Book Review
Reviewed by Jonathan W. Hickman
Newnan author Joseph McNabb
“Tell me what you were thinking,” Attorney Joe MacNabb questioned a client, not disrespectfully but calmly and with high regard. I was an impetuous young lawyer back then, in the 1990s, and it was his personable manner, appealing to humanity, that impacted me. He was the most patient of practitioners.
Flash forward more than twenty years: Joe’s retired from the practice of law and, in his 70s, he’s written his first novel. It’s a meticulous thriller, a tome that richly explores the dark side of humanity while celebrating the elusive, innate goodness hidden within us.
“The Closet” is a vicious, unflinching, fresh bit of fiction that combines Stephen King with Thomas Harris along with a fair amount of religion that doesn’t hit you over the head with a pushy message. The novel is a remarkable achievement. Color me impressed.
The story is a twisty one. Will, a young Methodist minister, loses his pregnant, academic wife Leah in a home invasion. The hospital can’t save her, but doctors deliver their child, Annie. The distraught Will is beset with mixed emotions; he has a daughter, but there’s no mother with whom to share the love.
Leah’s parents blame him for their daughter’s death. They believe that had Will been home at the time, Leah wouldn’t have died. Sadly, Will feels that same guilt.
Years pass. Raising Annie alone, Will takes a position at a church in a small town, not unlike Newnan of the 1980s. Everyone knows something about everyone in the community, but secrets persist. As generations are replaced, dark truths fade into the ether.
When Annie is kidnapped at the county fair, the local law enforcement, led by an earnest young African American detective named Jack, is stumped. Where is Annie? Who has taken her?
With hints of King’s parent/child conflict in “Carrie” and a touch of the psychological horror of Harris’ “The Silence of the Lambs,” MacNabb weaves a solid, sordid and rewarding tale that reveals the deep-seated effects of a cloistered and intensely pious upbringing. It’s equal parts tragedy and thrilling mystery, as Will searches desperately for his daughter and Annie fights to remain sane while held captive in, yes, a tiny closet.
The metaphor of the closet is lost on no one. It’s a place where painful memories and conflicted emotions are
locked away. In this closet, however, one’s true worth can
be measured.
The novel covers a few days during the traumatic kidnapping. MacNabb’s methodical prose details the emotions and the procedures associated with the investigation. Drawing on his years as a lawyer and a long-time juvenile court judge, MacNabb knows the system from the inside. As a result, everything about “The Closet” rings credible, even as the complex narrative gets ever more lurid and tension-filled.
Despite MacNabb’s admittedly religious worldview, his book is not a sanitized inspirational work. People of faith will embrace its recurring references to Judeo-Christian beliefs and Biblical quotations. Those just looking for a briskly told mystery will also be captivated. MacNabb manages to thread the needle giving us a finely written adult novel that injects a fair amount of Methodist philosophy.
When I sat many times, years ago, in Joe’s office meeting with clients, he always took his time to understand the motivations of the person seeking his advice. It was his lifetime of encounters that made this novel possible. With “The Closet,” he’s given us a little of his broad insight. It’s a new voice from an old soul.
“The Closet,” by Joseph MacNabb, of Newnan, was released May 23 by Solstice Publishing, 280 pages. ★★★★
NCM
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