The Salinger Contract

by Adam Langer

An enthralling literary mystery that connects some of the world's most famous authors--from Norman Mailer and Truman Capote to B. Traven and J. D. Salinger--to a sinister collector in Chicago

Adam Langer, the narrator of this deft and wide-ranging novel by the author of the same name, tells the intertwining tales of two writers navigating a plot neither one of them could have ever imagined. There may be no other escape than to write their way out of it.

Adam is a writer and stay-at-home dad in Bloomington, Indiana, drawn into an uneasy friendship with the charismatic and bestselling thriller author Conner Joyce. Conner is having trouble writing his next book, and when a menacing stranger approaches him with an odd--and lucrative--proposal, events quickly begin to spiral out of control.

A novel of literary crimes and misdemeanors, The Salinger Contract will delight anyone who loves a fast-paced story told with humor, wit, and intrigue.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Books About Books, Thriller, Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Book Club

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 17, 2013

About the author

Adam Langer is am editor, journalist, author, playwright, filmmaker and podcast producer.

He lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Will Byrnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whenever I saw Salinger’s novels or story collections on my friends’ bookshelves, or when I heard authors…talk about how much they admired the guy, I wondered how those books could have influenced them so greatly. I wondered too how Mr. Salinger—in seclusion for more than forty years in Cornish, New Hampshire—felt about the readers who admired his work. If somehow knowing he had touched Hinckley and Chapman and, later, Jared Lee Loughner, who shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, had convinced him that escaping society had been the right move. I wondered how it would feel to write something—a story, a novel, an article—that would inspire someone to change his or her life for better or worse.

There are questions raised in The Salinger Contract about where the responsibility of the author leaves off. Would Salinger have written his books had he known they would inspire murderous lunatics? Would it have made any difference at all? Maybe those sorts would have just found the same inspiration somewhere else, and the rest of us might have been deprived of some pretty good reading. The question becomes less than academic here.


The Reclusive One

Another notion is causality in writing. In an interview with Alexandria Symonds in InterviewMagazine.com, after talking about a proposal by a Hollywood sort that he write a new version of Murder, She Wrote, Langer says:

It's such a cliché to have the writer who writes about crime turn around and solve them. I thought that was a lame idea, and I didn't write anything for him, but it did occur to me to completely reverse the polarity on it and come up with an idea of a writer whose books become the basis for crimes.

Ever wonder why famous writers vanish during periods we believe to have been creatively fallow? Langer did, and offers one possible answer. Conner Joyce is a writer of crime fiction. But sales are not improving, as attested by the light turnouts on his book tour, and sliding sales. His family finances are not what they should be and his marriage is not exactly the steadiest. So, when a mysterious billionaire, Dex Dunford, offers him a considerable sum to write a novel just for him, and for him alone, Conner is tempted.

I had friends who were fairly prominent in the literary world who would meet some guy who did not have an apparently interesting life story but who would say, "I will give you double what you normally make for your book. Write my life story." And if you don't have a trust fund or residuals, it becomes a very tempting sort of offer. - from the Symonds interview

Of course, as with any such deal, there are conditions, secrecy being prime among them. Dex comes complete with a large bodyguard/enforcer named Pavel Bilski. (think a larger version of Steven Bauer as Avi on Ray Donovan, then add a few inches and fifty pounds), so telling would be a definite no-no.

One of the things Langer is addressing here is the notion of the boundaries between art and reality. Where one leaves off and the other begins takes concrete form when Langer casts himself as a character in the art he creates. This technique is hardly novel here, calling to mind, among many others, Charlie Kaufman in The Orchid Thief /Adaptation, Jonathan Ames of Bored to Death, Dante as a visitor to several realms in tales that range from the infernal to the paradisiacal, and John Fowles in The French Lieutenant’s Woman. Langer, the character, had had a bit of time in the limelight while running a New York based literary magazine. He was known for the many interviews he had conducted, and profiles written of authors. Things in the publishing industry being what they are these days, Langer, the character, finds himself trying to work on his personal writing projects while serving as a house-spouse in Bloomington, Indiana, where his wife is teaching at a university, the Lit mag having gone the way of many publications. Real Adam was a senior editor of Book Magazine until it folded. Fictional Langer had written a profile of Joyce back in the day and when the author makes a book-tour stop in Bloomington, the two get together. Langer, the character, is the eyepiece through which we see Conner’s experience, which is the primary plot track.


Adam Langer – the real one

One of the fun elements in the book is the author’s look at the publishing industry, offering payload on the significance of literary whales, some detail on the experience of book touring, intel on top editors, and the sort of portrait one might expect of a popular author of junk books. Particularly fun was Dex talking about the household name authors who had taken him up on his offer over the years. While you may get a chuckle here or there, this is not a laugh-out-loud sort of satire, but a darker, substantive look at questions that matter in the world of writing and publishing. I enjoyed it for that as much as anything. There are also larger issues in play; what is truth and what is fiction, what are we willing to do for money, what responsibility do authors have for what readers do with their work. There is also a brief look at politics in academia, but that was pretty familiar territory, so did not offer much that was new, although it was entertaining. Fans of the late TV show, 666 Park Avenue will find a Drakian thing or two to enjoy. And residents of Chi-town will appreciate the many local references, by Chicago native Langer.

I did find, at times, that there were notions proffered that were problematic, for example

In my experience, every criminal would be an artist if he had the talent, and every artist would become a criminal if he had the guts; in my case, it took an artist to teach me how to be a criminal.

Really? Rather a broad generalization, no? And later

Maybe the reader understood more about a book than its writer ever did. Maybe you know more about me from reading this sentence than I ever could.

While there may be something to the notion that once a story has been published into the world, the world will decide what it means, the fact remains that authorial intent is real, and it would be the rare exception, IMHO, for a reader to grasp an author’s intent more clearly than the author herself.

So, does it all work? Well, there are some stretches to be made, some disbelief to be suspended, but The Salinger Contract is a fun, fast-paced, engaging read, with a core of serious and satiric content wrapped in a shell of adventure. If you need to hide away for a while, this would be a good book to take along.

Review first posted October 25, 2013

I received this book via GR’s First Reads program – Thanks guys!

