Tearjerker

Failure and more failure. Aspiring writer Evan Ulmer writes and writes, submits and faces countless rejections, until he finally arrives at that desolate place of comprehension: no matter how encouraging the turn-downs might be, his work will never be published. Demoralized and alone, Evan's life is driven as much by solitude as by this desire to succeed. As for women, they seem to be as disinterested as the agents and editors.

Success follows success. Robert Partnow is an editor who's made a name for himself. He's quoted as an authority on all phases of publishing success and authors aspire to be discovered by him. What he wants to do is write, but he lacks that il ne sait quoi that authors must have in order to venture into the world of literature.

One author who can't get an editor's attention. One editor who recognizes his limits as a writer. It's just too delicious a mix to pass up and Daniel Hayes has accepted the challenge very nicely.

Evan Ulner, the writer, kidnaps Bob Partnow, the editor. Not the compulsive act of a desperate man, not at all, but one that is meticulously planned. In preparation for the at-gun-point sidewalk snatching, Evan reconstructs his basement. There's the cyclone fencing that will separate the entrapped from the trapper, sealed off with a heavy-duty gate and impenetrable lock. There's a Port-A-Potty and a treadmill, a new bunk bed and a television with remote. All the prison-cell comforts an unwilling visitor could desire!

Six weeks of confinement make for an interesting character development and this is where Hayes shows his skills. He guides the reader from scene to scene and leaves us to decide which character we want to come out the victor: the arrogant editor who refuses to get ruffled, or the frustrated writer who feels victimized by the system.

Meanwhile, these two disparate individuals become not friends, but comrades, victims of their unique predicaments. Evan begins to feel the squeeze of what he's done, wonders how to extricate himself from this mess and not face the rest of his life in prison. At the same time, the media is wild over Bob's disappearance, with journalists frantically digging to unearth secrets, scenarios, whatever it takes to explain why this man is missing. When one particularly scandalous fact emerges, the imprisoned editor begins to show the strain. If he's ever released, will his family want him back?

As the confinement continues, Evan pursues his therapy sessions and works to develop a relationship with Promise, a much younger woman and aspiring writer he meets in the library stacks. Promise listens with interest as Evan weaves the fantasy of his novel, the story of a kidnapped editor (based on the unfolding drama in every newspaper in the country), and encourages him to write. When she senses that Evan's tale might be a little too vivid to be gleaned from any newspaper account, she says nothing. But a plan begins to unfold in her head.

With his captive in the basement and America's journalists providing plenty of back stories, Evan continues to pen his novel. One day, in a moment of boredom and curiosity, the normally reserved editor asks to read it. Evan Ulmer may have talent, but his heart and mind are driven by indecision. He is the man who, in his words, "…always knew my heart would fail while I was deciding whether a comma or an em dash gave the appropriate illusion of pause." With reluctance, however, he turns over the manuscript, still insisting that any author in his shoes would have committed the same outrageous acts. The moment the pages are placed in Bob's hands, the story changes. What ensues becomes the heart and the soul of this engaging and gratifying novel.