The author weaves events from Mike’s and Marvin’s pasts into the story to create a truly strange, though never unbelievable, journey.
What will befall the heroes as they venture to LA under such circumstances? Rosson tells a tale of peculiar men living in a peculiar time, and the narrative easily moves them along their way. The kicker is that ghosts-sometimes referred to as “smokes”-have been appearing all over, particularly in California their sudden appearances have caused traffic accidents and other problems, so they’re monitored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Later, he picks up a young man, aptly named Casper, who wants to create a reality show about ghosts. On his way south, he picks up a one-eyed record-store owner named Marvin Deitz who insists that he’s the reincarnation of Geoffroy Thérage, the executioner responsible for lighting the pyre that killed Joan of Arc. Mike sells the last painting he can, secures a used 1998 Chrysler minivan, and hits the road. Then Mike finds out that his ex-wife has died suddenly of an apparent brain hemorrhage, and he vows to make it to Los Angeles for the funeral, through hell or high water. He has a job at a fast-food restaurant but gets fired for assaulting a customer. Now he’s a raging alcoholic who hasn’t painted in years. Mike Vale is a Portland, Oregon–based artist who once sold his paintings for incredible sums before his career and personal life took nose dives. Rosson ( The Mercy of the Tide, 2017) presents a surreal road novel about misfits on a journey to Southern California.
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