=============================EXTRA STUFF

A Wiki profile of the author, the real one

Twitter for Langer

An article by AL - How I Learned Not To Be J.D. Salinger

The InterviewMagazine.com Adam Langer is not in Hiding - must-read material

12/16/13 - The Salinger Contract was named one of the best fiction books of 2013 by Kirkus

[Margitte · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Salinger Contract by Adam Langer


'“Every criminal would be an artist if he had the talent, and every artist would become a criminal if he had the guts.”

This quote is the center of this thriller. A struggling author, with financial as well as marriage problems, encounters a man who asks him to write a book just for him, with secrecy being the key which will unlock the ultimate payment of the author's life. It will simply wash away all the hang-ups, problems, issues and everything else money could possibly solve. How can he say 'no'.

Enters the bad and the bizarre: '“Isn’t that why all writers write? To inspire their readers?”

"Come now," Dex told Conner. "There is nothing mysterious here. Everything is exactly as it appears. Maybe even too much so. I have told you I am a fan of your work. I have said that your work inspires me. I have asked you to write a book for me. I have explained why."

J.D. Salinger inspired more than dreamy-eyed romantics on a thriller-high with his tales, written in seclusion for more than forty years in Cornish, New Hampshire. He was also the bubbles in the champagne of the infamous John Hinckley(attempted onslaught on Ronald Reagan's life), Mark David Chapman(John Lennon's assassin) and later Jared Lee Loughner, who shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

The fictional suspense becomes a cruel reality when the author is challenged to turn his back on his own brilliant tale, or persist and declare himself the noble innocent.

Comments: The book addresses the debate around criminals taking their cue from their favorite author's books. However, it was not the reason why I read the book at all. I wanted to read a crime thriller, be entertained, and relish the after effects of a adrenaline booster.

When an author can climb into my head and read my thoughts, knows what I want, from the get go, the book will be ravished, giving up everything near and dear to make it a one-sitting experience. This book was one of those.

For the less-informed, such as yours truly, this book provides the behind-the-scenes thrill of the current publishing industry - the plummeting book sales; the blogging phenomenon; the influence of online reviews being often less forgiving than the printed versions; the wheeling and dealing. And then of course, it confronts the readers about our reactions after reading it.

Two ingenious tales are snaked through the narrative, involving two authors with both their families being trapped in an existential panic. They are basically honest people pushed to their limits forced to make choices they wouldn't have made under ordinary circumstances

Books can safe or destroy lives. Sometimes in fiction you had to mute reality in order to make it seem more believable.

The most important issue addressed in the book is:where does fiction stop and reality begins. Where does the responsibility of the author ends when fiction is used by criminals as a do-it-yourself manual for real crimes.

I am not the brightest peanut in the packet when it comes to delving deep and thoroughly into the hidden meanings behind an author's motives in writing their stories. Sometimes I do want to bestow such pain on myself, but most of the time, I use reading as a stimulant to relax!

The Salinger Contract did just that, but also left me pondering the content of the tale for weeks afterwards. The suspense thriller did what it was suppose to do - be an excellent addition to the genre. The plot, story line and drama were a relentless and riveting journey through emotions and thoughts.

However, the author also used the drama to address social responsibility by both authors and readers. And that's where the brain-drain started for me. It made me think about it days on end. Did the writer inspired the reader? What do you think? Did I want to act upon the suggestions in the book to commit a crime? No.

Suggestion is the most powerful tool in the world. It is used in every single action of the human existence. It preys on the subconscious. One of the most successful ads ever made was for Disprins. The initial ad had only a glass of water on the table, and one Disprin being dropped into it to relief headaches and flu symptoms. The same glass of water was again used in the follow-up ad. But this time two Disprins were dropped in. The sales immediately doubled!

So, for what it's worth, here is my take on crime-inspired-by-books: No author can plant a disorder in a person's psyche. The disorder was already simmering in the subconscious. A book can just be a final (and probably not the first) trigger of lunatic behavior. As can be seen in the many different opinions and experiences of books by different readers, different reactions are inspired. It becomes a totally different ball game when a novel is used to hide a manual for crime. Salinger never intended to do that, nor does this book.

Five flashing stars for this brilliant suspense thriller! There is not a single dull moment anywhere in this book. I could not stop reading it until it was all finished. I will read Adam Langer again, for sure.

It is a must-read for EVERYONE: wanna-be authors, reviewers and readers alike. The story in itself is a fast flowing suspense drama incorporating the highly interesting background of the publishing industry.

If the book was intended as a commentary on social responsibility by an author, it passed with flying colors. But it was so much more than that. It is one of the best crime thrillers I have ever read.

It is a crime in itself NOT TO READ IT!

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was around the 25% mark (I read this on a Kindle) when any semblance of a premise appeared - up until then it was the mundane ramblings of an unemployed literary editor. A mysterious wealthy man called Dex Dunford approaches crime novelist Conner Joyce to write a novel for him – but only for him. Ok, I thought, where’s this headed? Hopefully somewhere good!

Around the 50% mark nothing further had happened. Around the 75% mark, after some overwrought kitchen-sink drama, a half-hearted attempt at a thriller raised its head and then quickly dropped again. By the end of the book – and it’s a relatively short read at 270-ish pages – I couldn’t believe how little had actually happened. When, in those rare moments, something did occur, it always felt contrived and unconvincing (not to mention baffling – but I’ll keep this review spoiler-free).

How on earth was this tripe published?!

Among the many problems I had with this book was the weak setup where a run-of-the-mill crime novelist was picked by a supposedly discerning rich guy. Previously Dex had hired the likes of Norman Mailer, Thomas Pynchon, Harper Lee, and JD Salinger (hence the title) to write him a crime novel and then those writers would disappear and become recluses. We’re supposed to believe some crappy crime writer holds a candle to those literary giants?

Langer makes some non-observations on the state of the publishing industry that anyone who’s alive will already have noted for themselves: people are reading less these days because of other media outlets available, Young Adult fiction is on the rise, literary fiction is on the downslide, bookstores are closing en masse.

