Say Nice Things About Detroit

Starred review from May 28, 2012
Detroit is autumnal in this quietly moving novel of place; the heyday, the riots, the collapse have already happened, and the city is sinking quietly. There is still tension, but behind it is a sense of emptiness and ending. David Halpert, returning to his native city in 2006 to care for his mother, who’s been diagnosed with dementia, is quickly reintroduced to this tension with the news that a white woman and a black man—David’s high school girlfriend Natalie and her half-brother Dirk, a retired FBI agent—possibly mistaken for an interracial couple, have been gunned down in Dirk’s Mercedes. Lasser shifts between 2006 and 1994 to explore how this happened, and to chronicle David’s return; his relationship with Natalie’s sister, Carolyn, and with his aging parents; the continuing impact on him of his son’s death years earlier; and to chart a growing connection between Dirk and a troubled young man named Marlon Booker. The complex divisions of Detroit are introduced obliquely and effectively through the characters—David most centrally, but also Dirk and Marlon, who Dirk feels responsible for saving. Lasser (The Year That Follows) composes his sympathetic cast into tableaux that are meaningful, even emblematic, but that, even when highly dramatic, aren’t forced. His restrained portrait of Detroit evokes real pathos. Agent: Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, WME Entertainment.

July 15, 2012
David Halpert returns to his native city and finds a new life and a modicum of happiness, but along the way he also confronts heartbreak and loss. Owing to the insistence of his father, Halpert moves from Denver back to Detroit. At first he comes to help his father take care of his increasingly dementia-tormented mother, but he's also dealing with the loss of his son Cory four years before and the subsequent breakup of his marriage. Even though in the back of his mind Halpert feels that "only the demented move to Detroit," he finds that Motor City is in his blood, for it's always been the locus of his childhood, friends and family. Although Halpert finds work as a lawyer, dealing primarily in wills and trusts, Lasser is far more interested in Halpert's personal life. Halpert discovers that Natalie, a girl he had dated in high school, and her half-brother Dirk had both been murdered just a few days before he arrived home. Lasser presents extended flashbacks in which we get to know Natalie and Dirk, and because they have the same mother but fathers of different races, Lasser also uses the two siblings to confront racial issues. Dirk's a straight arrow, an FBI agent involved in undercover drug work, and he serves as a surrogate father to Marlon, son of Dirk's best friend Everett, who's dying of cancer. At 13, Marlon smokes weed and definitely could use a moral compass. He's also mixing with unsavory types who might be involved in the killing of Natalie and Dirk. Halpert hooks up with Carolyn, a sister of the murder victims, who becomes pregnant and decides to leave her husband for Halpert. Lasser's setting ranges from the dingy 'hood to the ritzy 'burbs, so by the end we get to know the city almost as intimately as we know the characters.

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February 1, 2012

After his divorce and his son's death, David Halpert seeks solace in a surprising place; he returns to his hometown, Detroit, which he left 25 years ago after graduating from high school. There he contends not only with the ongoing decay of the racially polarized town but the double shooting of an old high school girlfriend and her black half-brother. Evidence that you should consider purchasing: LJ said of Lasser's 1999 debut, Battle Creek, "All public libraries will want this," and of his recent The Year That Follows, "Highly recommended."

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 1, 2012
Summoned home to Detroit to help his father cope with his mother's dementia, Denver lawyer David Halpert arrives shortly after his former girlfriend Natalie and her black half brother, Dirk, are murdered. While paying respects to the family, David reconnects with Natalie's younger sister, Carolyn, who has traveled from Los Angeles, happy to leave her faltering marriage behind in spite of the tragedy that has unraveled her family. Family tragedy is nothing new to David, who is still mourning the death of his teenage son, which may explain his willingness to take over Dirk's role as mentor to an at-risk inner-city teen. Buoyed by a blossoming love affair with Carolyn and a tenative rapport with Marlon, David decides to make his temporary stay in Detroit a permanent return to his childhood home. Forget the grime and crime, political corruption and economic decay. Lasser's Detroit may be a troubled city, but it is one whose vibrant soul is writ large in the small actions of its loyal citizens. With a serene and steady hand, Lasser's spare but intense tale is a smart, intimate homage to the power of second chances. Put this book in the hands of fans of Richard Ford and Richard Russo.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)