Stash

May 24, 2010
A small misstep derails several lives in Klein's intriguing if uneven debut, which examines a mix of middle-class upstate New Yorkers, chiefly Gwen Raine and her husband. Gwen's misfortune begins with the purchase of a small bag of marijuana from restaurateur and former lover Jude Gates. Later, a car accident that isn't her fault results in the death of an elderly man. When police detective William Keller finds the bag of marijuana in Gwen's car and decides to go after her to get the name of her supplier, a charge of possession turns into much more. Klein paints a sometimes too clinical picture of an idyllic suburban life—successful workaholic husband, two near-perfect kids, a stay-at-home mom heavily involved in PTA activities. Eschewing a focus on evildoers, Klein instead portrays how the unintended consequences of one bad decision spread exponentially and change the fates of many people, but does so in a fashion where the design is often more important than the characters.

June 1, 2010

Minor vices and poor timing wreak havoc on the life of a reluctant housewife.

This debut novel by Klein owes much to the dramas of Tom Perrotta, mimicking the subdued desire and quiet angst of a certain breed of suburbanite. The focus here is drugs: who has them, why they use them, who's supplying them, and why America has such a jones for the stuff. Our main prism into this multifaceted tale is 30-something mother-of-two Gwen Raine, who needs a little something to help her unwind. After scoring $500 worth of weed from her ex-boyfriend, an ambitious but unethical restaurateur named Jude Gates, Gwen smashes into a pensioner with dementia, killing him instantly. Though she wasn't at fault, Gwen soon finds herself on the wrong side of a small-town detective with a mean streak who threatens to charge her with felony possession and endanger her custody of her kids unless she fesses up to who gave her the dope. This story line has plenty of verve, but Klein muddies up the water with a less interesting subplot. Ironically, Gwen's husband Brian is an executive at a pharmaceutical company, one that is riskily marketing antidepressants as fat-fighting drugs. Meanwhile, Jude is deeply embedded in a scheme to bring massive amounts of hard drugs, not to mention trafficked girls, across the border through Montreal. He thinks it's the deal that will buy him freedom, but as we all know from too many movies, the deal doesn't usually go down like it should. Klein has a nimble storytelling style, and readers who dig these types of melodramas will find some richly intertwined stories. If he can learn not to throw in the whole kitchen sink, this novelist will have a promising future.

A very adult remake of an after-school special that's driven by story, not lessons.

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July 1, 2010
Housewife and mother Gwen Raine has the perfect suburban life filled with children, PTA meetings, and the love of her husband, Brian, a marketing executive at a high-powered pharmaceutical firm. For a lark, Gwen purchases some marijuana from an old flame and, on her way home, gets into a car accident with an elderly Alzheimer's patient. Gwen is bumped and bruised, but the other driver is dead. When the pot is found in Gwen's car, the police throw the book at her, and the Raines' upscale life goes up in smoke. Meanwhile, Brian is enmeshed in a drug deal of his own when his company markets an antianxiety drug as a weight-loss aid, only to discover that it can have devastating side effects. And events have begun to spin out of control for Gwen's former lover Jude, a successful restaurateur with a lucrative side business. VERDICTExhaustive details about corporate marketing practices and marijuana production make Klein's debut novel informative as well as compelling. Fans of both domestic drama and corporate intrigue will enjoy it.—Jeanne Bogino, New Lebanon Lib., NY

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