Wolf at the Table

Rapp (Know Your Beholder) draws inspiration from his mother’s experiences as a prison nurse for a diffuse meditation on the nature of evil. The story begins in 1951 Elmira, N.Y., where 13-year-old Myra Lee Larkin encounters a stranger at a diner. Claiming he’s Mickey Mantle, the man offers her a ride home in the rain. Myra Lee makes it back safely, but learns the next morning that three of her neighbors, including a child, have been stabbed to death, and that a man seen entering the house matches the description of the stranger who drove her home. The murders remain unsolved and Rapp jumps forward in time, first to 1964 with a section dedicated to Myra Lee’s wild younger brother Alec, who’s decided to embrace a life of crime and partner up with a violent thief. Then, in 1966, their mother, Ava, now a nurse in an Illinois prison, loses a friend and colleague to mass murderer Richard Speck, and examines serial killer John Wayne Gacy shortly before his execution. Despite an eerie vibe, enhanced by Alec’s cryptic postcards to family members that suggest he might be a serial killer and Myra Lee’s lingering memories of her encounter with the stranger, the narrative’s broad scope ends up diluting its impact. This falls short of the material’s rich potential. (Mar.)