Falling Bodies

Einsteinian physics and mathematical principles make an intriguing background for a love story, but they tend to keep the reader emotionally removed from first-time novelist Mark's tale of regenerated love. Physics professor Jackson Tate's equal and opposite reaction to the tragic deaths of his wife and children-- victims of a drunk driver--is to hit the open road in an Econoline van. He ends up on the coast of Maine, where he meets kindred spirit Livvy, an innkeeper whose suffering seems to match his own. Mark spins suspense into his story of loss and second chances by keeping the reader guessing on two counts: What has Jackson done that may have put his name on an FBI wanted poster? And what is the mystery behind Livvy's invisible husband? But his technique--to intellectualize the psycho-emotional with theorems--comes off as a touch pedantic, despite the intelligent light it casts on the story. The scientific metaphors bring a cool, restrained poetry to the language of human relationships, however, and sometimes bloom into lyric passages that chart Tate's growing feelings for Livvy and his gradual recovery from the trauma that still defines his life. Drawn together by their neediness, the unlikely couple elicits sympathy and prompts the reader to hope that they can minimize the square of the distance between them. Major ad/promo; BOMC featured alternate; foreign rights sold in Germany, Italy and Spain. (Apr.) FYI: Andrew Mark is a pseudonym for freelance writer Mark Rosenstein; he is married to the writer Kelli Pryor.