Crazy Blood

January 15, 2016
Two brothers battle for dominance on the slopes in hopes of shaking a decadeslong family curse. In the small northern California town of Mammoth Lakes, life revolves around the snow and the mountain, which is the domain of the Carson family under patriarch Adam. The Carson legacy is a troubled one. Adam's two grandsons, half brothers Sky Carson and Wylie Welborn, have been at odds their entire lives because Sky's mother, Cynthia, pregnant with Sky, shot and killed the brothers' father, who was having an affair with Kathleen, who was pregnant with Wylie. After Wylie arrives back in town following a five-year stint in the Marines, the brothers, now both 25, renew their rivalry on the ski cross course, both angling to take home the Mammoth Cup, a victory that sends the winner to the X Games and possibly the Olympics. Parker (Full Measure, 2014, etc.) gives his heroes and villains stock strengths and neuroses so that when they ultimately succeed or fail, it's neither thrilling nor surprising. Wylie, the more focused and stable of the brothers, wants to win the cup to help his family's struggling coffee shop, Let It Bean, which is being overrun by a Starbucks-like corporate chain, while the mentally deteriorating Sky wants to crush Wylie--the "demon bastard"--on the mountain and everywhere else. The events that led to the death of the brothers' father at the hands of Sky's mother are barely touched on, while lavish, even excessive, attention is paid to the intricacies of ski racing. Despite a picturesque setting, there's little here beyond a drawn-out family squabble on skis.

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January 1, 2016

In 1990, Cynthia Carson murders her husband, Richard, after he sleeps with his teenage student, Kathleen Welborn. Twenty-five years later, Wylie Welborn, Richard's illegitimate son, returns to Mammoth Lakes, CA, after his deployment to Afghanistan and five years spent skiing throughout Europe. Shortly after Wylie's arrival, his half brother, Robert Carson, who always maintained the peace between the wealthy Carson family and the working-class Welborn clan, crashes during a ski-cross race and is left comatose. Robert's psychologically troubled brother, Sky, challenges Wylie to run next year's race. Meanwhile, Wylie's adolescent half sisters devise a plan to solve their family's financial troubles that arise when a Starbucks-like conglomerate threatens to shut down their family's local coffee house. VERDICT In a change of pace from his crime novels, three-time Edgar Award winner Parker (Full Measure; California Girl; Laguna Heat), delivers an intricate and atmospheric family drama reminiscent of the works of T.C. Boyle and John Steinbeck. [See Prepub Alert, 9/21/15; library marketing.]--Russell Michalak, Goldey-Beacom Coll. Lib., Wilmington, DE

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2016
After five years serving in Afghanistan, Wylie Welborn returns to Mammoth Lakes, California, to find his family's coffee shop bowing under the pressure of a large chain's incursion, and his half-brother, Sky, still hating him. Wylie is the illegitimate son of skiing legend Richard Carson, conceived moments before Carson was fatally shot by his vengeful wife, Sky's mother, Cynthia. Wylie won the Mammoth Ski Tournament the year before he left for Afghanistan, showcasing the Carson clan's command of the slopes. Now he hopes he can unseat Sky and win the tournament to pull his family from dire straits. But a collision on the slopes ignites new fury in Sky, who swears Wylie threw him off the course. Sky vows revenge and the dark threat hovers over Wylie's revival, clouding his new romance with a celebrity snowboarder. The story of Wylie's return to ski-cross racing and to civilian life is compelling, and the addition of Parker's strong dose of foreshadowing propels the story to a dramatic climax. A fun, fast-paced thriller and change of pace for an author more accustomed to meaner streets.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)