The Good, The Bad and The Critic

Established on March 19th, 2012 and pioneered by film fanatic Michael J. Carlisle. The Good, The Bad and The Critic will analyze classic and contemporary films from all corners of the globe. This title references Sergei Leone's influential spaghetti western The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.

Saturday, June 13, 2020

Surf City Acid Drop - Book Review

Title: Surf City Acid Drop
Author: Craig Terlson
Year: 2015
Country: Canada
Publisher: Ethelbert House

[Purchase Surf City Acid Drop on Amazon]

Canadian Craig Terlson has had a 26 year career of illustration, working for magazines and newspapers across the country. His fiction has been published in literary journals in Canada, the US. UK and South Africa. His 2017 novel Fall in One Day gained him a McNally Bestseller status, and a nomination from the Manitoba Book awards. Currently he is the Design Manager at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg. MB.

In Surf City Acid Drop Luke Fischer is hired to find people – even when he denies that he is a detective. When Luke finds a dead junkie in his hotel room, he knows his lazy days of Mexican beer, surf rock, and Cholula soaked peanuts are about to end. Fearing the local policia will tie him to the murder, Luke bolts from Puerto Vallarta and abandons his search for his client’s wandering brother.

Surf City Acid Drop is remarkably engaging; I originally had planned to give myself small breaks per hour of reading, but found that I could not put the book down & read the entire book in one long sitting. It's a neo-western neo-noir crime mystery drama w/ a touch of comedy that would have made an excellent film adapation in the 1970's (double feature with Chinatown?). There are many surf-rock references & one could easily form a soundtrack in their mind to compliment this book. Craig ought to make a soundtrack available online for fans of this mesmerizing novel. 

Craig's work is a light read- mainly because his characters, scenes, dialogue are so well crafted. It's easy to get lost in the captivating words and form a grand picture in your mind  The mysteries within Surf City Acid Drop unravel slowly, yet keep the audience invested with tense situations and gut hitting, sharp witted dialogue. We're never really sure who's side each character is on, their motivations and their allegiances (if any) It helps that secondary characters, such as Mostly Harold, are just as engaging as our main "protagonist" (if you can call him that) Luke Fisher. I hope Craig's future books include more of Harold. He reminds me of Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men. 

In an interview with Weyburn Review Terlson mentioned the difference between "plotters", those who do full outlines before writing, and "pantsers", those who fly by the seat of their pants. “I’ve got nothing against plotters." He remarks "It just doesn’t work for me,” Surf City Acid Drop is so imaginative, so enthralling, that it seems like any other style, other than "fly by pants" would have hindered such a unique vision. I could easily see this adapted by Hollywood and making a ton of money in the process. 





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