Generation Loss

Starred review from February 19, 2007
Hand (Mortal Love
) explores the narrow boundary between artistic genius and madness in this gritty, profoundly unsettling literary thriller. Cass "Scary" Neary, a self-destructive photographer, enjoyed her 15 minutes of fame snapping shots of the punk scene's most squalid moments. Now forgotten and aging gracelessly, Cass gets a shot at rehabilitation when a friend assigns her to interview Aphrodite Kamestos, a photographer from the fringe of the '60s counterculture, whose morbid vision influenced Cass herself. On remote Paswegas Island off the coast of Maine, Cass finds a dissipated and surly Aphrodite who sees in Cass the darkest aspects of herself. Worse, Cass discovers that a remnant of a commune Aphrodite helped found has taken her bleak aesthetic to the next level in an effort to penetrate mysteries of life and death. Cass is a complex and thoroughly believable character who behaves selfishly—sometimes despicably—yet still compels reader sympathy. The novel's final chapters, in which Cass confronts a horrifying embodiment of the extremes to which her own artistic inclinations could lead, are a terror tour-de-force that testify to the power of great fiction to disturb and provoke.

April 1, 2007
Cass Neary is a train wreckan alcoholic, drug-abusing has-been photographer best known for her disturbing collection of punk-era photos, Dead Girls. While others left the punk scene behind, Cass remains defiant and angry, living in the same squalid New York City apartment and eking out a sullen existence. Then a distant acquaintance throws her a bone: interview Aphrodite Kamestos, legendary photographer, at her home on a remote Maine island. Cass snorts her last stash of crystal meth, grabs her ever-present bottle of Jack Daniels and her Konica, and heads off in search of the woman whose groundbreaking work first inspired her. Once there, Cass turns into an unlikely sleuth, piecing together a string of missing persons cases and exploring the edges of art and insanity. Cass is selfish, morbid, and damagedyet surprisingly sympathetic. Noted science fiction/fantasy author Hand's (Saffron and Brimstone) writing is fluid and highly descriptive. Readers who embrace the punk ethos or those who do not object to rough language, violent imagery, and sexual situations will find much to admire here. For public libraries and photography collections.Christine Perkins, Burlington P.L., WA

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