The Half Life of Stars

August 28, 2006
The search for Daniel Ronson, a British lawyer who disappears soon after the destruction of the space shuttle Columbia
in 2003, fuels Wener's third novel to be published in the U.S., but what really propels it off the launch pad is the portrait of Daniel's eccentric younger sister, Claire, who determines to track him down. Wondering if the Columbia
tragedy might have triggered a post-traumatic stress reaction (Daniel and Claire's father died of a heart attack shortly after the 1986 Challenger
disaster), Claire leaves the U.K. for Miami, where she hopes to find some answers. She gets some sleuthing advice from Huey, a down-on-his-luck actor, and Huey's goofy boa constrictor–loving girlfriend. While a subplot in which Huey plots revenge against real-life producer Harvey Weinstein, whom the actor blames for his sagging career, is funny, it's so strained that it blurs the focus on an otherwise lovely contemplation about recovering from the black holes in every family's life. Wener (The Perfect Play
) is the former lead singer of the British pop band Sleeper.

September 15, 2006
The former Sleeper singer's third novel (following " Goodnight Steve McQueen," 2004) showcases the author's increasingly effective ability to shift between caustic one-liners and quieter scenes full of insight and feeling. When successful London attorney Daniel mysteriously disappears, it's left to his younger sister, Claire, a promiscuous free spirit, to lead the effort to track him down. Her dysfunctional family seems even more feckless in the face of crisis--her mother is an alcoholic who turns harsh and vindictive after her second gin and tonic, and her sister seems more intent on stealing Claire's latest boyfriend than on finding their brother. Claire heads for Florida, with her ex-husband along for support, sensing that their father's death there long ago, witnessed only by Daniel on the day the " Challenger " exploded, may be the key to his disappearance and to her family's emotional paralysis. Wener evokes modern London and old Miami with just the right amount of detail in a winning novel that mixes a little mystery, a little romance, and a lot of comedy. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)