Strangers in Budapest

September 1, 2017
Budapest in 1995 is supposedly on the brink of post-communist economic revival, but the American expats who inhabit Keener's second novel (Night Swim, 2013) can neither adjust to the city's deep-seated complexity nor escape the problems they hoped to leave back home.Annie and Will arrive with their adopted baby, Leo, so Will can pursue a startup creating "communication networks." Unfortunately, Will, as seen through Annie's eyes, is a research nerd with little aptitude for entrepreneurship. Annie hopes to escape what she considers intrusive involvement by the social worker who arranged Leo's adoption. A one-time social worker herself (an irony Annie misses), she makes ham-handed attempts to help the locally hated Roma population. After eight months, Will has yet to close a deal when his former boss Bernardo, a glad-hander Annie doesn't trust, shows up with an enticing offer. Bernardo hires Stephen, another expat, who has moved to Budapest to connect with his parents' homeland; they fled Hungary for America after the 1956 uprising but never recovered emotionally. The story of his father's suicide touches a chord in Annie, herself haunted by a tragic accident that destroyed her family's happiness when she was 4. Meanwhile, 76-year-old Edward is in Budapest to track down his late daughter Deborah's husband, Van. Edward believes Van murdered Deborah though the official cause of death was related to her multiple sclerosis. The only character besides Annie with a revealed inner life, Edward is embittered by his experience as a Jewish WWII soldier. He disapproved of Deborah's hippie lifestyle and her attraction to men he considered losers, like Van. Over Will's objections, and the readers' disbelief, bleeding-heart Annie agrees to help Edward find Van. A bad idea. As for Budapest itself--polluted, in physical disrepair, plagued by an ugly history, and populated by rude, corrupt, and bigoted locals--the author strongly implies that the misery and mayhem Annie experiences are the city's fault. Expect readers of this unpleasant hate poem to Budapest to cancel any plans they've made to travel there.

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September 15, 2017

Annie and Will have relocated from the United States to Budapest, surprising friends and family who all seem to have the same questions: Why Hungary? What about the baby? Annie looks forward to escaping visits from an overly attentive social worker who facilitated their adoption of infant Leo; Will eagerly anticipates taking advantage of the rumored booming economy of 1995 Budapest to launch his solo enterprise in cell phone services. However, they discover a simmering tension in the city that can't quite be named. Annie seeks to discover the source and immerse herself in the Hungarian experience as much as she can, eschewing the expat groups that congregate for lunches and cocktails. People whom Annie and Will meet along the way soon become darkly suspicious. As we learn more about Annie's past and present state of mind, the suspense builds to a breaking point and nothing is what it seems. VERDICT Keener's (Night Swim) second novel is a slow burn of an international psychological thriller. Recommended for fans of Chris Pavone. [Five-city tour.]--Julie Kane, Washington & Lee Lib., Lexington, VA

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 25, 2017
The second novel from Keener (Night Swim) follows a young American couple as they learn to survive in 1990s Budapest, a city wildly different from their hometown of Stow, Mass. Annie and Will Gordon move to Budapest with their young son Leo so that Will can pursue a business opportunity building communications networks in rural Hungary. Shortly after they arrive, the Gordons’ neighbors back in Massachusetts ask them for a favor: to check on Edward Weiss, an elderly American friend of theirs who is living in Budapest. Annie visits Edward, and she eventually discovers that he has been devastated by the loss of his daughter Deborah and believes that her husband was responsible for her death. Annie agrees to help Edward find his former son-in-law, but the dangers of the city soon threaten her family’s safety. Keener immerses the reader in Budapest’s postcommunist period in all its tumultuous glory. As the Gordons get in over their heads in their new city, the author combines strong characters and a riveting plot to craft a memorable novel.

September 1, 2017
Heavily atmospheric, replete with metaphors evoking a deep-set melancholy and fatigue the emotional sludge of rage Keener's second psychological novel (following Night Swim, 2012), set in modern Hungary, dramatizes both national and personal outcomes of harrowing past events. Budapest hasn't recovered from Soviet occupation, and locals resent the influx of Western business opportunists. Americans Annie and Will hope to start a new life and a business in Budapest, and at the request of their good friends back home, involve themselves with the elderly Edward Weiss, who needs their help. In the midst of an oppressive summer heat wave, Weiss, a widower, is a sick, angry man with a gun. The plot spirals outward, a spider's web with a menacing enemy in some hidden corner and sticky connections. Despite the book's bleak tone, Annie, Will, and Edward all draw our interest as people to care about, and Budapest becomes a powerful symbol of past horrors, lush culture, and an uncertain future. Reminiscent of Hilary Mantel's Eight Months on Ghazzah Street (1988), with its clueless immigrants abroad, and similar in tone and theme to Kim Brooks' historical novel, The Houseguest (2016).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)