When I saw The Salinger Contract (#334) on GoodReads, it wasn't the Salinger connection that attracted me; it was the promise of a literary mystery. And although J.D. Salinger is an author much admired by this novel's narrator, Adam Langer (also the name of the real life author!), you don't have to be an admirer of Salinger yourself to thoroughly enjoy this book.
The fictional Adam Langer enjoyed a brief career in the literary world as the editor of a magazine in New York City. His days of interviewing up-and-coming authors are over after the magazine folds and his wife accepts a tenure-track position at an Indiana university. Now his days are filled with housework and child care until the day he runs into popular author Conner Joyce on a speaking tour in the Bloomington Borders bookstore . Conner recognizes him from the flattering interview Adam had done on him and insists on getting together. When Conner begins to tell Adam about a bizarre proposal he has received from a wealthy individual, Adam has no idea that his life is about to be turned upside down, too. Things are murky, mysterious and menacing in the world Conner pulls him into. Is the danger real, or is it in their heads? You'll have to read The Salinger Contract to find out.
I liked the almost casual tone of this book which creates a very intimate atmosphere between Adam and the reader. It doesn't have the erudite air that one might expect from a literary mystery involving some of the twentieth century's most revered writers.
Did I mention that the mystery's revelation is quite satisfying and unexpected? I'm passing The Salinger Contract along to all my friends, and I'll be waiting eagerly for Adam Langer's next novel.
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