Twisted River

January 25, 2016
In the arresting opening of Irish author MacDonald’s uneven first novel, New York City dentist Oscar Harvey closes the trunk of his rental car in Limerick, Ireland, on a woman’s corpse. A moment later, he’s joined by his nine-year-old son and his 12-year-old daughter, who asks, “Where’s Mom?” A couple of months earlier, the Harvey family entered into a home exchange program with Limerick college professor Kate O’Brien and her husband, Mannix. Kate and Mannix think a change of scene will be good for their bullied autistic son and their long-suffering daughter. Oscar’s teacher wife, Hazel, selected Limerick for the family trip because she grew up and there. Unfortunately, once the Harveys move into the O’Briens’ house, they attract the attention of Mannix’s money-obsessed brother, Spike, and his criminal associates. MacDonald struggles with the multiple points of view, occasionally omitting information unfairly to maintain suspense, but her solid prose suggests she can do better. Agent: Isobel Dixon, Blake Friedmann Literary Agency.