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Square in the Face |
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 Square in the Face byApril Henry Harper Collins 320 pages, 2000 ISBN 0060192054 Reviewed by PJ Nunn Claire Montrose got lucky. She was once a lowly employee of the Oregon State License Plate Division with the unenviable task of deciding which vanity plate requests get approved and which don’t. When she came into some money unexpectedly, she bailed out of there, found a charming boyfriend in New York and now lives a life of leisure in Portland. When an old friend comes to her with the distressing news that her youngest son will die without a bone marrow transplant, Claire is committed to help in any way she can. Lori had another child ten years earlier that she gave up for adoption. Her request is for Claire to help find the child in hopes of finding a bone marrow match and saving her little boy’s life. So Claire pitches in and heads for the clinic that arranged the adoption years earlier. However, their refusal to help seems to go beyond protecting the privacy of the patients. What secrets are they desperately trying to keep hidden? Claire is determined to find out - even when she begins to suspect they’ll stop at nothing. Square in the Face is Henry’s second Montrose novel, and it’s a good one. Although the book begins with Claire in New York deliberating the permanence of her relationship with Dante, she’s soon back in her home element and the search for Lori’s adopted daughter takes precedence. There’s a wide swing between the lighthearted relationship Claire shares with her roommate and the despair that Lori is experiencing, but it’s not a disturbing one. Henry manages to balance the opposing emotions, keeping the book from plunging into the depths. Even so, the emotional tug-of-war is intense. There are a few immediate suspects and plenty of twists, with the guilty parties kept secret right to the end. Square in the Face is a scenic train ride that emerges from the trees occasionally to reveal that you’re riding precariously close to the edge of the cliff. |
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