comparisons. This Mulhauser guy, he's got his own writing chops. He's damn good. I enjoyed the hell outa this book. Very highly recommended.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the Michigan memoir, REED CITY BOY… (more)