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East of the Rockies
Image Decay
Includes author-curated discussion questions!Mark Lisac’s Image Decay returns to the pugnacious world of backroom politics laid out in his award-nominated Where the Bodies Lie. Set again in that “unnamed capital city east of the Rockies,” where the Brutalist architecture of the downtown core reflects the body politic laid bare.
When a cantankerous ex-government photographer seeks ownership of his prints, the powers-that-be are determined to prevent the release of certain sensitive photos. Set in the 1990s, this political thriller delves into questions of identity and memory, established power and its fears and secrets, old stock versus newcomers, belonging and alienation.Image Decay investigates the intricacies of political manipulation, personal anxieties, and how history must be seen to be confronted.
When a cantankerous ex-government photographer seeks ownership of his prints, the powers-that-be are determined to prevent the release of certain sensitive photos. Set in the 1990s, this political thriller delves into questions of identity and memory, established power and its fears and secrets, old stock versus newcomers, belonging and alienation.Image Decay investigates the intricacies of political manipulation, personal anxieties, and how history must be seen to be confronted.
266 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2020
About the author
Mark Lisac
10 books40 followersMark believes readers deserve writing of good quality and tries to deliver it. His most recent work is The Carbon Eaters, a novel that can be read as a satirical portrait of Alberta, with an element of magic realism or science fiction. That book is a sequel to Where the Bodies Lie, and followed Red Hill Creek, a novel set in Hamilton, Canada in 1957 and about friendship, loyalty, and the legacy of war.
Mark grew up in Hamilton and worked as a journalist for forty years in Saskatchewan and Alberta before turning to fiction.
Where the Bodies Lie, was shortlisted by Crime Writers of Canada for its best first novel award in 2017.
Non-fiction produced during his work career included The Klein Revolution, the first book-length study of a crisis period in Alberta politics, and Alberta Politics Uncovered, which won the Writers' Guild of Alberta award for non-fiction in 2005.
He lives in Edmonton with his wife.
Mark grew up in Hamilton and worked as a journalist for forty years in Saskatchewan and Alberta before turning to fiction.
Where the Bodies Lie, was shortlisted by Crime Writers of Canada for its best first novel award in 2017.
Non-fiction produced during his work career included The Klein Revolution, the first book-length study of a crisis period in Alberta politics, and Alberta Politics Uncovered, which won the Writers' Guild of Alberta award for non-fiction in 2005.
He lives in Edmonton with his wife.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 3, 2026
In Mark Lisac’s engaging new mystery, his second novel after a long career as a political journalist, Edmonton lawyer George Rabani reopens a client’s sale of his personal photo collection to the Alberta government. Rabani and client Jack Ostroski wrestle with the government over old photos that raise moral dilemmas. Some could embarrass the party in power. One could identify the National Guard soldier who killed a student at a 1972 Wisconsin demonstration.
Ostroski was a third-generation Kodak employee in Rochester, NY, before making his way to Hollywood. That career—with a possible starlet romance—was interrupted by the Korean War. Returning rootless, he lost another near-love at a Buffalo TV station. Now he fixes and sells old cameras in Edmonton.
The characters live as if in a movie, holding the values—and temptations—of black and white times. As Rabani walks, his window reflections “flickered past like frames of old movie film.” A closed cinema’s poster case is like a tombstone marking the end of the culture that began with vaudeville.
Review by Maurice Yacowar
Full review at https://albertaviews.ca/image-decay/
Ostroski was a third-generation Kodak employee in Rochester, NY, before making his way to Hollywood. That career—with a possible starlet romance—was interrupted by the Korean War. Returning rootless, he lost another near-love at a Buffalo TV station. Now he fixes and sells old cameras in Edmonton.
The characters live as if in a movie, holding the values—and temptations—of black and white times. As Rabani walks, his window reflections “flickered past like frames of old movie film.” A closed cinema’s poster case is like a tombstone marking the end of the culture that began with vaudeville.
Review by Maurice Yacowar
Full review at https://albertaviews.ca/image-decay/
Displaying 1 of 1 review