‘‘So Far and Good,’’ by John Straley. Published by Soho Crime, Dec. 7, 2021. $27.95. Hardcover.
When I was a kid I used to enjoy watching street performers. One of them was a sword-swallowing, double-jointed man who let passers-by tie him up and wrap him in heavy chains. He would then slowly, painfully extricate himself.
Now our favorite fictional detective, Cecil Younger, is in an even thornier situation than the contortionist. His daughter, her best friend, and her boyfriend all got wrapped up in a complex situation that involves adults who may or may not be kidnappers. The adults may or may not be bad, and many are certainly dangerous. The kids run and hide in the alleys and harbors of Juneau. Caught in the adults’ game, the teens are simultaneously victims and perpetrators of violence. To make things even more complicated, Cecil is at Lemon Creek Correctional Center.
Under the glare of prison lights, Cecil Younger slowly adapts to the prison ecosystem. In order to survive, he makes compromises and takes risks to gain and surrender power. Eventually he navigates the dangerous system so skillfully that he becomes able to help his loved ones outside.
In fewer than 300 pages, John Straley sets up this bloody mess complete with a full cast of multi-faceted characters, then proceeds to unpick the plot.
Thankfully, Cecil Younger gets lots of help. Out in the free world where ravens fly and “rain filter(s) down through the spruce and hemlock trees,” Cecil’s teen daughter Blossom and her boyfriend Ned try to unpick an old, complex kidnapping case but end up wrapped up in something bigger and darker. Spoiler alert: this is no Louis L’Amour and the good guy will not neatly dispatch the evil guy with just-in-time well-deserved violence. Everything is messy, and not everything is fair in the end. Along the way, Straley skillfully explores themes of sexuality, violence, and power in and out of prison. Yes, there’s plenty of violence but most of it ends up working against the goals of those who commit it, just like in real life. Overall, the emphasis is not on violence, but on the relationships between the characters. The teenagers and adults are all exploring what friendship and love mean to them.
Finally, who doesn’t love a great setting and fun references? There’s the docks, Donna’s, the Juneau-Douglas bridge, a whale researcher, band names for your reading playlist, the shrine of Saint Therese, a fish camp in the Chilkat area, and of course, the stairs of downtown Juneau. Time to add another John Straley novel to your collection!
–Paul Norwood
