GOD IN CONCORD

Ominous happenings in Concord, Mass., site of Thoreau's Walden and long the home base of the author's intellectual ex-cop Homer Kelly (National Enemy, etc.). Megadeveloper Jefferson Grandison is determined to build a cutesy new town on the edge of the pond. His ardent henchman is Jack Markey, aided in turn by money-mad entrepreneur Mimi Pink, who's already overboutiqued a once-sensible Main Street. The elderly population of Walden Breezes, a trailer camp on desirable land, is being decimated at an alarming rate, despite Homer's pleas to local law enforcement to pay attention. Add to all this the invasion of a tacky little band of homeless from Boston; the emotional turmoil of handsome young Ananda Singh, a Thoreau worshiper from India whose pilgrimage almost costs him his life; and the ongoing conflicts between planning boards and nature lovers. The final upshot is a tidy triumph for the good guys—unrealistic, perhaps, but great good fun for the reader. The author's clever live drawings further enhance a richly textured, unflaggingly entertaining story.