Mended

Karr’s faltering third Connections contemporary (after Torn) returns to the unglamorous world of midlist rock bands on tour. Xander Wilde is the road manager for the Wilde Ones, a band on the verge of a breakout. He must scramble to find a replacement frontman after two leads drop out. Xander’s old high school flame, Ivy Taylor, who recently debuted as a pop singer before suddenly abandoning her performance career, offers to fill in. The two are forced to endure the tensions left over from their failed romance, but despite rapid-fire peril, love manages to bloom. The first-person narration leans heavily on repeated constructions and words, further confusing a plot that includes lurid, improbable tragedies and implausible events. Karr sets up and removes obstacles without fanfare so her protagonists can conveniently move on to the next threat, but she spackles on plenty of passion and nostalgia to help readers overlook these flaws. (June)