Fine - so what? Oh, that’s why no-one’s buying Conner’s crap books – the reading public are too fickle/not intellectual enough? Well, boo-fucking-hoo! If nobody reads your novels, you’re not entitled to blame everyone else for your lack of success and money – that’s solely on you. Neither the culture nor the publisher are there to subsidize writers who feel like they deserve to have everything paid for them while they write. And again Conner writes fucking crime procedural novels aka throwaway airport lounge crap! They’re not selling? Get a job, you self-important crybaby! You’re not above working a job just because you’re oh so precious about being a writer! Both Conner and Langer made me sick towards the whole profession.

The characterisations were extremely sloppy. Langer creates a bestselling YA British novelist who makes Dick Van Dyke’s performance in Mary Poppins look subtle. Dex is your archetypal mysterious wealthy guy and the others aren’t worth mentioning - they’re just putzing along. When some laughable melodrama occurred – someone’s wife leaving them over nothing, a pathetic chase sequence that peters out as rapidly as it appeared – I couldn’t care less because these characters meant nothing to me.

Langer places himself as the protagonist, an overused literary device in the first place, but it means we have to endure pages of drivel about how his wife might not get tenure at her college. Not that the rest of it is much better but if anything could’ve been cut from this nonsense to make the reading experience more interesting, it’d be those worthless passages.

What bothers me is that I can see the strings and the very lazy puppet master manipulating them, who’s totally bereft of ideas. But what irritates me more than that is the book’s message behind literature: it’s all about money. All the writers in this book are obsessed with it, particularly Langer, and that’s probably why his novel is so shit. If he cared about the art, he might produce something worth reading. As it is, he’s attempted to write commercially (a “literary thriller”, a double misnomer) and instead produced something even more disposable than the latest Fifty Shades knockoff.

Don’t bother with The Salinger Contract, it’s a dismal waste of time. This was my first and last Adam Langer novel!

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

And yet, wasn't the terrific thing about stories the fact that they joined readers together, that they made people realize that they were not alone in their hopes, dreams and fears?

Although I enjoyed this easy-reading thriller, I could not really connect with the characters. It was interesting to read about the current state of publishing in a novel, as opposed to non-fiction. I thought the plot was good, but it became a bit far-fetched towards the end. This is not my normal genre though, and I'm sure people who normally enjoy thrillers will love this book.

The Story: Narrator Adam Langer's quiet existence as a stay-at-home dad in Bloomington is disrupted when thriller author Conner Joyce, whom Adam once profiled in his livelier past life as a journalist in New York City, comes to town on an author tour. Soon after the two renew their friendship, Conner reveals that he's received a bizarre offer. The wealthy, mysterious Dex wants Conner to write a novel for a private collection of unpublished manuscripts from the likes of Thomas Pynchon, Norman Mailer, and, of course, J.D. Salinger. Adam becomes the bestselling author's closest confidant as Conner's involvement with Dex turns dangerous.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing: Not just for staid intellectuals

I loved Langer’s “Thieves of Manhattan” so I was excited to read “The Salinger Contract”. There are lots of literary references as the title would indicate and the mystery is highly inventive. Adam is a stay at home dad of two toddler girls with a wife who’s an academic. He has one book under his belt but has not been able to get going with a second so he’s intrigued when a fellow author, Connor Joyce, involves him in his writing and in a true life mystery complete with villains of the foreign and domestic variety. Joyce is contracted to write a book for an audience of one but he soon finds out things are so simple. The books’ contractor is a reclusive, elusive bibliophile who might be eccentric and maybe even dangerous. Joyce is as scared as he is intrigued but the money is too good to turn down especially his sales have plummeted recently. This is where Adam comes in. He becomes Joyce’s confidant and adviser.

There’s a great interplay between the high speed chase aspect of the story and the sense of vicarious excitement. You’ll need to suspend your sense of disbelief to enjoy the contrasting of Adam’s Mr. Mom persona vs. espionage. He listens to his friend’s tales as he folds laundry, ties shoe laces, referees toddler arguments, etc. There’s also a back story based on his search for his birth father and his mom’s less than stellar parenting. Langer questions what we know about some of our literary heroes. They may not all be the staid intellectuals we’ve assumed they are. There are people held at gun point, mysterious meetings at glamorous and at seedy places, high speed chases, and words words words. “The Salinger Contract” shows how we can all have various personas other than the one we show the world. There’s a potential conspiracy plot within every life and definitely within many manuscripts if “The Salinger Contract” is to be believed.

This review is based on an eBook provided by the publisher.
(Disclaimer given as required by the FTC.)

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Won in a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway. Written to formula, very simple and slightly clever, no big words or complex thoughts, yet still a fun and satisfying mystery/thriller with some "inside" dirt on writers and publishing. Ten bucks says it will be a Tom Hanks movie within a few years (I'm guessing it was written with this end in mind) along the lines of Da Vinci Code, which I kept being reminded of with its attention-holding 2 and 3 page "chapters." On a rare positive, it does NOT contain gratuitous sex, violence, or foul language, but I'm sure Hollywood will fix all that when the time comes. 3.5 stars that don't quite stretch to a fourth.

[Gerhard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The enigmatic and reclusive J.D. Salinger has been much in the news of late, with a new bio and film coming out, which I hope translates into extra attention for Adam Langer's fiendish novel. Ostensibly a breezy and quick read, this left me pondering its ideas and implications well after I turned the last page.

Both provocative and satirical, which is quite a difficult balance, Langer sets forth to skewer the publishing industry with either a rusty blade, a knight's lance or a woodsman's axe - I still haven't quite made up my mind as to which instrument fits his intent best.

It is advisable to go into this cold, preferably knowing as little about the plot as possible, which depends on an increasing scale of one-upmanship as a series of carefully set-up twists and turns are unveiled.

The ending was a bit of a head-scratcher for me. This is one novel where I actually wished it was longer. Fantastically readable and enjoyable.

[Larry H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd rate this 4.5 stars.

Wow, this was fun. Part mystery, part riff on the literary world, all completely compelling.

Adam Langer is a stay-at-home dad living in Bloomington, Indiana, caring for his two daughters, Beatrice and Ramona (sound familiar, Beverly Cleary fans?), while his wife Sabine, is a college professor. Adam fondly remembers his days as books editor for the now-defunct Lit magazine, which allowed him to meet authors whose careers he had admired.

