In this unusual novel, Locke, a writer for NBC's Tonight Show
, takes readers on a surreal journey involving a magic carpetbag, with mixed results. David Connors is a Chicago video games art director who has let alcohol and an inability to get in touch with his feelings separate him from his wife and two young children. The Christmas season only exacerbates these feelings, and he throws himself out of his 39th-floor office window. When his life is spared, a magic carpetbag he's discovered provides endless objects that hold clues to his past. Together with an unhappy single woman he meets at a restaurant (a relationship that never quite makes sense), he boards a train and begins a strange trip to a bizarre yet familiar town. References to the need for reconciliation with God are inserted in a few places as pieces of David's past come together. In the climax, David experiences a recreation of an incident that has haunted him as an adult. The story requires maximum suspension of disbelief, as David finds forgiveness, explains his story to his wife, then faces his fears again in the closing pages. Faith fiction readers who enjoy a magical element to their stories should find this to their taste. (Sept.)
