AMERICAN FAUST

In this debut literary novel, three people from different decades are ensnared in one diabolical plot.

Italy, 1917. Lawrence “Worthy” Worthington, a young, hedonistic soldier fighting in World War I, meets a German field marshal named Baron Memphis von Topheles. The baron grants Worthy eternal life, and all the soldier has to do in exchange is seduce young mothers and deliver them to Memphis. New York City, 1969. Divorced mother of two Sharon Peters finds herself in a hell-themed club in the depths of Greenwich Village. There, she meets the “Master Magician,” Memphis Topheles, who offers her a deal: He will make her young forever as long as she is willing to abandon her children and lure men into his service. California, 2000. James Harris is a young novelist-turned-entrepreneur who dreams of bringing the world together through technology. The only problem is he’s in desperate need of capital. At an investor event at the famous Hearst Castle, he meets Memphis Topheles, known as the Chairman, a venture capitalist wealthy enough to bankroll James’ utopian project. In exchange, he just needs James to travel to the old Revson property in Connecticut—a place James knows for a fact burned down years ago—and convince the woman who lives there to leave her husband. “If you can handle what you are about to step into,” the Chairman tells him, “you will have proven you are capable of surviving anything the business world might throw at you.” James agrees and travels to the old Revson place, though he isn’t sure what he will find there. He’s struck by a car in the property’s driveway, and when he comes to, his body is fine but his memory is damaged. The man and the woman are there, just as the Chairman warned him. But James’ mission proves much more difficult than he could ever have imagined—particularly since the house he’s entered seems to exist outside of time.

Brown’s prose is urgent and economical, as here where James begins to have some suspicions about just what’s going on at the Revson house: “Sharon darted like a deer to get inside, but he got to the door first and blocked her. ‘Tell me who you are, tell me who you are really,’ he said. ‘Let go of me!’ she shouted. ‘Out of my way!’ She thrust her elbow in his side and he buckled, grabbing her down. She fell on top and cried in pain.” The story’s structure is complex and full of surprises. The pleasure of the book is in figuring out how the various pieces of the tale fit together. It’s clear that the author has high literary ambitions—an early scene takes place at a party in Henry Miller’s Big Sur cabin, and classic American writers are referenced throughout—but unfortunately, his characters are thin. Memphis is a cartoon villain, and not in a fun way. In the rare scene where James produces an emotional reaction in readers, it’s a mildly negative one. It’s a shame there isn’t more here for the audience to latch on to, given the puzzlelike imagination that Brown displays.

An inventive but uneven tale about what people will do to get what they want.