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Silver Lake

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Synopsis

Robbie and Carlo have been involved professionally and personally for twenty years. Lately, though, their architectural practice and their marraige are beginning to falter.

One fall day, Tom Field, a peculiar young man, drifts into their storefront office asking to use the phone. The men get to talking; Tom is curious but enchanting, and Robbie ends up playing tennis with him that afternoon, ultimately inviting him home for dinner. The ensuing evening involves a lot of wine and banter and then increasingly dark conversation, and when the stranger has had too much to drink, the two men insist he sleep in their guest room.

During the night, Tom commits an act of violence that shatters the couple's ordered lives—the men are forced to cope with the blossoming doubt and corrosive secrets. Each in his own way, Robbie and Carlo seek to understand the disquiet stemming from their time with Tom.

Review

Every once in a while I find myself in the mood for a psychological thriller and Silver Lake is just that. Author Peter Gadol writes beautiful prose as he looks at the themes of redemption and deception. Full of suspense and gorgeous details, the book takes you away to Los Angeles and to view domestic life there. And we are asked questions that we, ourselves, must deal with as we are pulled into the action.

Robbie and Carlo are two California architects who receive a surprise visit when a young man comes over and asks if he use their phone. They chat and get to know each other a bit and they invite, Tom, the young man to a game of tennis and dinner. The rapport is good and after dinner they invite him to stay over in their guest room. The next morning their world is changed. Tom is found hanging from a neighbor's tree. LAPD is called and an investigation begins and secrets pop out. Even though Rob and Carlo have been together for 20 years, each has a secret from the other, It seems Carlo had met Tom previously after a carjacking and they had a brief affair. Rob finds Tom's address book and begins to call the contacts therein so that he can tell them about the death and maybe learn a bit more about Tom.

Here is a book that moves you to the center and allows the action to take place all around you. The mystery that exposes the men's secrets is pervasive. The plot mixes suspense and intrigue and we see how much damage a lie can do. Gadol examines consequences--of cheating, of lying. of not telling all. Gadol is a master at flashbacks and what is so interesting is that the book constantly moves forward while going into the past and foreshadowing the future. The book is dark and we are made aware of the true importance of communication. This is quite a reading experience and one I recommend you do not miss.

-- Amos Lassen