Review: ‘Guy Novel’ is widely improbable spy thriller
“Guy Novel” (Permanent Press), by Michael Ryan
Michael Ryan is primarily known as a Guggenheim-winning poet, although he has also written a critically acclaimed memoir and a book of essays. But his first novel, “Guy Novel,” is part wildly improbable spy thriller and part goofy love story in the vein of “The Hangover” movie trilogy.
Robert Wilder, a struggling stand-up comic from Los Angeles, is getting married. But when he strolls into a bank to fetch some cash for the honeymoon, he’s beguiled by a stunningly beautiful stranger, falls into bed with her and wakes up too late for the ceremony.
He takes the mystery woman to his honeymoon suite in a luxury hotel in Mexico, where she promptly vanishes, leaving behind a note warning him not to look for her. But of course, he does. As a result, he finds himself caught in a web of international intrigue – an unfamiliar world of professional spies, mujahedeen warriors and President Bill Clinton.
The farcical plot is an odd fit with Ryan’s sublime literary prose style. The book is being marketed as a thriller, a genre whose fans may be initially put off by the author’s dense paragraphs and long, complex sentences. But readers who get past that are in for a funny, beautifully written roller-coaster ride.
Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including “The Dread Line.”
This story was originally published August 6, 2016 at 11:44 AM with the headline "Review: ‘Guy Novel’ is widely improbable spy thriller."