Gretchen Archer
There are magical-realism authors that can spin a fine web or fantasy – making you believe a little bit of magic, and then a bit more – until you find yourself believing in a whole other fantastic realm. They do so subtly, slowly and skillfully. Writers like Hoffman and Atwood come to mind. However, writing wacky and mad-cap stories that enthrall are far more difficult. It is the rare writer that can make you not only believe in, but root for, the loony one-eyed former governor with shotgun shells in his hair, the psychopath in pink cadillac or the fat woman in poison green spandex looking for her giraffe without making the reader throw the book down, crying “that’s crap!” Archer’s Davis Way, casino security staff and double for the boss’s hideous wife, are enthralling and engrossing. Like Evanovich, Dorsey or Hiaasen at their finest, you know it is all ludicrous. But SUCH ludicrous fun you just want to read more.