His time with the magazine also fostered his own short-lived writing career, as he wrote one novel, Nine Fathers, a fictionalized account of his quest to find out who his biological father was. When the book was first published, and he was searching for authors to write blurbs for the book jacket, only one of the authors he met—crime writer Conner Joyce—agreed to write something. However, the book didn't sell well, and life (and lack of interest in the literary world) got in the way of Adam's writing a follow-up.

Fast forward a few years, and Adam has a chance encounter with Conner at a book signing of his latest book. Yet things have slowed down for Conner, as his last few books in his crime series haven't sold as well as his first, and readers and his publisher are starting to lose interest. And one night, while doing a reading in Chicago, Conner is approached by the bodyguard of a wealthy, eccentric man who makes him an offer that seems far too good to be true, and one he can't seem to refuse. The mysterious Dex wants Conner to write a new crime novel—and only Dex and his bodyguard will ever read it. Conner can tell no one about this deal, ever, and he can't ever publish the novel he writes. And in exchange, he'll receive far more money than he'd get otherwise.

"Well, we all have our own fantasy about our favorite authors, don't we?" "Which is what, exactly?" asked Conner. "That the author is speaking only to us, that he is writing only for us, that no one on Earth has the same relationship to that author as we do...That the author has written his book only for me."

While this deal seems both irresistible and impossible to fathom, this isn't the first time Dex has worked with an author on this type of arrangement. And he has the unpublished manuscripts from all of them—Salinger, Mailer, Harper Lee, Truman Capote. How can Conner refuse? But after Conner writes his crime novel—an exercise he finds far more freeing than writing his novels had ever felt—events start occurring that convince him that he's blundered into territory he couldn't imagine, and the only place he can turn is to Adam.

I'm a huge fan of Adam Langer's books. I really enjoyed all of his previous novels, Crossing California, The Washington Story, Ellington Avenue, and Thieves of Manhattan. (The latter was on my list of my favorite books of 2010.) I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but it drew me in pretty much immediately and kept me hooked. I had suspicions as to where the plot would go—some were right and some were wrong—but I was impressed by the creativity of Langer's premise and the way he unraveled his story. I also really enjoyed his skewering of the literary world.

This is a fun and tremendously interesting book, with enough suspense and action to keep you hooked. Of course, now that I've devoured this book, I'll have to wait a while for Langer's next, but I guess that's the price you have to pay...

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Salinger Contract by Adam Langer is a September,2013 release, published by Open Road Integrated Media. I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Conner Joyce had enjoyed a long career as a mystery/thriller writer. Now, however, only a handful of people show up for his book signings. Instead, the lines are out into the street to have the latest vampire/wizard book signed.
Conner's work has become stale and clichéd. When Connor is approached by a rather eccentric person and offered a great deal of money to write a book just for this one person, Connor feels like he has nothing to lose and a whole lot money to gain.

Conner confides all this to his friend, a man that has one published book, and once interviewed Conner. Now, he is a house husband raising two children. But, when Connor confides in him, telling him that the man that hired him to write a book for him, also commissioned some of the biggest names in literature to write for him as well. Truman Capote, Harper Lee, Norman Mailer and of course J.D. Salinger.
The stipulation of course is that Connor must never tell a soul about the book, including his wife and son.

Connor is so intrigued at the opportunity to write without judgment, it opens up his creative juices. Finally, he decides on a plot, and begins to write at a feverish pace. He turns in his manuscript to his benefactor and waits for a response.
The outcome of his novel is something he never saw coming.

This is a story that is part mystery, part tongue in cheek satire. Wry humor and a searing portrait of the publishing industry as it is today, makes this story unique. If you want to just focus on the mystery, you may, but, you would be missing out on the underlying message.
A very clever plot and commentary combined. That's not an easy task. It works out here quite well.
I loved the authors names that wrote books for the mysterious "Dex". Most of these literary giants had the one huge book and then faltered at releasing another novel of it's success. Many became reclusive.

There are several major plot twist that you will not see coming. I highly recommend this book for all book lovers. It is a lot more than just a mystery thriller.

Overall this one get an A.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I received this book for free from NetGalley.

An intriguing premise, and an interesting enough plot to make me follow it all the way through. But there certainly was a lot of padding. It felt like enough material for a concise short story, but as a novel, there was way too much stalling. For example, I lost track of how many times the narrator mentioned that his favorite writers were J.D. Salinger, Jaroslaw Dudek, Thomas Pynchon, Harper Lee, Truman Capote and Norman Mailer. And any time one of those writers was mentioned, we had to hear the whole list again. Not unlike someone padding a term paper with "very, very, very" or someone SEO-optimizing a web page by saying, "The great thing about Thomas Pynchon, Harper Lee, and Norman Mailer is that Thomas Pynchon, Harper Lee, and Norman Mailer were the only famous authors named Thomas Pynchon, Harper Lee, and Norman Mailer."

And there are some obvious filler moments -- such as in Chapter 26, when the narrator interrupts a story he's being told so he can put his kids to bed, and then meets back up with his friend to hear the rest of the story -- where the author seems to be throwing in movement for movement's sake just to keep us from realizing the story is more or less two guys sitting and talking. Speaking of, maybe it's not a padded short story; maybe it's a one-act play turned into a novel.

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second read by the author, since I liked Thieves in Manhattan so much. The Salinger Contract doesn't disappoint, although doesn't wow quite as much either. It follows the same formula of art imitating life imitating art, cleverly blurring the boundaries to make for a very compelling literary thriller. Literary in both senses, well written and pertaining to literature. There is a line in the book that sums up the idea behind the plot perfectly, something like criminals would be artists if they had the talent, artists would be criminals if they had the guts. Excellent line. As with Thieves of Manhattan, the book is also an astute and depressing in its probable accuracy satire of the state of literary publishing. Very entertaining quick read. Recommended.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The narrator Adam Langer (also the author's name)is a struggling novelist who had one successful semi-autobiographical book, the content of which estranged him from his family. Living in a college town where his wife, who teaches at the university, he is now a house husband who occasionally dabbles in writing. His world turns upside down when he goes to a talk by an author of thrillers he admirers, Connor Joyce be befriends him with a tale of a wealthy literary enthusiast who pays huge sums to certain authors willing to write novels exclusively for his private collection. This is where the puzzle begins. The plot twists with issues of greed, creativity, egos, famous writers, and publishing. This all leads up to the secret reveled in the end. Overall an entertaining novel.

