The search for Daniel Ronson, a British lawyer who disappears soon after the destruction of the space shuttle Columbia
in 2003, fuels Wener's third novel to be published in the U.S., but what really propels it off the launch pad is the portrait of Daniel's eccentric younger sister, Claire, who determines to track him down. Wondering if the Columbia
tragedy might have triggered a post-traumatic stress reaction (Daniel and Claire's father died of a heart attack shortly after the 1986 Challenger
disaster), Claire leaves the U.K. for Miami, where she hopes to find some answers. She gets some sleuthing advice from Huey, a down-on-his-luck actor, and Huey's goofy boa constrictor–loving girlfriend. While a subplot in which Huey plots revenge against real-life producer Harvey Weinstein, whom the actor blames for his sagging career, is funny, it's so strained that it blurs the focus on an otherwise lovely contemplation about recovering from the black holes in every family's life. Wener (The Perfect Play
) is the former lead singer of the British pop band Sleeper. (Oct.)
