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Book review by Jill Barrett,
Confluence Magazine, St. Louis
KGB is a novel about how a group of common
criminals decides to bring to justice
George Bush, Sr., a man they believe to
be much more of a criminal than themselves.
The central characters of the book are prisoners,
including Mark Pontiac, imprisoned for
a misdemeanor, but being held in the felony
holding cells; Bill Mourning Dove, a Native
American who was at the shootout at Oglala
as a child; Miguel Mendez, in jail for
immigration violation; Alford Arthur, a
pig farmer guilty of cooking and selling meth;
and Walter Gerald, who threatened the life
of George Bush, Sr.
Gerald acts as the catalyst, bringing the
other prisoners around to his way of thinking
until the group decides to assassinate
the former president.
Other characters that play a major role
in the drama include Elana Usak, a political DJ
on an illegal radio station forever chased
by the feds; and The Nature Lovers Group,
an assembly that tracks Bigfoot, UFOs,
changes in the Kennedy assassination
investigations, and animal rights.
The book, at 286 pages, has many primary
and secondary characters, and Palecek
manages to develop them well. He gives
each prisoner a distinctive voice, a difficult
task given the space allotted.
At times, though, he gives too much time
to character development. The plot doesn't
move along quickly during the first third
of the book and needs more focus. This flaw is
understandable, because the author is busy
introducing the characters and plot lines in the
early chapters, building a foundation for
the suspense to come. And the suspense does come.
In addition to character sketches, another
strength of Palecek's is his ear for dialogue.
Especially enjoyable are Elana Usak's radio
broadcasts. Usak, a newspaper columnist
who was fired for not checking out a source,
switched to doing Radio Free Siouxland,
"broadcasting the seeds of the revolution."
"For those of you who plan to go job hunting today,"
she says, "don't.
Disobey the Nazi work ethic. Be a violator.
An asocial.
"Ever come up to a small town and see the elevators
from like twenty miles away? You have.
It looks like Oz. And that's how we see
small towns. Perfect. But it's not like that. A friend of
mine once told me there are no good guys,
only crushed squirrels on the street and kids with
cigarette ashes in their milk. I'm afraid
that's much closer to the truth than we want to admit, group."
More political commentary is introduced
by a fictionalized George Bush, Sr., who appears in
several scenes, chatting with Barbara or
sharing beers with Alexander Haig. Overall, KGB is
a strong, suspenseful, mostly fast-paced
story with fully developed characters and rich dialogue.
Pick up this novel for a pleasurable read.
Click to order
Contact Mike Palecek at mpalecek@rconnect.com