[Ms.pegasus · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is the relationship between author and reader? It's probably every author's dream to have thousands, perhaps millions, of avid followers. – the seductiveness of celebrity. But what about those relatives and friends who, rightly or wrongly, see themselves mocked and betrayed in the author's writing? On a less personal level, what about the readers who delude themselves into thinking they “know” the author. And what a shock to discover that behind that literary talent lurks a loutish self-aggrandizer. Readers themselves may imagine that there is some mystical bond they share with other admirers of the author – that they form some sort of community. Finally, what happens when an author's works get used for purposes he (or she) never intended? Doris Lessing was appalled that “The Golden Notebook” became a rallying point for the Feminist movement. “Life imitates art" is a cliché recycled at every opportunity when a crime appears to mimic a popular novel or movie. It's enough to make the poor author a recluse – like Salinger? These are some of the issues explored in highly comic fashion by Adam Langer is this entertaining novel of suspense and parody.

Langer goes about his craft deftly. He hooks us with a marvelous first sentence: “I never believed a book could save your life....The story of how one book saved me while another nearly killed Conner began, appropriately enough, in a bookstore...” Then, like pulling at a loose thread in a sweater, he confronts us with various aspects of the reader-author relationship, until all of our illusions start to unravel. He also knows how to set up a situation. He asks: “If you had the opportunity to act like an entitled a**h*** in order to get what you want, would you take it?” Most of us would recoil from putting that thought into action. Yet, watching a fictional character do exactly that is exhilarating. He employs the opportunity with wicked glee.

Our narrator is the character Adam Langer, author of "Nine Fathers" – a semi-autobiographical fiction about 9 imaginary fathers (Langer never knew who his real father was). “The book was one I needed to write, but in retrospect, not one that anyone needed to read,” Langer admits to us in confidence. Unfortunately, the book causes an unexplained estrangement with his mother. Since then, he has resettled with his family in a small college town, given up writing, and settled into the routine of a house-husband.

Langer reconnects with author Conner Joyce at a dismally unsuccessful book promotion talk held at a doomed Borders Bookstore in Bloomington, Indiana. Their connection was previously only tangential. Langer once interviewed Joyce in headier days when Joyce was touring for his best-selling Ludlumesque thriller, Devil Shotgun. Yet, Joyce now embraces Langer as his closest friend and confidant, like a drowning man clutching for a life preserver, perhaps. The story that develops is intriguing. Joyce meets a mysterious literary enthusiast who proposes a bizarre bargain. The proposal is both enticing and disquieting. In this way, author Langer holds our attention. Each of Joyce's decisions is seemingly innocuous, driven by curiosity. Yet each brings him incrementally closer to some unknown peril.

The personalities of Conner Joyce and author Langer intertwine. Joyce is known for his meticulous research and the authentic texture of his books. Author Langer engages us with his detailed sense of locale. The sleepy college town of Bloomington, Indiana, the sparkling nighttime vista of the Outer Drive in Chicago, and the decadent grandeur of Lake Shore Drive mansions guarded by liveried doormen are all captured vividly. Many of the clandestine meetings between the main characters occur at the Drake Hotel. Anyone reading this book and then visiting Chicago will be drawn to the Coq d'Or Lounge of the Drake as surely as visitors of a literary bent make the pilgrimage to the Algonquin Hotel in New York.

The territory covered by this book includes a lively parody of the publishing enterprise. It features Margot Hetley, the British franchise super-star author of fantasy lit – the author with the midas touch and a heart of brass. Shascha Shapiro is the behind-the-scenes image make-over guru who epitomizes the unholy alliance between editorial and marketing. She's a prospector, mining for treasure and then abandoning her finds when the vein is tapped out. Author Langer also skewers academic life. Character Adam Langer's wife Sabine teaches at the sternly sober Graduate School of Foreign Policy, hoping to win tenure. To amuse themselves, they write under the pen name of Buck Floomington, a secret, revelatory blog satirizing Sabine's self-absorbed, pompous colleagues and their highly improper private activities.

Some of the plot turns may seem predictable but many are complete surprises. This is a refreshingly creative work with appeal for a broad swathe of readers. It's a must-read for any native of Chicago.

[Lemar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adam Langer has a special talent for writing enjoyable books that center on the experience of reading and the business of writing. In the "Salinger Contract" he plays with the boundaries between reader and author to good effect. His character Conner Joyce, an author, describes how as a kid reading "Catcher In The Rye" he "fantasized that his favorite books had been written only for him". At another point the narrator, who may or may not be Adam Langer, says about his own efforts, "maybe the idea of trying to write for the masses was foolish and egotistical; maybe all that mattered was communicating with one other human being".

The pressure an author feels to sustain a persona is highlighted by concentrating on authors who famously refused to do so. J. D. Salinger's decision to simply bow out still leaves people scratching their heads. More recently the late night talk show host Craig Kilborn just up and left show business leaving people in my native L.A. dumbfounded. Harper Lee and Thomas Pynchon are mentioned here too as Langer explores the idea of a reader connecting to an author who declines to appear receptive. Personally, I hate it when I learn a fact about a musician or author that I like which contradicts my image of them. When I was a kid I saw my basketball hero Wilt Chamberlain playing volleyball at Hermosa Beach where I lived with my grandmother. I grabbed a pen and paper to get an autograph as did another kid who got to him first. When the kid approached the seven foot legend Wilt told him, "get the fuck outta here". I went home and ripped his poster off my wall.

This relationship between author and reader is to me like the duality of the particle and wave properties of light. The story comes in one packet right from the author's brain to mine and yet it is also a wave, splashing against many brains and refracted through the culture at large through references and reviews. Does it matter what the author is like? Does it matter to the author how the reader got the money used to pay for the book? Maybe all that matters is a good story. Maybe not.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Salinger Contract appealed on the strength of the title alone, but turned out to be much more!

