Everybody (hopefully) has one of those seminal "aha!" moments in life when something clicks, and they put away their childish things. You grow up and quit being a kid. My protag Brendan Fishback in
Lake Charles undergoes the same transformation.
He's already been arrested for the murder of his girlfriend Ashleigh, and is out on bail. So, he takes off for Lake Charles to loaf and fish with his best pal Cobb and his twin sister Edna (who's now separated from Cobb).
Of course nothing works out like you plan for it in these tales. Before the day is finished, Edna has come up missing, and our boys are attacked by unknown hostiles. We soon learn just why, and what they're up against.
This is right about the time that Brendan realizes he doesn't like this hazardous place of being behind the eight ball all the time. He decides he better grow up once he gets past all this strife. He fears the next time he might not be so lucky.
In this way,
Lake Charles is a coming of age novel while it's also a noir and adventure story.
By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Author of
Lake Charles
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