YANAPOP

A college student’s journey to see his romantic interest sends him on a terrifying, otherworldly detour in this dark fantasy.

This may be the last summer break for San Diegan Martin Brown, who plans to graduate from college next year and start his career. Having just lost his prospective summer job, he takes friends’ advice and sees a woman at a Los Angeles production company. This ultimately puts Martin in front of Chloë Setreal, who works at Alienopolis, a company specializing in fantasy books and games. Martin instantly falls for Chloë, and, it seems, the feeling is mutual. So he’s excited when Chloë later calls him for a job interview—mostly for the chance to see her again. Unfortunately, car trouble strands Martin in San Diego in the midst of a severe rainstorm. And that’s only the start of his mishaps. Seeking shelter or access to a phone (as his cell rarely has a signal), he finds himself entangled with everything from crazed murderers to vampires and maybe aliens as well. As authorities eye Martin for a serious crime and someone steals his ID, he desperately tries making it to Chloë, preferably alive. Argo excels at pacing, as his story begins leisurely and becomes increasingly frantic and unpredictable. By the novel’s latter half, some of these seemingly random events connect. This sparks a mere hint of something much larger unfolding, but the author wisely keeps it simple and doesn’t distract from Martin’s purpose. While the protagonist is certainly sympathetic, readers learn very little about Chloë other than her attractive physical details. As a consequence, signs of romance, even Martin’s daydreaming of their potential time together, aren’t convincing. Still, Martin traverses a hellish underworld so startling that reaching Chloë is a goal worth cheering for.

An entertaining, kinetic supernatural tale with surprises and a genial hero.