cover image A Crooked Number

A Crooked Number

Nathan Jorgenson. Flat Rock Publishing, $16.95 (499p) ISBN 978-0-9746370-3-7

In Jorgenson's latest, undeniably sweet novel, Grant Thorson, a young dental student, meets and marries Kate Bellows, a beautiful young professor of dentistry. After the tragic loss of their first child, they open their dental practice in a small town and eventually have another baby, Ingrid. While this idyllic life suits them, Grant misses the baseball he played as an undergraduate. With Kate's blessing, he joins the town team, the Walleyes. Grant quickly becomes one of their most valuable players and helps take the Walleyes to the state championship and a brief taste of glory, and becomes a local baseball legend. The novel covers decades of ground easily, but seems to lack focus. While the love and devotion of Grant and Kate leaps off the page and the supporting characters are deftly drawn, the central story shifts from the courtship to the circle of friends and finally settles on baseball. The result feels like three different books. Moreover, soon after the courtship ends, Kate ceases being a real character and just becomes an appendage for Grant. This will be a disappointment to female readers who prized Kate's early independence. (June)