Book Review: Green Girls

Reviewed By: Jennifer Jordan

Green Girls     Amazon UK PB Amazon UK HC
Michael Kimball
Class/Genre:   Fiction   Thriller
December 2002, William Morrow 384 pages/$24.95 price

I had this book placed in my hands by someone who told me it would be a creepy, scary book. My thresholds for creepy and scary are very high and I rarely find something that can live up to that kind of build up. Because creepy and scary are both subjective terms, let me tell you what I found upon setting this book down six hours and forty-two minutes after I picked it up. This book is Charlie Manson creepy and voodoo curse scary.

Jacob Winter, a third-list author, wakes up in a jail cell, contrite and confused. He has vague memories of coming home the day before to find his wife, Laura, and his former psychiatrist/her boss having finished an intimate meal. They ask him to take a seat. They have something to explain to him. There is a buzzing in his ear, a radio cast of a baseball game cut short and then a classmate from college he hasn’t seen in over fifteen years is bailing him out. That constitutes a bad day. A day that quickly gets worse.

As the cast of characters widens to include his ex-classmate, Alix, her bi-lover, the sultry, July, and July’s shaman, ex-husband, things go from worse to weird. The most imposing character of all is the bridge that serves as Jacob’s muse and host for most of the action. The only things Jacob can really trust, as his world is sucked into a vortex of exotic danger, revenge and betrayal are his son, Maxie and the book in his head.

I read this book quickly and compulsively. The writing is pared down, to the point and unpretentious. What is broadly hinted at pans out, but in a manner not easily guessed at by even the most prolific reader. Simply put, it was like eating a bag of chips. There is no nutritional value, it’s hardly a gourmet meal, but you can’t stop eating until the bag is empty.

Jennifer Jordan

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Jennifer Jordan

Please Note: Books reviewed are usually provided by the publisher, author, or an agent. Reviewers usually get to keep the book.