Wreck

The appealing if underdeveloped sequel to Newman’s 2024 novel Sandwich follows 50-something writer Rocky through another series of midlife dilemmas. Rocky is at home in Massachusetts with her husband, Nick, and their college-grad daughter, Willa, when they read in the newspaper that an old high school friend of their son, Jamie, has been killed by a freight train at a railroad crossing. Rocky feels awful, especially after learning that the wreck might have been due to the railroad’s outdated safety equipment. The episode distracts her from the article she’s supposed to be writing about spatchcocking poultry, as do the inconclusive results of tests her dermatologist had her take to determine the cause of her mysterious rash, which continues to spread. Her anxiety spikes even more when she learns that the railroad is a client of the management consulting firm that Jamie works for in New York City. The plot is pretty threadbare and Newman doesn’t go very far with the overarching mortality theme, but she nimbly leavens the heavy material with Rocky’s quirky humor, as when she calls the fussy Willa her “princess angel baby” or struggles to fix a ceiling fan (“It’s not out of the question that I’ll Godzilla the entire fan out of the ceiling and throw it to the floor, screaming”). The author’s fans won’t be disappointed. Agent: Jennifer Gates, Aevitas Creative Management. (Oct.)