William Morrow, January 2008
Homicide tends to make ripples in the human pond.
Eli Gottlieb's Now You See Him is narrated by Nick Framingham, an average, small-town guy who is best friend to the (in)famous Rob Castor. Rob achieved celebrity status in his twenties, "for writing a book of darkly pitch-perfect stories set in a stupid sleepy upstate New York town." Several years later, he's made headlines again - this time for murdering his girlfriend and committing suicide. Nick attempts to make sense of the events, uncovering many secrets, while grieving for and reminiscing about Rob as well as facing his own troubled family life.
Rob's death becomes an instant and ongoing media spectacle. The sensational murder-suicide, Nick notes, "caus(ed) the hot lights of the media to come on with an audible whoosh, and stay there, focused on his life, the town of his birth and, by default, we his friends and neighbors." Gottlieb captures this mania well, from the tendency of national media to pick up on the scandal of the day to the small-market anchor suddenly thrust into the biggest story of her life, involving a man she's known since childhood.
Homicide tends to make ripples in the human pond.
Eli Gottlieb's Now You See Him is narrated by Nick Framingham, an average, small-town guy who is best friend to the (in)famous Rob Castor. Rob achieved celebrity status in his twenties, "for writing a book of darkly pitch-perfect stories set in a stupid sleepy upstate New York town." Several years later, he's made headlines again - this time for murdering his girlfriend and committing suicide. Nick attempts to make sense of the events, uncovering many secrets, while grieving for and reminiscing about Rob as well as facing his own troubled family life.
Rob's death becomes an instant and ongoing media spectacle. The sensational murder-suicide, Nick notes, "caus(ed) the hot lights of the media to come on with an audible whoosh, and stay there, focused on his life, the town of his birth and, by default, we his friends and neighbors." Gottlieb captures this mania well, from the tendency of national media to pick up on the scandal of the day to the small-market anchor suddenly thrust into the biggest story of her life, involving a man she's known since childhood.
Childhood itself is a major theme of the story. Nick and Rob grew up across the street from one another and were inseparable friends - BFFs before text-messaging-speak gave us an acronym for it. The book moves easily between Nick's childhood and present, from memories of Rob as a boy to the wrongful-death court case filed by the girlfriend's family, from Nick's relationship with his dad to his attempts to bridge the distance with his own sons, and from his young newlywed years to his now shaky marriage.
Gottlieb uses brisk pacing when giving condensed backstory and slows to highlight the present as well as key past events. It's a tempo that suits the book well and reflects the varying flow of Nick's thoughts and actions.
Although Now You See Him is not a mystery book per se, mystery fans should enjoy its intricate plot and compelling twists. Surprising facts come to light, though they are dispensed gradually and Gottlieb leads readers to them. The shock comes more when one realizes where the hints are pointing rather than when the ultimate truth is put into words. It's a lovely, slow burn of a suspense novel.
Gottlieb uses brisk pacing when giving condensed backstory and slows to highlight the present as well as key past events. It's a tempo that suits the book well and reflects the varying flow of Nick's thoughts and actions.
Although Now You See Him is not a mystery book per se, mystery fans should enjoy its intricate plot and compelling twists. Surprising facts come to light, though they are dispensed gradually and Gottlieb leads readers to them. The shock comes more when one realizes where the hints are pointing rather than when the ultimate truth is put into words. It's a lovely, slow burn of a suspense novel.
At the same time, skillfully crafted scenes of Nick with his wife, his kids, and his parents add a poignancy that is perhaps even more affecting than the sensationalism of the truths he unearths.
And whenever the book throws out lines that may seem a little too clever, Gottlieb gives them to characters who are equally questionable: book critics who describe Rob's writing as "lyric anatomizing of the human heart"; celebrity journalist Mac, credited with describing "that way the streets of New York (Mac talking now) reek from deep inside themselves in summer, their stinks activated by the heat."
Eli Gottlieb is a talented storyteller to keep on your recommended reading list. His previous novel, The Boy Who Went Away, won the Rome Prize and the 1998 McKitterick Prize from the British Society of Authors. It was also a New York Times Notable book.
And whenever the book throws out lines that may seem a little too clever, Gottlieb gives them to characters who are equally questionable: book critics who describe Rob's writing as "lyric anatomizing of the human heart"; celebrity journalist Mac, credited with describing "that way the streets of New York (Mac talking now) reek from deep inside themselves in summer, their stinks activated by the heat."
Eli Gottlieb is a talented storyteller to keep on your recommended reading list. His previous novel, The Boy Who Went Away, won the Rome Prize and the 1998 McKitterick Prize from the British Society of Authors. It was also a New York Times Notable book.
