In The Middle of Middle America by David B Lyons

Synopsis

Time: September, 1997.

Place: Lebanon, Kansas—quite literally, as marked by a monument, the very middle of middle America.

A teacher. A soldier. An immigrant. A joker. A loner. A chancer. A carer.

A mosaic of seven regular townsfolk are going about their days, blissfully unaware their lives are about to interweave, interchange and interact; entangling into such a messy web that, together — and unbeknownst to them — their lives end up changing the face of America forevermore.

Review
In The Middle of Middle America is the new, stand alone thriller from David B Lyons. Set in 1997, in quite literary the middle of America, Lebanon, Kansas, this is a character driven novel, told from the point of view of seven very different characters, all with their own story whose lives weave a web that changes their lives, and that of their community forever.

This is a very. different kind of thriller where you have no idea of the crime that is to be committed until you get to the end of the book, and no I didn’t work any of it out. The seven characters all live in the town of Lebanon Kansas, your typical small town in middle America. There is the family recently moved from Ireland, much to the chagrin of the teenage daughter, a young girl and her sister caring for their mother at home as they cant’ afford the medical costs, a fottball jock, the loner who runs the school newspaper and a young man who is trying to come to terms with who hew reaaly is. The other voices are a soldier just returned from the Middle East and a teacher a the local school who is desperate to have a baby. Running along the lives of these characters, to whom we are a fly on the wall, is the story of Sarah Jane Zdanski, a local journalist now head hunted by one of the large networks to host a new show of important interviews, but just who she is interviewing is a mystery, to the nation and the reader; all we know is that it is drawing in big viewer numbers and will change her career. We are voyeurs to the lives of these characters, we are privy to their inner thoughts, to their highs and lows and to the relationships they develop, and all the time left trying to work out how their lives ultimately change forever.

Set in 1997 David B Lyons shows a very different America to the one of today, and I found some of the reading quite uncomfortable. Through Sarah-Jane’s story we see how the entertainment industry was run by middle age men and where the ‘casting couch’ was still going on. Men decided how she should wear her hair, what dress she should wear, and even dress-up for a ‘lunch’ with her boss. In the wake of the #MeToo movement this kind of behaviour is thankfully on the way out, but is a stark reminder that not too long ago this behaviour was the norm. There are some very difficult issues raised in this book, many still faced by Americans today; mental health, a sexuality, cost of health care and race.

In The Midle of Middle America was a book that kept me guessing until the very last chapter. The characters are beautifully crafted, relatable and fascinating, all facing their own private issues that we go through with them. David B Lyons certainly kept me guessing with where this book was going, the tension building in as to who is Sarah-Jane Zdanski will be interviewing, and how all the intricate threads will knit together. Well written, powerful and very thought provoking, this is another brilliant and unputdownable novel from David B Lyons.

I’d like to thank David B Lyons for sending me a copy of this book in return for my honest review.