A literary mystery that has tension so tight you could almost strum the chord, The Salinger Contract presents a premise so fascinating you wonder if it could really happen...or if it has happened.

The story's narrator is Adam Langer. The author is Adam Langer. A curious detail that adds to the questions provoked by the premise (which I won't spoil for you).

From the Book Description:
Adam is a writer and stay-at-home dad in Bloomington, Indiana, drawn into an uneasy friendship with the charismatic and bestselling thriller author Conner Joyce. Conner is having trouble writing his next book, and when a menacing stranger approaches him with an odd—and lucrative—proposal, events quickly begin to spiral out of control.

I can't tell you much more than that without spoiling the fun, but the suspense begins to give you a sense of disquiet, and you can't be completely sure of the reliability of the narrator. Which narrator, you may ask....

Recommended.

NetGalley/Open Road Integrated Media

Suspense/Mystery. Sept. 17, 2013. Print version: 280 pages.
ISBN-10: 1453297944

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an odd little book. I'm not even sure how to describe it, but I did like it. In some ways it reminded me of that horrid Scott Westerfeld book with alternating viewpoints - Afterworlds. They both discuss the current state of publishing and are a little (or a lot) meta. This book was vastly more interesting, however. My only complaint was the style of writing made it difficult for me to buy into the concept or get engrossed in the story. The story-telling technique meant that everything was told to the narrator after the fact and so any sense of menace was diluted, reducing its suspense. It was fast-moving and original, though, and I can see why it was recommended for fans of Hitchcock, even if it lacked in suspense.

[Anmiryam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always found myself drawn to books about books. It is a natural consequence of being an avid, some would say addicted, reader. Books at the center of a crime? Books as a force to bring together disparate misfits? Books about magical books? Books about the publishing business? Books about the people who write books? Cover blurbs mentioning any of these will get me interested enough to pick up a title and give it a go.

Books about writers are especially fascinating. Now that I am securely middle-aged and no longer fascinated by rock stars or Hollywood's latest hunk-of-the-month, writers top the list of people who I think do something interesting and by extension are therefore interesting people. I've never stood in line to get an actor's autograph, but I do it fairly regularly for writers.

Being at least a bit wiser than I was in my deluded younger days, I realize that reality and fantasy are very often not the same thing. Writers are as diverse as the population at large, and as with all groups of people, some are interesting and charming and warm. Others? Not so much.

I know I am not alone in conflating writers with their work. How else to explain those writers who are legendary? That band who engender feelings of adoration and obsession that made them famous for being famous, as much as for their work. The list is filled with familiar names: Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Norman Mailer, and when I was a teenager (and until quite recently) there was the looming reclusive shadow of J.D. Salinger.

It has always been a mystery to me why Salinger was such a leading figure in the hearts and minds of many of my friends. I read Catcher in the Rye, everyone did, and hated it. To be fair, I'd probably be more open to "Catcher" now, but back then I decided Salinger wasn't for me and I've stuck to that thus far. I felt a bit like a lone oddball my friends carried around dog eared copies of Nine Stories and Franny and Zooey and vocally hoped that follow up books would yet appear.

Certainly the tidbits I've gleaned about Salinger through osmosis over the years haven't done anything but reinforce my negative opinion. So given these feelings about the man and his work, why did I leap at the chance to read Adam Langer's newest novel The Salinger Contract? The real question would be how could I resist this description:

An enthralling literary mystery that connects some of the world’s most famous authors—from Norman Mailer and Truman Capote to B. Traven and J. D. Salinger—to a sinister collector in Chicago

Add to that, the narrator -- who shares the author's name -- and Conner Joyce, who confides his story to Adam, are both writers struggling in the wake of the changes in the publishing world. Conner is a formerly successful crime writer whose sales are declining now that his turf has largely been ceded to procedural television dramas. He reconnects with Adam when he arrives in Bloomington, Indiana on what can only be termed as the book tour from hell -- bookstores are a vanishing breed, fans are thin on the ground and all Conner wants to do is get home to his wife and infant son. Adam, who first met Conner when he wrote a profile of him for a now defunct literary magazine, is now a house husband to his academic wife wondering what's next. He wrote a novel, but it went nowhere, the only impact it seemed to have in the world was to estrange him from his mother. After a desultory evening licking their wounds at a sports bar, Conner heads to Chicago and Adam assumes that's that.

Adam is surprised when Conner gets back in touch within a couple of days to relay a wild tale of his meeting with the shadowy and outrageously named, Dex Dunford and his Eastern European bodyguard, Pavel. Dex, is offering to pay Conner $2.5 million dollars to write a new novel, for his eyes only. An outrageous proposal to be sure, but it gets crazier when Dex reveals to Conner that he has made a hobby of commissioning manuscripts by famous authors -- Norman Mailer, Saul Bellow, Truman Capote, Harper Lee and others, including J.D. Salinger.

With this opening salvo, the book takes off and each twist of plot takes the story a bit closer to the absurd, managing to be simultaneously amusing and thought provoking. Because Langer stealthily uses the unreliability of both narrators to good effect I found I was constantly asking what and who I should trust. I was wary of Conner's tale to Adam, Adam's retelling of Conner's story, and Adam's portrayal of his own story -- after all, is Adam a character, or the author? It sounds torturous when described, but the actual reading experience was breezy and fun.

By the end Langer's narrative choices make sense and the plot is neatly concluded (spoiler alert: the title will make sense). I even found myself continuing to chuckle at how well the puzzles and clues all fit together.

The Salinger Contract is smart, great fun and a bit snarky about the publishing industry. I am enthused enough about it that found myself recommending it to a woman I encountered reading David Gilbert's & Sons when I took my cat to a vet appointment yesterday. Gilbert's book is in many ways related to The Salinger Contract, but is less of a satirical romp and more of a self-important slog (with some good bits). By the time I finished gushing about Langer's book she was planning on picking up The Salinger Contract next.

You should too.

Disclosure: I received access to an advance copy from the publisher via Goodreads in return for an honest review which to the best of my ability, is what I've written.

P.S. I'll be back early next week with more reviews of bookish books, it's a theme that has connected much of my seemingly disparate reading this summer.

