Lives Laid Away by Stephen Mack Jones
crime
Summary
August Snow is a Detroit ex-cop. His home neighborhood Mexicantown is filled with immigrants who fear the constant patrols of ICE. When a young Hispanic woman dressed as Marie Antoinette is pulled from the Detroit river, the coroner asks Snow to show the victim’s photo to others who might know her. It’s not like the people of Mexicantown would willingly talk to cops, after all, given the way they are harassed. But Snow? They know him.
Snow’s good friend Elena recognizes the victim as an undocumented immigrant who recently disappeared in an ICE raid. He suspects there’s a link between the raid and the girl’s death. Angered, he and his godfather Tomas investigate. With a little help of his frenemies, a priest, a baker, an FBI agent, a Native American cyber-hacker, and a few lethal weapons, he uncovers a mess that the authorities really don’t want made public.
Now he must defend his neighborhood at all costs.
My thoughts:
When I began Lives Laid Away, it dazzled me. This is definitely a 5 star book! I thought. But as I continued reading, a vague disappointment settled over me. It wasn’t enough to make me stop reading, though.
A few issues:
The ending
No spoilers. While it brought the story around full circle, the ending lacked the pizzazz of the beginning. The snappy voice was the same; the characters were now familiar; questions were answered. But were those the questions I had? Were they the ones I wanted answered? Did I need those last two chapters? Not really.
Yes, they were well-written. They were interesting. They kept my attention.
People who read August Snow might be more interested in the answers about one character’s background. It felt irrelevant to me. If this scene had been earlier in the story or this back story issue mentioned more often throughout the book, I might understand its inclusion better.
The other chapter was too long in relation to the importance of the information we learn. Must say, though, it does help me understand Snow’s relationship with his late father better. Still, couldn’t it have been included earlier?
Ultimately, I didn’t want or need this wrap-up of the story. The story could’ve ended on page 273 and I would’ve been content.
The body count
Body counts: number of characters killed in the novel. There’s a lot. (I lost count.) This bothers me. Other than the first victim, we don’t learn anything about any of these now-dead characters. Lots are nameless bad guys, no background, nothing.
Snow seems almost comfortable shooting people or threatening to shoot people. It’s disconcerting how many times he draws a gun during the novel. While I know he’s capable of compassion and he believes he is acting in the defense of others, it still troubles me.
The first section of the book dazzled me.
Here’s some reasons why:
August Snow
August Snow is a complex character. While he’ll defend his neighbors with his life, he’s still capable of taking lives. His big-hearted generous nature fuels his destructive anger at those who harm others. A FBI agent describes him as “a very observant, very dangerous grenade” (pg. 65) and I agree.
The language
Jones is a prize-winning poet, and his use of language reflects this. His careful, judicious word choices bring Detroit to life for me. He can describe more in five words than I can in one hundred. (I’m not a poet!) I’ve never been to Detroit, much less to Mexicantown, but Jones’s setting is practically a character in its own right.
The food
No joke, I think there’s enough food described here for a recipe book. (Or at least the start of a food blog!) Between Lady B’s strawberry cream-filled donuts, Snow’s mama’s salsa, his grandma’s broccoli-bacon-sunflower-seed salad with dried cherries and poppy-seed dressing, Lucy’s (failed) attempt at chili (and more successful retry), and endless rounds of bourbon, I may’ve gained a few pounds while reading the novel.
The voice & tone
Snow’s snappy, irreverent voice flows through the book. He and his godfather/sidekick Tomas banter. In my notes, I wrote, love Tomas!
(Snow): “You’re not afraid of skin cancer?”
“Skin cancer, mi amigo,” Tomas snarled, “is afraid of me.” (pg. 30)
When Snow asks his help with a “little thing”, here’s Tomas’ response:
“the ‘little’ things always end up being mutant fucking atomic alligators chewing everybody’s ass off.” (pg. 32)
How can you not like him? Every major character has ready quips, quick comebacks, and funny one-liners that make them likable (or at least memorable).
While there are a lot of authors who use banter in serious novels, this one is notable for being consistently funny while deftly handling the heavy subjects of immigration and human trafficking. Jones manages the two such that the irreverent tone underscores the serious nature of trafficking crimes, and not making light of it. I’m not entirely certain how he did it, either.
Complex relationships
I enjoyed how Jones portrayed long-married, loving couples. Tomas and Elena’s relationship feels real. August Snow watches his godparents argue, thinking of his late parents’ arguing, and takes comfort in it, “(k)nowing they were at loggerheads in an effort to better understand, respect, love and protect each other” (pg. 40). In my opinion, we could use more portrayals of loving long-married couples in fiction.
The relationships in this book are complex and reflect real life. Because Jones does a terrific job creating vivid characters, it’s easy to keep the relationships straight.
The story
There are twists that truly surprised me. There were things that truly shocked me. It was eye-opening and unflinching in portraying the horror of human trafficking and the fear and hope of immigrants. But it never lost heart. I felt uplifted at the end and not depressed because the characters are (mostly) big-hearted people who love their community.
4 1/2 stars
Overall, I enjoyed the book, though maybe not as much as I expected. Despite my disappointment in the ending, I would read another August Snow novel. It’s a thought-provoking story that manages to be both funny and serious at the same time. It has many things to say about immigration and what we owe to our fellow human beings. Well-worth reading.
Bonus tip for writers
Make the setting work for your story
In Lives Laid Away, Detroit is almost a character itself. Mexicantown is populated by immigrants (some legal, some not). Even the legal ones fear ICE, as officers demand identification or harass Snow’s neighbors. (One is a natural-born citizen!)
Snow tells us, “If you live off of the 1-76 South Highway like me, you’re essentially breathing diesel exhaust through a wet wool blanket” (pg. 29). Notice how this gives the impression that this place is hot and sticky (much like some characters’ tempers), cast aside by others (“diesel exhaust”), and smothered by fear and despair (breathing through the blanket). Details like this are descriptive, yes, but it’s an environment that shapes the people in it. How people react in this environment propels the story forward.
So use that setting wisely!
Enjoyed this and want to read others like it?
One with a similar tone was IQ by Joe Ide, which I reviewed here.
This review appears on Goodreads, where you can check out more of my reviews. Some aren’t on the blog, either.
Talk to me! What do you think?