THE WASP EATER

In this slight first novel, 10-year-old Daniel tries to reunite his parents after his father, Bob (a man with a "sweepstakes smile and sly charm"), is kicked out of the house for having an affair with a waitress. On one of Bob's fleeting visits home, Daniel is given a pawnshop receipt for his mother's engagement ring. Thinking the ring might be the key to reconciliation, Daniel takes a bus from New England to New York to buy it back, but he runs into trouble and his father has to come and get him. Rather than return home, father and son set off on a road trip, an expedition limned with menace instead of tenderness because Bob is not a very nice guy. Even he admits as much, telling his son that, for the rest of his life, "You'll borrow fathers. And that'll be better for you much better." The honesty of Lychack's portrayal of a father's failure to make good is undermined by awkward shifts in perspective and by strained lyricism, which make this heartfelt story limp awkwardly along. Agent, Marly Rusoff. (Aug.)

Forecast: Previous exposure—Lychack was featured in The Best American Short Stories and on NPR's This American Life—should give this a push out the gate, but word of mouth may be mixed. Author tour.