No Way Home

For his tense latest, Boyle returns to the desert terrain that has long served as a crucible and moral testing ground in his novels, including The Terranauts. Set in and around Boulder City, Nev., the story unfolds against the stark backdrop of the desert surrounding Lake Mead, a landscape that’s “empty for a reason, a negative space interposed between you and someplace you’d actually want to be.” Los Angeles physician Terry Tully has recently traveled to Nevada to take possession of his late mother’s house. Enter Bethany, a long-legged 24-year-old with “honey-colored” hair, who’s been evicted from her apartment and is looking for a place to stay. Terry and Bethany’s burgeoning romance is soured by the regular presence of Jesse, Bethany’s handsome biker ex-boyfriend. Their love triangle drives the plot, and is further complicated after Terry suffers a serious spinal cord injury from a fall while hiking and Bethany uneasily assumes the role of caregiver. When Terry makes an unexpected recovery, tensions between him and Jesse heat up, resulting in violence. None of the central characters emerges unscathed from Boyle’s piercing depictions of their transactional and self-serving behavior. This sharply observed novel will keep readers turning the pages. Agent: Georges Borchardt, Georges Borchardt, Inc. (Apr.)