Suburban neighbors hunt for a mysterious interloper in Semegran’s novel.

Seff leads a quiet life with his wife in suburban Austin, Texas. Usually, the most colorful part of his day is sharing a few beers on the deck with his neighbor Big Dave, the proud sort of Texan who thinks nothing of shooting at a squirrel on his roof with a silenced Glock. When pets start to go missing around the neighborhood, Seff and Dave form a task force to get to the bottom of the mystery. The two men are soon surveilling the area with video cameras, chasing after shadowy figures in the dark, and getting pepper-sprayed by teens for their trouble. Just as they are about to give up, they capture something sinister on the cameras: a ghostly, glowing, naked figure wearing only running shoes and a pair of pantyhose pulled over his head. “[L]ooking like a naked bank robber ready for a jog—a thin and lanky, athletic, white praying mantis—he got really close to the camera and waved,” narrates Seff in horror. The only option, as they see it, is to form a posse to bring down this deranged culprit. Can the neighborhood—and Seff and Dave’s friendship—survive their ad hoc vigilantism? The novel takes the form of a series of vignettes depicting life in the neighborhood interspersed between chapters related more directly to Seff and Big Dave’s quest. Their odd-couple friendship—Seff is a progressive writer-type while Big Dave is an unapologetically MAGA plumber—forms the heart of the book. Semegran eschews injecting serious political conflict into the relationship, presenting Dave as a self-aware sitcom reactionary. “She is missing,” Big Dave chides Seff when he misgenders a dog. “You gotta get the pronouns of all the animals correct these days or the kids will cancel your ass on the interwebs and the social apps and such.” In a time of political polarization, the author offers an encouraging tale of neighborliness and camaraderie in the face of the unknown.

A big-hearted, often amusing tale of the weirdness of suburbia.

A widower and a teenager set off on an important road trip together in Semegran’s contemporary novel.

In Austin, Texas, 65-year-old Hank O’Sullivan spends a lot of time at his favorite local bar drinking away his loneliness after losing his wife and daughter in a car accident. In a parking lot scuffle outside a bar, Hank fights back in self-defense and earns himself a court-mandated sentence of 40 hours of community service. It’s there, while cleaning up trash on the side of the highway, he meets 16-year-old Luis Delgado, a Puerto Rican boy serving his own community service hours after being caught trespassing. Luis, a talented artist, lives with his father in the same neighborhood as Hank. After Luis and Hank form an unlikely friendship, Luis finds out Hank plans to visit Houston to reignite an old high school romance and asks if he can tag along to reconnect with his estranged mother, who also lives in Houston and who Luis hasn’t heard from since he was young. In a hot pink 1970 Plymouth Barracuda, the duo embarks on a road trip filled with drama, car troubles, a lesson in map reading, and lots of waffles. Semegran proficiently shifts between Hank’s and Luis’ points of view, which helps both characters feel fleshed out. An overuse of description can sometimes slow the pacing (“He set the bag on the carpet, then put his shoes on—the black wool sock on his right foot with a hole in it for his big toe to receive fresh air, the cotton sock on the left the shade of coffee with heavy cream”), but the unique relationship between the two unlikely, sympathetic pals keeps the story rolling.

A fun, if talky, tale of an endearing May-December friendship.

Four teenage Texans find themselves stranded on a forbidding, inaccessible island in this novel.

William Flynn and his friends Brian Johnson, Randy Moss, and Miguel Gonzalez are subject to repeated bouts of bullying from the local Thousand Oaks Gang. One day, a school security guard intervenes when the gang attacks, and the bullies flee, leaving behind a rucksack containing a large quantity of money and marijuana. William hides the bag at his house, and when the gang comes looking for it, he doesn’t answer their questions, which inevitably leads to further violent encounters. On a camping trip, the boys meet Tony and Victoria, two 18-year-olds who work on the lake, and they strike up a friendship with them. The boys later spend a weekend at the lakeside in an old abandoned mansion that William calls the Cabin of Seclusion;when members of the Thousand Oaks Gang arrive, however, the kids are forced to flee by boat, which, due to poor navigation, finds them stranded on an island surrounded by jagged rocks. A possibly poisonous snake bites Randy, Brian can’t swim, and without shelter or an obvious source of food, all of the boys find themselves in a very bad situation. In an afterword, Semegran makes no secret of his admiration for William Golding’s classic 1954 novel, Lord of the Flies and Stephen King’s 1982 novella The Body, on which the popular 1986 film Stand by Me was based. It shows in his own work, as he puts the dynamics of adolescent friendships at the heart of his story, although the narrative doesn’t really carry the same weight as Golding’s. The group dynamic doesn’t shift significantly on the island, either; there are no power struggles, divisive politics, or moral dilemmas, which saps some of the narrative’s power. The novel’s pacing is somewhat inconsistent, as well, with a long buildup to the island scenes and a relatively lengthy where-are-they-now coda. Overall, though, this is an absorbing, nostalgic, and polished story that will likely find its readership.

