British novelist Whitaker has chosen to set his debut novel in small-town America where a child’s abduction has unsettled the community.  This might seem an unusual premise for a British debut but enables Whitaker to produce a character-driven novel where the residents of Tall Oaks have that slightly off-kilter weirdness that we readers might expect from that setting  with its slight echoes of the film/tv work of David Lynch (“Blue Velvet”/”Twin Peaks”)

Three year old Harry is abducted from his bedroom by someone wearing a clown mask . I’ll put that info in because I know that alone might freak out some potential readers – coulrophobia sufferers beware (yes I did look that up!) The investigating officer has strong feelings for the distraught mother.  Other Tall Oaks residents include Jerry, an overweight, squeaky-voiced photo-shop worker who cares for his behaviourally disturbed mother, who is dying from a brain tumour and Henrietta and Roger, a couple at the end of their marriage with secrets of their own.  If this all sounds heavy-going then I’d like to introduce you to Manny, a great comic creation and very much the star of the piece.

Teenager Manny, as much adrift as most of the Tall Oaks residents, has adopted the dress of a 1930’s gangster to give him the right appearance when attempting to extort money from local business owners.  He is foul-mouthed (Tourettes?) and brash and yet is often seen accompanied by his three year old sister.  His need to create an authentic air of menace leads to him wearing a three piece suit in tropical temperatures and having to wear a head bandage to hide the grooves on his forehead from his too-tight fedora.  There is a laugh in every one of his appearances in the novel, he completely won me over and shows Whitaker has skill with comic creations.  Manny is supported by Abe, a lanky sidekick with the ability (unlike Manny) to grow an impressive moustache and Furat, Manny’s Iraqi girlfriend who has to put up with his spontaneous terrorist jibes.  Manny is a brilliant mix of bravado and teenage angst. This character gives the novel an extra little sparkle which makes it worth seeking out.

Plot-wise, there are some twists I saw coming quite early on and some which surprised me- a satisfactory combination.  The setting gives us British readers the opportunity to look on proceedings with a detachment that we might not have with a more familiar closer-to-home location and I think this works well.  I never became totally immersed into life in Tall Oaks but I was close enough to observe the quirks of the characters and this was a good position to be in.  It also gave me the chance to very much enjoy Whitaker’s gradual unveiling of the plot.

Tall Oaks is published on  April 7^th by Twenty7 books.  Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.