The Heel

Weird-fiction author Connell (The Metanatural Adventures of Dr. Black) stumbles with this unsatisfying novel set in 1970s New Mexico. Mitch Mazzola is eking out a living, selling purportedly priceless Native American artifacts to unsuspecting tourists. One lonely evening, he comes across a young man named Calvin, who says that he is Mitch’s son, the product of one of Mitch’s many sexual adventures. Both men decide to claim that Mitch is holding Calvin for ransom for $50,000; Calvin plans to use the money to travel the world. Mitch is decidedly antiheroic, lacking any sympathetic or redeeming qualities. His epic fantasy–style retellings of mundane events (“With purse full of coin, I, Mulvizeg, decided that it was time to enjoy the delights of the city”) are distracting rather than humorous, and the depictions of sex fall flat. Connell’s preoccupation with adolescent fantasies spoils an otherwise intriguing story. (Oct.)