An entertaining, if somewhat lightweight, coming-of-age adventure.

A young clerk gets caught up in a cost-saving scheme at work that rattles the Texas political establishment in this novel.

J.D. Wiswall has left his rural hometown of Brady, Texas, and moved into a tiny cinderblock house in Austin. He’s taken a job with the state, working as a data entry clerk for the Department of Unemployment and Benefits. His first day is unusual, as he finds his new boss, Brent Baker, outside of the office, passed out in some bushes. Brent claims he has epilepsy, but J.D. isn’t so sure. At work, his few colleagues consist of Deborah Martinez, a financially strapped mother of a grown son; Rita Jackson, a grandmother who runs the office lottery pool; and Conchino Gonzalez, a silent car fanatic. The duties are tedious, but Rita spices things up with hopes about a state contest. If the employees can generate an idea to save Texas money, there is a $10,000 prize. They plan to split the winnings if they succeed but have no good ideas. Back home, J.D.’s mother writes that his aunt is worried about him in the big city: “I keep insisting that you would never befriend hippies or smoke marijuana, but she is inconsolable.” Meanwhile, a reporter is called to the office of the Texas governor, a slippery partisan in a gold-plated wheelchair. He promises the journalist an exclusive, but she discovers something monumental on her own. At J.D.’s office, the hard-drinking Brent thinks he has found a way to claim that $10,000 and arranges a fateful meeting with the “Big Boss” that could be life-changing for all involved. Semegran’s (Sammie & Budgie, 2017, etc.) gently humorous foray into the depths of Texas’ bureaucracy takes a while to get going; after all, he is describing one of the more boring jobs around. But the pace picks up beautifully in the second half, as some chance occurrences and accidental muckraking come together in a manner worthy of Texas politics. Characterization is strong throughout the novel; the dialogue always rings true; and little touches add local color. For example, J.D. is never without pecan treats from his beloved hometown. The conclusion is notable for all that’s changed but also what will likely stay the same.

A comic sendup of state government that remains lighthearted, deadpan, and full of affection for both urban and rural Texas.

A father suspects his young son may hold the power to see the future in this novel.

Simon Burchwood is a tender father of two with a difficult life. A computer networking specialist who dreams of becoming an author, he spends an inordinate amount of time reflecting on his inadequacies and failures. Following the death of his ex-wife in a motor vehicle accident, Simon must raise Sammie, a bright as a button little boy with special needs, and his elder sister, Jessie, a competitive young girl with a ferocious love of taekwondo. Sammie wants a pet budgerigar (an Australian parakeet), which he plans to name Budgie. Simon begins to suspect that Sammie has unusual abilities when the child foresees his after-school counselor seriously injuring herself. Intrigue builds as Sammie’s apparent mysticism allows him to select a winning lottery ticket at a convenience store. Surprised and alarmed by his son, Simon takes Sammie to a physician but is met initially with skepticism. Yet when Sammie envisions that all is not well with his grandfather, whom he refers to as PeePaw, the clan sets off on a road trip posthaste. The result is a sensitively told story about family bonds and individual dreams. This is the third installment in the life of the fictional wannabe author. Semegran’s (The Meteoric Rise of Simon Burchwood, 2012, etc.) fan base will recognize Simon’s rambling, often crude confessional inner monologue: “Sometimes, kids say the weirdest things at the weirdest times and there really is no rhyme or reason to why they say these things. They just do, and what they say is like an involuntary burp that escapes your mouth an hour after lunch or a silent yet stinky fart that slips out while you’re in an important meeting.” Some readers may quickly dismiss this approach as overly wordy and tiresome, yet Semegran is a persuasive writer, and in this particular story, Simon’s self-doubting verbosity becomes oddly endearing. Sammie is the true star, however—a sparklingly intuitive young character whose few words make the tale truly tick. Simple lines such as “Sorry I told you the truth, Daddy” are not only heart-melting, but also succeed in puncturing the hubris of adult life with the innocence of childhood. Illustrated throughout by Semegran, this book is the author’s best. In these pages, his steadfastly idiosyncratic style really begins to click.

