Safe in Heaven Dead [Hardcover]

Samuel Ligon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 2003

Robert Elgin has checked out of his life, rendered himself irrelevant, and become invisible. After stumbling upon a secret slush fund his political bosses have been skimming off the public, Elgin takes the money and runs ...

Runs from the corruption of machine politics.

Runs from the corrupting of his daughter, molested by a twelve-year-old neighbor.

Runs from his wife's obsession with grief counselors, rape specialists, being saved by Jesus, and putting the twelve-year-old behind bars.

Runs to New York, where he meets Carla, a doctoral student at Columbia, who, enmeshed in her own world of corruption, is also ready to become invisible, ready to run.

They hit the road, forgetting themselves, but back home in Michigan, where everything has fallen apart, Elgin's children must wonder what has become of their father. Of course he can't just leave them there. Of course he can't just run away. But he doesn't know how to go back either. And he has to.

A kinetic, spellbinding debut, Safe in Heaven Dead reveals a world of people struggling to do what's right when everything seems wrong, a world of people resisting surrender to the corruption that surrounds them, and a world, too, which, in the face of apparent hopelessness, somehow breeds hope.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Though Ligon's opening sentence reveals the catastrophic fate of the main character, this debut suspense novel instantly seizes and holds the imagination, even when one knows the final outcome. Moving back in time over the course of a year, Ligon reveals the story of Robert Elgin, who leads a quiet suburban life with his wife, Laura, and their children, five-year-old Carrie and two-year-old Tommy, in Oakland County, Mich. Their marriage is calm on the surface, though Ligon masterfully reveals subterranean fault lines. Robert is working as a union negotiator for the county when a cabal of political power brokers convinces him to negotiate a dirty deal that will boost the fortunes of the county executive in his run for governor. Soon afterward, he learns that his 12-year-old neighbor has sexually abused his daughter. Robert encounters a legal and therapeutic system that seems designed to further victimize Carrie. He and Laura become estranged as she embraces this world of misguided therapists and overzealous support groups. A revelation about the corruption of the county executive pushes Elgin to his breaking point; he steals his boss's illegal health fund and flees to New York City, where he ends up alone and adrift ("He was free. He was dead. He was alive. He was a machine"). He hires Carla, a Faulkner-reading high-priced call girl from whom he desires only companionship, and with whom he quickly falls in love. They find themselves struggling with overwhelming questions of morality, responsibility and remorse. Their response is to embark on a high-rolling road trip across America that will eventually lead them in a great circle back to Michigan, where they attempt to confront their respective pasts and alleviate their guilt. Few readers will remain unmoved by the agonizing questions that drive this story, and the tragedy with which the book begins and ends.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“A superbly convincing first novel...An expertly motivated debut that moves briskly and doesn’t lose sight of its affecting purpose.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred review) )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Harper (March 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060099100
• ISBN-13: 978-0060099107
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,542,994 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Expertly motivated" is right, April 28, 2003

By 

Eric Nolan (Gainesville, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Safe in Heaven Dead (Hardcover)

excellent book. The characters and their interaction with each other is what kept me reading. Shifting in point of view from the first-person perspective of a grad student/call girl in ny to the close-third pov of the main character, Ligon nails the voice of each of his characters. The dialogue is tight, the prose clean, and what really perked up my ears is the slight change in pov between his main character in his domestic life and in his life on the run. The pace of the book is quick, but the attention to subtle human adaptation is not lost in the speed of the story. Recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AN ACCOMPLISHED FIRST NOVEL, August 24, 2003

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Safe in Heaven Dead (Hardcover)

"Robert Elgin died on the street, knocked down and run over by a Second Avenue bus while pursuing a woman he thought he could not live without."

How's that for an opening line grabber? With these arresting words debut novelist Samuel Ligon hooks readers who find themselves eagerly turning pages to discover just what brought Elgin to such an abrupt, untimely end. Tracking the answer to this question is pure pleasure as Mr. Ligon reveals his story in authoritative, gripping prose.

We learn that Elgin was once living the good life, the very good life in Michigan. He was happily married to Laura, and the father of two young children, Carrie, 5, and Tommy, 2. He worked in county labor, a negotiator. It was on the job that he quickly discovered just how seamy political corruption can be. His boss developed an acute case of political aspirations, and told Elgin to broker an under the counter deal that would fatten the gubernatorial wannabe's campaign chest.

Soon after that another shock: Elgin learns that Carrie has been sexually abused by a 12-year-old neighbor boy. Before long he and Laura are up to their necks in the miasma of a justice system that seemed to offer no justice or safety for Carrie. Laura was pleased with the counseling the girl received, and found solace in her church. Elgin, on the other hand, bolted. He stole the dirty money and went to New York where he assumed another identity.

Cash, he discovered, bought more than new clothes and a hotel room; it bought a false Social Security card and driver's license - it bought a whole new life. It also bought utter loneliness. Elgin realized "...there was not one person in the whole world, the whole universe, who he could talk to, or who knew who he was now - William Oliver, with no past, no context, no human encumbrance. It was as if he were dead..."

Carla, a doctoral student at Columbia University who moonlights as a paid escort, revived him. She, too, wanted to put a great deal behind her. They teamed up, and with just under half a million dollars began a luxury filled trek across the country.

But, where will they wind up and why?

"Safe In Heaven Dead" is an accomplished first novel. Hopefully, it is also promise of what is yet to come from this extraordinary author.

- Gail Cooke

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The guy can write!, June 22, 2003

By 

cknadle@ofobscurity. (Huntington Station, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Safe in Heaven Dead (Hardcover)

This is an entertaining novel that's wise in its knowledge of official corruption, of rationalizations made by people to make right and moral their selfish choices. The story achieves an unusual thing: it keeps the suspense of a mystery while making children central players in this very adult drama. With each changed point of view, the literary voice re-grabs and holds you, not letting you go. The guy can write!