The Dart League King

Starred review from August 4, 2008
In this absorbing and intelligent novel, Morris (The Greyhound God
) follows five characters through a handful of hours culminating in a dart contest on a Thursday night in Garnet Lake, Idaho: Russell Harmon, who lives for the dart league and his cocaine habit; teammate Tristan Mackey, who is haunted by having not prevented the drowning of a classmate; Kelly Ashton, who wants desperately for someone to rescue her and her young daughter from this small town; Russell’s darts rival Brice Habersham, a DEA agent posing as the owner of a gas station; and drug dealer Vince Thompson, who, tonight, is carrying a 9mm Beretta to his meeting with Russell. As each chapter shifts from one voice to the next, Morris cranks up the tension so that by the time the dart match arrives, the book is impossible to put down. Morris explores how even the most banal choices we make—to get in the car or not?—can have a life-altering impact.

Starred review from September 15, 2008
This sensitive, cleverly constructed novel of small-town life and big-league dreams follows a cast of five in the hours leading up toa Thursday night dart contest. Russell Harmon, painfully aware of his unsuitability for the logging work that is the economic mainstay of Garnet Lake, Idaho, is banking all hisself-esteem on retaining his title of Dart League King, although he has a couple ofobstacles in his way. Heowes alot of moneytothe local drug dealer, the incredibly bad tempered Vince Thompson, who could very well show up at the big contest with a 9mm Beretta. Russell isfacinga formidable opponent in Brice Habersham, whorecently bought thetowns gas station and was, at one time, a professional dart player. Even more distracting is the fact that intellectual college grad and fellow teammate Tristan Mackey has shown up with town hottie Kelly Ashton, Russells old love.Secrets and surprises are revealed as the narrative shifts among the five voices, injecting theculminating chapterswith an almostunbearabletension.All the while, Morriscontinues to draw a subtle, near flawlessportrait of the unique ways thatsmall-town lifecan bothnurture and suffocate its residents.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)