An unconventional, beguiling, and endearing family tale.

Two short stories and a novella about youngsters growing up in Texas. 

Author Semegran (The Discarded Feast, 2017, etc.) assembles three pieces of fiction; each chronicles the struggles of a boy in Texas—a second-grader, a teenager, and a recent college graduate. In the first story, “The Great and Powerful, Brave Raideen,” a quirky grade schooler, William, plays solitarily with his toys, which function as surrogate friends. He’s terrorized daily by Randy, a relentless bully, and conspires with his toys to fill his tormenter with fear, pilfering a gun from his parents’ room. Later, a repentant Randy apologizes and reveals that his father is his own oppressor. The boys make amends and become friends, but that doesn’t mean all ends well. In “Good Night, Jerk Face,” Sam obsessively pines for a 1980 Mazda RX7 and takes a job at a local Greek restaurant to save up for it. He makes deliveries in the owner’s truck, though he doesn’t have a driver’s license and doesn’t know how to drive. He starts to put his preoccupation into context, however, when he begins spending time with his crush. In the longest piece, The Discarded Feast, Seff, an aspiring writer, barely makes ends meet working at a restaurant. He starts stealing the food that’s headed for the dumpster but is eventually caught and fired. Along the way, though, he begins a potentially promising relationship with co-worker Laura Ann. Semegran artfully weaves together lighthearted comedy and emotional turbulence in each of the stories, and in the last one, Seff practically sustains his meager survival with jocose banter. The writing is sharp and unpretentiously thoughtful, and since each of the main characters finds solace in companionship, this is an affecting literary depiction of the comforting power of friendship. Each of the stories can be read on its own, but taken together, they make a coherent, thematic whole, skillfully produced.

An endearing collection that deftly captures the need for youthful fellowship. 

An author bathing in the glory of publishing his debut novel heads to New York for his first book signing.

Simon Burchwood considers himself to be a writer at the pinnacle of his art. He believes that he has achieved recognition and fame, which, for him, are the most important accolades a man in his profession could think to achieve. Semegran’s (The Discarded Feast, 2017, etc.) novel opens with a boast: “I have become wildly more successful than I ever could have dreamed.” Simon is keen to share this assertion, and does so with everyone he meets. The truth is Simon appears to be a small-time author with a massively overinflated sense of self-importance who is on the cusp of publishing his first novel. The story charts his journey to New York, where he is to give a reading at a flagship bookstore, but first he will pay a visit to his hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, in a bid to catch up with his childhood friend Jason. Seeing the streets where he grew up stirs up a cocktail of emotions, from mawkishness to disgust. Simon encounters his childhood sweetheart working in a strip joint, and realizes he still bears a resentment toward the kid who stole his prized Spider-Man comic. Yet he also knows that as a writer he is above small-town life, heading to New York with Jason, despite the fact he views him disparagingly as a “goddamn pig.” In Simon, the author has created a psychologically complex character that is difficult to like or tolerate. Written in the first person, Simon’s narrative is consistently abrasive and repetitive: “I gobbled up my second omelet as quickly as the first, and found myself licking my goddamn fingers and smacking my goddamn lips and scraping the edge of my goddamn plate with my fork like a goddamn heathen.” Semegran seems to channel Charles Bukowski’s muscular style but delivers a tired, ersatz version. Ironic or not, it becomes wearing after several pages. Nevertheless, the close-to-the-bone novel captures perfectly the intensely solipsistic nature of a certain type of author—one who arrogantly lauds the importance of his craft over others, yet ultimately favors public adoration over creative endeavor. But a clever and surprising twist fails to rescue what is often a tiresome read.

A flawed tale, despite some cutting observations of the writerly demeanor.