The Motel of the Stars

McElmurray's evocative second novel journeys into the New Age subculture, beginning with Kentucky repo man Jason Sanderson, still grieving for Sam, the son he lost 10 years ago. Desperate, Sanderson leaves his concerned wife to find his son's former lover, Lory Llewellyn, who he believes can help him understand his loss. His search is short—serendipitously, Lory shows up at a repo job—and it's her globe-trotting account of discovery with Sam that provides most of the narrative. McElmurray traces Lory's life from troubled girlhood to courtship to treks across Asia and the American Southwest seeking enlightenment; readers will soon suspect that Sam is looking not for answers, but for a way to avoid them. Sanderson himself tells a story filled with questions, passion and despair, and as the intertwining flashbacks roll out, the two characters move ever closer to the 26,000-year cycle-ending Harmonic Convergence of December 24, 2012—after which, Mayan prophesy suggests, the world will be changed unalterably. Though eventually McElmurray's world begins to glow with magic possibilities, the novel closes on a rather foregone conclusion, a letdown for her intriguing ideas and her genuine characters. (Nov.)