Customer Reviews

Martyr's Creek

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If you've ever suspected that the current state of American politics is a conspiracy, you'll love MARTYR'S CREEK. Something is rotten in the state of union, and it all begins with money and the way it corrupts. The neo-conservative movement, that group of brilliant and destructive academics and bureaucrats, is represented here in the figure of Tom Powys. He has died and named to administer his estate James Pandolph, who was once his best friend and is now his sworn enemy. Why would any man do something as perverse as that? You'll have to read the books to find out. It's hard to believe it's part of Powys' character in the beginning, but hard to forget by the end of the book. It's also enough to say that the reasons for the perversity and the novel's fantastic currents make sense once the story is told to the last page. And told very well. Chacko is as good a writer as there is in this country.

I can't imagine anyone not appreciating Chacko's splendid prose. It is never trite or boring and if it requires a second read it's only to savor the choice of words, the similes that are never cliches, and the ideas.

If this otherwise timeless story has a problem, it's only that it was written when Iraq was a quagmire and Panda expected it to stay that way. Afghanistan, of course, still is. The political corruption he manipulates to satisfy the terms of Powys' will has always been with us and remains today despite the change of parties and presidents since publication day.

It's refreshing to read a tale that does not rely on an overuse of the F-word, graphic violence or tastelessly specific sex scenes to attract and hold the interest. It even has a happy ending. (And the ebook price is right.)

Based on reviews, I expected a thrilling, thought-provoking book. No such luck. I'm an avid and pretty forgiving reader, but was very disappointed to find the book very poorly written and edited. It was confusing, with convoluted sentences, a myriad of vague and unrelated plot lines, lousy sex scenes, etc. I had to force myself to finish it. I did get a laugh when a woman in the book was described as having covered herself in a "swatch" of material (must've meant a swath?). Pretty skimpy outfit!

MARTYR'S CREEK is one of the most provocative books of the year. If you can imagine having a neo-con friend who is a really an enemy who names you the executor of his estate, you may be able to see how the book's story goes. The main character and narrator, a man everyone calls Panda, sorts through huge stacks of money, meets a flurry of old friends who are in every state of denial, until he finally comes to the mystery that drives everything in the book without anyone knowing it's there. Add to that a love resumed, the reclaiming of a lost son, and the righting of a university that was destroyed in the name of conservative doctrine, and you have David Chacko's thirteen book. One of these days someone will going to come up with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Novels. This is where they might start.