Orient

March 23, 2015
An affluent Long Island town is the setting for secret affairs and multiple murders in Bollen’s big and ambitious second novel (after Lightning People). The catalyst for all of these misdeeds is a young “foster-care kid” named Mills Chevern, who finds
a surrogate mother in Beth Shepherd, lifelong resident and failed artist. When local handyman Jeff Trader washes up on shore with a rope around his neck, foul play is suspected. Adding fuel to the fire is a big creepy creature, resembling a whale but black and disfigured so as to be unrecognizable, found on a beach. Locals connect these events to suspected nefarious doings by the Orient Historical Board and a nearby chemical plant. Wealthy dowager Magdalena convinces Beth to check out Jeff’s place for evidence of murder; when she visits the old woman to report what she’s found, she learns that Magdalena is dead. Beth begins investigating in earnest, with Mills as her wingman. Bollen is at his best when incisively depicting the self-delusions and prejudices of this remote community. Though packed with plot, this expansive novel falls a bit flat when all’s said and done. Agent: Bill Clegg, the Clegg Agency.

April 1, 2015

If you can't afford the Hamptons then Orient, a historic town on the North Fork of Long Island, may be just the place for you. It's quaint, seaside-adjacent, and a short drive to the city. But the influx of artists and Manhattan transplants has resulted in a culture clash with the longtime residents that just may have led to murder. Paul Benchley, a New York architect and longtime resident, rescued young Mills Chevern from a life on the streets and employed him to declutter his parents' old home. Gossip abounds about Mills, and when a local handyman and a beloved local activist are found dead, followed by a tragic case of arson, Mills is the immediate suspect. With the help of Paul's neighbor Beth, Mills sets out to solve the crimes and clear his name. But sleuthing in a small, close-knit community isn't so easy. People are tight-lipped and justifiably scared with a murderer in their midst. They fear drops in property values as much as the threat to their own lives. Suddenly, a deadly encounter rocks the town and gives Mills and Beth much to confront. VERDICT After a slow start, this debut novel ramps up to a breathless, well-crafted thriller with a thoughtfully drawn setting and a believable cast of characters who work their way to a shocking ending.--Susan Clifford Braun, Bainbridge Island, WA

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 15, 2015
Art, money, and ill intent collide in Interview magazine editor Bollen's (Lightning People, 2011) sophomore novel. Mills Chevern ("You know by now that Mills Chevern isn't my real name") arrives in Orient, on the North Fork of Long Island, as an adolescent drifter. He leaves a somewhat more established figure in the community, both suspect and savior. What happens in between is the subject of all kinds of speculation in Bollen's leisurely yarn, for his arrival coincides with a rash of murders in the placid community, a haven for the well-to-do and a slew of real estate agents, developers, and artists ("the sex was miserable, but they were artists who craved misery") who depend on those richies for their livelihoods. One, Beth, a native of the place with an intimate knowledge of where all the previous bodies are buried, so to speak, takes Mills in, courting the bad temper of a memorable Romanian artist who serves as a kind of Greek chorus to the later proceedings, growling and grumping. As the bodies mount, the huge pool of suspects begins to dwindle somewhat, for everyone, it seems, has a reason to kill; as Mills laments, "How can that detective suspect me when all these people had a motive?" Given all the possibilities, the identity of the real killer, in a nicely paced tale that unfolds deliberately over the course of 600 pages, is a nice surprise. Bollen could have chosen to sneer, scold, and satirize, for, he lets us know, at least some of the victims had it coming. But he mostly plays it straight-except, that is, for the moments of perilous same-sex entanglement, reminiscent of the best of Patricia Highsmith. And no one emerges unscathed from the gossipy tale, full of crossed storylines and small-town malice; Bollen has a real talent for summarizing character with zingers that nicely punctuate the story: "'I love you too,' she said, chain-rolling and chain-smoking her cigarettes, a one-woman factory, her mouth a purple waste-management vent." Skillfully written, with delightful malice aforethought.