Run Charlie Run by John Wiber

Charlie Mahon is an a-hole. When not getting smashed (as in completely, utterly, mind-boggling drunk), he treats his girlfriend Natasha like garbage, abuses drugs, and is selfish beyond belief.

He is also a student at the University of Ottawa, which to this Carleton University graduate may be the worst trait of all.

But I digress.

Horrible, horrible Charlie is the anti-hero in the new, self-published debut E-novel Run Charlie Run by Ottawa writer John Wiber (see Kobo and Amazon links).  A recent English graduate from the University of Ottawa, Wiber’s book explores the dark side of Canada's national capital, while painting an unflattering portrait of the book’s protagonist.

At present, the book is available electronically for about $1, which is less than most cups of coffee, although Wiber does plan to release an audio version on iTunes by the end of the year.

The book’s plot focuses on a crime ring that operates in a run-down (some would say evil) house on Percy Street. Wiber’s creepy description of this operation is so realistic, I don’t think I will ever be able to stroll down Percy again without thinking of this novel.

Readers who find the terrible crimes portrayed to be unrealistic, only have to skim the recent coverage of criminal trials in the city to see that horrible crimes do occur in Ottawa.

With that in mind, I found the story to be quite captivating overall, even if the writing is uneven at times.  Furthermore, if I were to level one criticism, it is that the story takes too long to get to the main plot that is pretty good, albeit quite disturbing. In my view, too many chapters are spent focusing on Charlie’s imbecile behaviour, before turning to the meat of the story which, if you enjoy horror or dark fiction, is a page turner.

Looking forward, Wiber tells me that he is currently working on two novels that he hopes to publish, one of which is a sequel to Run Charlie Run. Based on what I read in the first book, I look forward to reviewing his second literary release.

3 out of 5 stars

Shooting the Bruce by Clive Doucet

Shooting the Bruce tells the story of Tom Travis, a Canadian soldier who served as a peacekeeper in several countries.  When he is stationed in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the brutal war that took place there in the 1990s he has a mental breakdown. After witnessing the most violent war in Europe since World War Two, he wakes up one day and can no longer recognize himself in the mirror.

Suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, Travis leaves the army for a civilian life. Unfortunately, his mental struggles continue to haunt him and he breaks up with his fiance. Alone, unemployed and unsure where to live, he eventually settles in the fictitious small town of Wemje, Ontario, in Bruce County, where he establishes a wildlife photography business and begins the process of psychological healing.

The ensuing novel focuses on how people reinvent themselves. In regard to Travis, this can be seen in the play on the verb “to shoot,” where he goes from a world where he routinely fires guns, to a tranquil rural setting where he shoots photographs of wildlife.

He is not the only character, however, who is changing or searching for meaning. There is Hannah Eaglesmith, the reporter for the local newspaper the Wemje Advocate, who is moving on from a failed marriage, while doing everything she can to teach her children about their aboriginal roots.

Then there is the young son of the owner of the Wemje Advocate, who first meets Travis while sports shooting, but then starts changing his views on nature after accompanying Travis on awe inspiring trips to photograph eagles. In fact, this questioning of hunters who kill animals for pure sport is a recurring theme in the book, as Travis, the former soldier who is traumatized by war, criticizes rural sportsmen who kill for pleasure.

Overall, this is a very well-written book that recounts a beautiful story about healing and rediscovery.

4 out of 5 stars

The Poisoned Pawn by Peggy Blair

The Poisoned Pawn, which was released this past February, is the sequel to Peggy Blair's excellent debut novel The Beggar's Opera.

The sequel continues the highly complex plot from the first book, which encompasses Canada-Cuba relations, an international criminal ring with links to the Vatican, and difficult images from the streets of Ottawa that local residents often ignore.

While continuing with the wonderful characters from the first book, notably  Inspector Ramirez and the brilliant pathologist Hector Apiro, who suffers from dwarfism, the sequel introduces a new set of characters, such as Charlie Pike, an aboriginal police officer who started as a beat cop on the streets of Winnipeg and who escorts Ramirez during his trip to Canada. (The first book takes place in Havana, the second in Ottawa). 

As a resident of Ottawa, I thoroughly enjoyed reading a mystery set in my home city.  Truth be told, however, I would have loved this book regardless of where I lived, for this novel will appeal to mystery fans around the world.  So if you are not familiar with Blair's work, do yourself a favour and go out and read her two books.

4 out of 5 stars.

The Beggar's Opera by Peggy Blair

Ricardo Ramirez, the police inspector in charge of the Havana Major Crimes Unit, sees dead people. Yet again, his ability to interact with the ghosts of murdered victims may be a mental disease, perhaps even the same one that killed his grandmother.

A Canadian police officer from Ottawa, meanwhile, is arrested for the rape and murder of a young boy while vacationing in Havana. From this captivating beginning, Peggy Blair opens her debut novel The Beggar’s Opera, which tells the story of arguably Cuba’s greatest fictional police inspector.

The idea for the books stem from a trip that Blair took to Havana in December 2006 with her daughter. Having just left a 30-year legal career, which included working in the heart wrenching residential school process, she was in a period of transition. After her daughter encouraged her to do something active she started to write.

Moved by her daughter’s words, as well as her trip to Old Havana in Christmas of 2006, Blair came up with the idea of writing a mystery set in Cuba. The result is a wonderful literary efforts with unforgettable characters. There is Inspector Ramirez, a first-class detective who sees the ghosts of murdered people. In addition to solving crimes, he has to deal with the shortages facing Cuba, such as the lack of fuel for police vehicles.

Then there is Hector Apiro, a brilliant pathologist and one of Cuba’s top plastic surgeons who suffers from dwarfism. His small physical stature hides his genius mind and deep compassion. All in all this is wonderful mystery novel that is well worth the read.

4 out of 5 stars

Ru by Kim Thúy

It’s fashionable in some circles to argue that the novel is a dying art form.  According to this group – which includes, ironically, published fiction writers – novels no longer have the power to move society, nor do they offer much space for new forms of artistic creativity.

In her remarkable debut novel Ru, Saigon born but now Montreal-based writer Kim Thúy clearly demonstrates that the reports on the death of the novel have been greatly exaggerated.

In a beautifully written, poetic story, she tells the tale of a Vietnamese woman who grows up in a rich household, before fleeing Vietnam following the Communist victory in the mid-1970s in her country’s long civil war. First landing in a Malaysian refugee camp and then moving to Quebec, the woman’s story is a moving account full of love and horror, beauty and pain, which manages to constantly celebrate the wonder of life.

Besides the touching narrative, what is truly remarkable about Ru is its format. Rather than using a conventional prose style, the story is told in a serious of poetic vignettes, which are akin to skimming through a literary album of photographs.

The best way I can describe this novel is to compare it to pointillism, the painting technique that uses distinct dots to create images. Thúy’s observations are contained in short passages of one to three pages long, (literary “dots” so to speak), which when combined produce a remarkably fluid tale.

Originally published in French in 2010, Ru won the 2010 Governor General’s Award for French language fiction, in addition to other international prizes. Translated into English in 2012, the book was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. While it is a quick read, (I finished it in about three hours), the book’s 141 pages contain a lot of emotion, insight and characters. A remarkable work which shows that the novel can still be a brilliant art form.

5 out of 5 stars