Slipstream

by Leslie Larson

In Slipstream , Leslie Larson traces the intertwining paths of five characters as each struggles to stay afloat in the face of major setbacks, minor failures, and a reckless pursuit of elusive second chances. When Rudy loses his job cleaning jets at the airport, his sanity and his marriage threaten to follow. While his wife, Inez, secretly saves her pennies and plots an escape, his coworker Wylie, a bartender at LAX, is about to receive the surprise of his life. Meanwhile, Wylie’s brother, Logan, freshly released from jail, tries desperately to stay out of trouble while traipsing through a minefield of temptation. And Logan’s daughter Jewell is nursing a heart broken once by an unfaithful girlfriend and again by a father who can’t seem to stick around. Though they don’t know it, these five people are headed toward an explosive event that will have consequences for them all.

Deftly weaving suspense, humor, and revelation, Slipstream is a rich human drama with the breathless pace of a thriller and the soul of classic noir.


Also available as a Books on Tape AudioBook and as an eBook


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery Thriller

336 pages, Paperback

First published May 16, 2006

About the author

Leslie Larson grew up in San Diego, California, in a working class family. She is the author of Slipstream, which Dorothy Allison called, “A genuinely startling novel that caught me up in the lives of people used to being looked past, over, or beyond.” The New York Times called her second novel, Breaking Out of Bedlam, “A kick.” Sandra Cisneros said, “Leslie Larson is a writer of tales that are hilarious and heart-breaking at once—no easy feat, but the mark of great storytelling.” A veteran editor and copywriter for independent publishers, Leslie is the recipient of an Astraea Foundation Award and a Hedgebrook Writing Residency. She has taught writing nationwide and her work has appeared in O (The Oprah Magazine), Faultline, the East Bay Express, More magazine, Writer magazine, and the Women's Review of Books, among other publications. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Reviews

[Sarah Cv · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the worst thing I've read in recent memory. The cookie cutter characters are two dimensional at best, caricatures at worst. One of them was, apparently, created with the idea that any word NOT actively contributing to his unlikeability was wasted. The bit about "intersecting lives" appears to be the point of the exercise, but it just never really comes together. Boring, stupid, superficial. Stay away from it.

[Howard Curzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice depiction of people struggling in different ways to recover from bad life choices: a former con, a former alcoholic, a former single mom now in a bad marriage, a formerly employed guy, and a betrayed lover.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engrossing, with excellent character development and an unpredictable plot.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I picked up this book at a used book store I bought it because it was in the bargain bin. But once I opened its pages, I immediately became engrossed in this author's descriptions of her characters and how they developed as the story progressed. From the very beginning, with the story of Rudy, the fired airport employee, one knows that the plot will built to an explosive conclusion. But the stories of the others who will appear at the book are equally compelling. All of them might be considered losers or sad souls dealing with a crisis in one form or another. And the reader is compelled to see how they work out their problems.

This author's use of language was really exciting at times. I now wish I had marked some of the passages that impressed me the most so I could note them now.

One thing that puzzled me immensely was the reference to some kind of brilliant light experienced by each of the main characters as November 19th ended. I didn't get what this was all about. I guess I need to hide this review because this might be considered a spoiler of sorts.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and now want to read Ms. Larson's other books.

[Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh

[Cher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story held my attention from the second page. I had picked this book up a few months ago after reading Ms. Larson's most recent work "Breaking Out of Bedlam" and in the interim I had forgotten the premise of this book, but the well-drawn characters and the interwoven storylines drew me in so that I ran through this novel in a few short hours. The characters' lives aren't enviable or glamourous, they are people you may know, people in your family or people you've worked with, gone to school with, or partied with at one time, maybe you see them at a meeting now or at a the corner diner, but they come across very real and while some of their actions are predictable, you never really know...

[Patrice Sartor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slipstream presents the stories of a handful of people that all connect in one way or another to the Los Angeles Airport. Just under a month of their lives is explored in chapters that rotate the narrator from all of the characters. That's a writing style that I particularly enjoy, as long as it's done well. Larson does a fine job, and I was sucked into the character's lives, no matter how mundane or unfamiliar (or both) they were.

The ending wasn't shocking, though that didn't take away any of my pleasure in getting to that point. I knew something was happening, that some big thing was building up, and even after the thing was exposed, I wanted to read even more to see how it all played out.

I found it an easy to read story with solid character development.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

SLIPSTREAM by Leslie Larson
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PGS: Fiction/2006/320 pgs
TIME/PLACE: Present; Los Angeles, CA
CHARACTERS: Tom Logan/bartender; Jewel/student & Tom's niece
COMMENTS: Ensemble cast of people on the fringe -- surviving, ekeing out a living -- bartender at LAX; laid-off maintenance worker; student breaking off w/ girlfriend; wife secretly working for Avon to save enough to leave husband, etc. Eventually their lives intersect in a dramatic ending.

[Nakia Laushaul · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to the audio version. My new get through traffic obsession... I listened. I waited. I listened. I waited for something to happen. I listened some more. The book ended and ... NOTHING! I thought this book was about, and I quote "Leslie Larson traces the intertwining paths of five characters." Yeah, there were five interesting characters, however I must have missed the intertwining part. I hate to leave a bad review, but really!? What was the point?

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointing book. Interesting, well-developed characters, a plot that spiraled together, and then nothing! It led up to what should have been an exciting conclusion, and then just sort of fell flat.

[Daver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty dark. Often these woven stories are a bit much for me, but I thought this one was well done. I really enjoyed most of it. The last part of the story left me grasping a little. But it was alright.

[Peggy Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book. It details a few days in the lives of 5 people who intersect around LAX. I've spent a lot of time in airports, so it was intriguing. The characters are well drawn, and their thought processes are interesting to follow. It's a melancholy book, however.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read only a chapter at a time. It has a nice thread of individual stories that all play towards a common theme.

[Ro · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well written, fast paced weekend read.

[Tiffin Shriner · Rating 2 out of 5]

weird

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as Breaking out of Bedlam but definitely worth reading

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts a bit slow, but it keeps building.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Great novel, enjoyed how the different characters' lives came together. Some outcomes were quite predictable, though not all. Points for having a bisexual character who was not crazy.

[Midge · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great new Author for me.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like the novel but couldn't get into it

[Kat Walter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Desperate, lost individuals interconnected by fate in this amusing, but sad tale . Ending anticlimactic .

[Kelly]

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