[Tristy · Rating 2 out of 5]

What could have been an excellent film noir short story with a great "literary insider" bent, instead is a long dragging story that goes nowhere for the entire book and then "ends with a bang" (which isn't even a surprise, because the author told us that's how it would end). We read the same scenes and descriptions over and over and over again, such as Dex's "ornate loopy handwriting," and the dark streets Connor seems to walk up and down all night long. Instead of a tight, suspenseful sprint, we get a loose, boring jog.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light thriller material, based in the world of literature and post-housing crash America. Not too bad, but not the best thriller in the world either. I still managed to finish it in a few days, though.

[Kathleen Flynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange mix of genres. I very much enjoyed the domestic humor, the metafictional conceits and the stabs at the publishing industry.

[Martina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a simple girl - I see the name Salinger, I click buy. But oh boy, how I've been tricked!

It's not that the plot is bad, it is exceptionally clever in fact. But you have to wait for it for so l o n g. About 30% of the book is an introduction to the characters who I feel the author likes a bit too much. He keeps talking about them without necessarily saying much. Then, finally! something seems to be happening, but things won't properly unfold until you're well halfway through the book. And then for some reason when you reach the fucking goldmine of a story, the writing gets rushed? And to kill it all off you get served the cheesiest and most frustrating ending.

5/5 idea
2/5 characters
3/5 writing

[Jelena · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️

What a pleasant surprise. I love when stories are this layered—especially when they explore books, reading, and the publishing world. The writing style is smooth and enjoyable, making it easy to get lost in the narrative. The narrator did a great job and added to the experience—I had fun listening.

[Anthony Lacroix · Rating 2 out of 5]

C’était correct, mais la fin gâche un peu le tout dans sa confusion.

[Doreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the recent release of the J. D. Salinger biography and documentary, this novel’s appearance is timely. The non-fiction suggests why Salinger chose to avoid the limelight; the novel offers an alternate explanation for his withdrawal – and that of other writers like Harper Lee, B. Travern, and Thomas Pynchon.

The narrator is Adam Langer, a house-husband/stay-at-home dad, who once conducted interviews for a literary magazine and wrote a single novel, “its basis in autobiography” in that it concerns the search of a man for his father about whom he knows nothing but a name. By chance, Adam reconnects with Conner Joyce, an author whom he had once interviewed, and he soon becomes Conner’s confidant. Conner’s writing career is waning when he makes a Faustian-like agreement with a wealthy, mysterious bibliophile. Of course, all does not go well. Conner meets with Adam several times and relates what is happening as the situation becomes more complicated and fraught with danger.

The choice of narrator is interesting. For the most part, Adam narrates the story as told to him by Conner. As things spiral out of control, Adam comes to doubt Conner’s version of events. The reader also comes to suspect the veracity of Conner’s story but has the additional problem of trying to determine if Adam is himself a reliable narrator. Suspense is a natural corollary.

An aspect I especially liked about the book is its examination of the world of writers and publishers. The reader will find him/herself pondering several questions: Is a writer responsible for how a reader uses a book (as Mark David Chapman used The Catcher in the Rye to justify his murder of John Lennon)? Is it really possible for a writer to keep his/her integrity in an age when “no one regards writing books as an actual career” and making a living by writing is so challenging? What would a publishing house be willing to do in order to protect a franchise superstar (e.g. Stephanie Meyer, J. K. Rowling)? Can a reader understand “more about a book than its writer” or understand “more about [the author] from reading [a book] than [the author] did from writing it?”

The author’s skewering of academia is wonderful. Adam and his wife Sabine, a university professor, write a “private blog” to amuse themselves; it contains “remarks about [Sabine’s] colleagues’ sexual proclivities, professional indiscretions, weapons collections, and poor hygiene habits.” The observations in that blog are hilarious.

The novel is a quick read and an enjoyable one . . . until the confrontation scene in Dex’s apartment. Coincidentally, everyone arrives at the same time. From that point on, the plot seems contrived, and there are a number of plot issues that are not satisfactorily addressed. (e.g. Pavel chooses a convenient time to quit his job. Is it credible that he would have kept Conner’s letter all those years? What happens to the “real story” Conner has Margot write about what happened? Angie realizes Conner was telling the truth “When Margot Hetley called looking for [Conner],” but there is no explanation given as to why Margot was looking for Conner. Adam writes about “everything that had happened with Dex and Jaroslaw Dudek and Margot Hetley” and accuses “Margot Hetley of a crime without any actual proof” but he doesn’t worry about charges of libel? Dex and Pavel never overhear Conner and Adam’s conversations? Conner confides in Adam because Adam’s father made a contract that Dex wouldn’t “’mess with one of his sons,’” but how does Dex’s contract with Salinger prevent Dex from messing with Conner?) Unfortunately, this weak denouement leaves a lasting negative impression.

The book has merits. Its observations about the publishing industry are astute and those about life in a “sleepy little college town” in the “desolate, insular heartland” are humourous. The plot is entertaining too, until about the last half dozen chapters when events feel strained. Alas, the great reveal is not so surprising since the clues are so many that the reader does indeed “understand so much more about a story than [Adam] himself.”

Note: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

Please check out my reader's blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).

[Kali · Rating 4 out of 5]

from kalireads.com:

I was pleasantly surprised with The Salinger Contract. This is a theme mystery, focusing on literature, and I'm always skeptical of theme mysteries (cat mystery novels, and now yoga mystery novels? really?). However, this book worked. As I love books and I'm interested in writing, I appreciated the look into the life of the less glamorous authors out there. The lives and livelihoods of average authors are made charming, if bleak, here. The Salinger Contract is a glimpse into the world of the starving artist, with a literary tilt.

The narrator is a one-time author and journalist, Adam Langer (yes, same as the author), who was forced to adapt to the life of a stay-at-home dad after the literary mag he writes for closes down. The book is broken up into four parts: 1) Upon Signing, 2) Upon Submission, 3) Upon Acceptance, and 4) Upon Publication. It is a tricky mystery to explain without giving too much away. Langer seeks out a favorite author from his former life as a literary journalist, and an odd plot unfolds involving rich old men in limousines, secret and unknown classical mystery novels, guns, accents, theft, and sassy YA writers who lack manners but have huge followings. What more could you ask for?

