Made to Break

Debut novelist D. Foy uses a poetic and gritty genre-clashing voice to construct a winter horrorland. On New Year’s Eve in 1995, five burnouts head to a cabin in the woods near Lake Tahoe to do drugs and have sex. The narrator, Andrew, brings his love interest, Hickory, to join three friends he has known for over a decade. Dinky is the owner of the cabin and the most amiable of the group; Basil is Andrew’s semi-rival and ex-bandmate. The crux of the social drama revolves around Lucille, who is Andrew’s former roommate, Dinky’s ex-girlfriend, Basil’s current girlfriend, and the only one who seems to finally be growing up. One chapter in, a car crash leaves Andrew and Dinky stranded, until they’re picked up by Super, an ex-Vietnam vet who hangs a dead monkey from his dashboard, has a doll collection in his back seat, rambles in nonsense metaphors, and smokes very strong dope. Back at the cabin, Dinky becomes fatally ill. A torrential storm keeps them from leaving. Memories are awakened, secrets are revealed, and strange noises begin to create a tension that intoxication cannot fully repress. Foy’s voice is artful at times, but is often drowned out by the vulgarity. Still, the novel has some appeal as a B-movie-like thriller with occasional poetic undertones. (Mar.)