Smoke City: A Novel by Keith Rosson

 This is another book that I discovered through my library's recommendation page.  It didn't really seem like one of my usual books, but the premise was so bizarre that I decided to pick it up anyway.

There are two main characters: Marvin Deitz and Mike Vale. Marvin Deitz believes to be the reincarnation of the man who lit the pyre of Joan of Arc. Because of this act, he's been cursed to countless reincarnations with a perfect memory of every life that came before. His curse has several rules, but one of them is that he never survives past the age of 57. That birthday is about a week out at the beginning of the narrative and Marvin is fatalistically ready for whatever horrifying death is coming for him. However, when he sees a woman claiming to be the reincarnation of Joan of Arc on a talk show, the possibility of redemption sends him hitchhiking from Portland to L.A.

Mike Vale is the man who picked Marvin up from the side of the road. Mike was once considered the most important young artist of the 80's and 90's. His paintings made him famous but his drinking problem made him a disaster. His wife left him and his agent tricked him into signing over the rights to all his work. He's been on a tragic downward spiral ever since. However, when his ex-wife Candice dies suddenly, Mike decides he needs to get to LA to attend the funeral. 

These two unlikely road trip companions run into a series of problems getting from Portland to L.A. In the background are the smokes. Apparently a plague of ghost-like apparitions have appeared centered on L.A. They appear, flicker around a bit, and disappear. No one can communicate with them and no one knows why they appear. It ends up being important, but mostly it's just part of the backdrop.

Smoke City reads a lot like a Tim Dorsey novel. It's zany and weird. There is violence peppered throughout but it isn't over the top the way a Dorsey novel can be. I enjoyed it even though I couldn't for the life of me figure out where the story was headed for most of the book. The ending, while not what I expected, was satisfying and strangely up-beat. While I wouldn't recommend this to just anyone, it was a good read and worth the time.