This is a very unique book - its pacing is uneven by design, as it goes from a very fast-paced recounting of events to a slower-paced status quo. In many books that use this style of storytelling within a book, it feels like the present is just unnecessary filler taking up time until you get to the important flashbacks which seem to be the true meat of the story. In The Salinger Contract, when action isn't being recounted, we are getting to know Adam Langer. With no opportunity and no glamour in his life, Adam Langer (narrator) comes across as charming rather than pathetic. He seems to be an everyman just trying to make it through our tough financial times.

The writing here is clear and simple, and this book is a fast, light read - great for anyone who is craving a creative and fun mystery, or anyone who is big into reading and writing. Although I don't think I'd classify this as a cozy, it has a cozy feel - not a lot of grit or gore.

My only complaint is that quite a jump is taken at the end that left me raising an eyebrow. You'll know it when you get there, and you'll also be like, "say whaaat?"

From "The Making Of" the novel on OpenRoadMedia.com, Langer explains: "It came about through wanting to satirize the idea, so often repeated in interviews, that a book can change your life. It’s a cliché and so rarely true and so I wanted to write a book where that idea is literally true—a writer’s life depends on writing this book. I’ve also been fascinated by this idea of literary recluses—of people like B. Traven and J. D. Salinger and Thomas Pynchon who disappear and how these stories develop around them. And I wanted to explore some very compelling reasons as to what would explain an author’s disappearance."

[Richard Gazala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adam Langer's excellent book, "The Salinger Contract," comes out during a time flush with new J.D. Salinger materials currently being and soon to be released. A biography by David Shields and Shane Salerno just came out to accompany a new Salinger documentary, both of which breathlessly anticipate a series of posthumous publications of previously unpublished Salinger works slated to start appearing in 2015.

Despite what its title may otherwise intimate, Langer's work is a not another Salinger biography. Instead, it's a superbly written novel about the modern book publishing industry, imbued with equal parts mystery and thriller, comedy and tragedy, and love unrequited. The tale is set here and now, years after Salinger's death. Yet Salinger's place in the novel is pivotal to a story that explores why authors write when and what they do. As well as deftly satirizing the publishing industry, "The Salinger Contract" brims with clever philosophical ruminations about whether "The Catcher in the Rye" would be published were Salinger alive to debut it today. Equally interesting, Langer's novel also ponders if Salinger would be inspired to unleash Holden Caulfield in today's fractured publishing climate, rather than choosing to keep the seminal teenage icon forever locked away in the author's New Hampshire hermitage, along with the rest of his writing, never to be published. That is, never to be published unless a very rich man offers a huge sum of money for the only manuscript copy that will ever exist...

Incidentally, "The Salinger Contract" is a book every presently successful, once but no longer successful, and never yet successful novelist should read. People always clap for the wrong things, but Langer's book isn't one of them.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Salinger Contract
by
Adam Langer

Essentially...

This is the story of two "friends" who are both authors and the deceptions they become involved in and the lies they tell each other.

My thoughts after reading this book...

First of all...let's be real here. The fun of reading this book is the mystery and adventure that these authors get themselves involved with. Both are sort of burned out of writing. Connor writes police thrillers but his latest book is not really selling well. Adam...the book's narrator...has not had a really great literary idea in a while and has become a stay at home dad to his two daughters and his dog, Hal. Connor and Adam knew each other years ago and meet again at Connor's latest poorly attended book reading for his latest poorly received book.

Connor receives an interesting albeit strange proposition by a mysterious entrepreneur/book lover to write a book that no one will ever see other than this buyer. There are all kinds of rules to follow but Connor will be paid extremely well if if he agrees.

At this point the mystery and excitement truly begins...along with the lies, deceptions, questions, paranoia and Adam's involvement.

What I loved about this book...

I loved the idea of it, I enjoyed the characters, I loved the author's writing and I loved the fast pace and short chapters.

Final thoughts...

When I first began to read this book for some odd reason I thought it would be similar to Jasper Fforde's works...but it really wasn't...it was unique and fascinating. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

[Julian Froment · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the authors style and found it very difficult to put this book down. I was always eager to know what was going to happen next, always wanting to read just a few more pages.

The plot was interesting and filled with suspense. The characters well rounded and very real. I loved the literary context of this book, and the way that famous authors were weaved in to this story of what was ultimately the escapades of a criminal mastermind.

There were always a few surprises for each of the main characters, in this cleverly written story. The big reveal kept me guessing right to the nice little twist at the end.

Told mostly from the viewpoint of the author, it was interesting how he was recounting a story that was being told to him. It was nice to understand his thought processes about whether the story being told to him was true, whether the character relating it to him was reliable, and ultimately good for the reader in determining the reliability of the narrator himself.

If you want a thrilling, literary mystery that will keep you guessing to the end, then this would be a good book for you. I heartily recommend it. A most enjoyable read.
This review is based on a digital ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This offbeat, literary mystery is a refreshing change for us mystery
readers from the formulaic police and detective procedurals, the
‘cozies’, and the others that we have grown too used to.

Imagine a billionaire, so wealthy, that he can pay well known writers –
J.D. Salinger, Norman Mailer, Truman Capote – to name a few, to write books only for him – that no other will see – except, perhaps,
his body guard. Imagine what happens if a writer violates the secrecy section of his contract, and you have the makings of a mystery, that is not only different, but well written.

THE SALINGER CONTRACT is a terrific summer read – or a read for all seasons – if you’re a reader – and I assume you are or you wouldn’t be reading this – and like a book with mystery involved – this is your kind of book.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a clever and unusual metafiction about writing and publishing in the guise of a crime thriller. How Langer manages to get in all the angles in a short novel where the action mainly consists of two writers telling stories and writing them is kind of amazing. Langer grew up about a mile from where I did and where I currently live, so I was especially taken with the Chicago references. This book was much better than his autobiographical Crossing California (as in California Ave., Rogers Park). After that I didn't want to read him again, but I was attracted to Salinger in the title of this. Now I want to read Theives of Manhattan.