Empty Ever After
By Reed Farrel Coleman
Bleak House Books, $24.95/$14.95
ISBN: 978-1-932557-65-7

Moe Prager is a complex man and Empty Ever After, the newest book in the series of which he is the protagonist, is a complex novel. Moe is an ex-cop and currently a p.i., as well as co-owner of four wine shops in and around New York City. He adores his teenage daughter, Sarah, and has a more or less amicable relationship with his ex-wife, Katy. As he says, "Divorce, no matter how amicable, isn't easy, and Katy, Sarah and I were still in the midst of realigning our hearts to deal with the new tilt of our worlds ... Divorce impacts couples in different ways. It's an equation of losses and gains. The gains, however large or small, are usually apparent early on. The losses, as I was discovering, reveal themselves slowly, in painful, unexpected ways.”

Moe's marriage fell apart when the truth of Katy's brother's death years earlier became known to her and because Moe had kept that truth a secret for all that time. Moe is called to the grave of Katy's brother, Patrick Michael Maloney, when it is found to have been desecrated, and subsequent events make it apparent that someone is out to hurt, if not destroy, Moe's family. Secrets and the harm that they can do are a big part of this tale. Moe finds it necessary to search back over the last few decades and "focus on closing chapters in my life." Vengeance, cemeteries, and "ghosts" all play a part. He tries to comfort his daughter, distraught at the awful way unfolding events have affected her mother. In the past, he had always been able to provide that comfort, but now wonders, "Had she finally outgrown the magic ... or was it that the magic wouldn’t work if the magician no longer believed in his powers?"

Mr. Coleman has written a book that is much more than a suspenseful novel — it is a beautifully written work imparting some universal truths. About truth itself, the author says, "...the truth doesn’t conform to the rules of Sunday school or sermons, to clichés or adages. The truth doesn’t always come out in the wash or in the end and it’s frequently not for the best. The truth often makes things worse, much worse. The truth can be as much poison as elixir, cancer as cure." It's often moving, and it resonated with me because I, as did Moe, grew up as a Jew living in Brooklyn, with the Belt Parkway part of the backdrop of my life and Shea Stadium part of its fabric, but also because of the very human and well-drawn characterizations. The book, simultaneously issued in hardcover and paperback, is highly recommended. The author has a new book coming out in October from the same publisher — The Fourth Victim, written under the name of Tony Spinosa — and I cannot wait to read it, as well as the next book in the Moe Prager series.

Review by GLORIA FEIT

©2008 Lorie Ham. All rights reserved.