Reviews
Reviewed by
ROBERT WALDRON
For The Merton Seasonal, Summer, 2009
Bill Goodson’s novel Scherib is his sequel to The Bossuet Conspiracy (2003), a fictional look at the death of Thomas Merton. Readers of the latter will recognize familiar characters and settings, such as Dr. Trey Crockett and the Abbey of Gethsemani. Goodson’s labyrinthine plot is at times confusing, interweaving at least four storylines, but if you stay with the novel, its mystery all unravels in the end so that the reader feels thoroughly satisfied and entertained.
Without giving away the novel’s secret, I do not believe my mentioning that Thomas Merton is again at the center of this narrative will interfere with the reader’s appreciation of the novel. Scherib also addresses sensitive issues like priestly infidelity, pedophilia and the ins-and-outs of church politics, as devious and complicated as American twenty-first century politics. When Goodson writes about Merton and his life, however, he is at his best. It is obvious that he admires Merton, but he also knows enough about his life not to canonize him, a tendency of Merton aficionados.
Before 9/11, many would think that the blowing up of TVA dams would be a far-fetched plot, but Goodson makes it believable. He also sensitively addresses the plight of a young woman, Jenny Peale, intent on discovering the identity of her father, a mystery whose solution is the highpoint of Goodson’s novel. The love affair between Trey and Governor Pat Beason is an intriguing one, again delicately handled since Trey is now five years sober, a practicing psychiatrist who is currently counseling an archbishop with a past. There is also the church’s sex-scandal as a backdrop, seemingly a worldwide one with priests molesting a number of young people throughout the Catholic world – its importance is underscored by an appearance by the late Pope. Goodson is to be lauded for his ability to write about such a horrific theme as pedophilia without losing his objectivity and for resisting the impulse to be didactic. As a novelist, he understands the fundamental fact that characters are people; thus, they are flawed, some less seriously, others grievously.
Goodson might be well advised to more often push the delete button to his dialogue, it being too garrulous and often unnecessary because it sheds little light on the characters, theme or plot. Novelists who have trouble with dialogue should read Robert Parker. His dialogue is brief and succinct: say what you have to say and no more. Terse, snappy dialogue also moves a novel along at a faster pace, especially effective in a thriller novel like Scherib. I would have liked more scenes at the Abbey of Gethsemani, with more description of its ambience and perhaps the appearance of more monks. The maxim of teachers of writing is “Write what you know.” Goodson knows Gethsemani, and it would have been intriguing (and fun!) to spend more time there.
Scherib is still a fine read. Most readers will be astonished by how Goodson interweaves Thomas Merton into his novel. Here Goodson is daring and provocative – some may think too provocative, but this reader rather liked what his imagination conjured up for his readers. There will surely be Merton fans (and likely a few Merton scholars) who will be unhappy (if not offended) by Goodson’s plot surprise. All I can say to them is: Sherib is a novel, a work of fiction. So relax.
Robert Waldron is author of four books on Thomas Merton, most recently Thomas Merton, Master of Attention (2008), as well as numerous other works of spirituality, and a novella with a monastic setting, Blue Hope (2002).
Reviewed by
DEE JORDAN
For The Alabama Writers' Forum
Bill Goodson takes a tired plot and adds a fresh twist to it in his book Scherib. The novel, though set mainly in the state of Tennessee, takes the reader around the world, even to the Vatican.
Jenny Peale, who works for the Tennessee Valley Authority, better known as the TVA, opens the book with her breaking into a Catholic school in Mobile, Alabama, trying to retrieve information about her father. The Governor of Tennessee, Patricia Beason, has dropped a recent bombshell on her. She is her mother and not her aunt. Jenny is obsessed with learning the identity of her father because her mother refuses to divulge the information. This is the major plot of the book, which I found somewhat predictable.
The subplot is another matter and takes readers to edge of their seats as a plot unfolds to blow up the dam at Lake Guntersville and flood everything downstream including the Redstone Arsenal and the Brown’s Ferry nuclear power plant.
We find that Scherib, a scholar of ancient history, is sending coded e-mail messages to Jenny. The clues therein lead Jenny’s boyfriend to a museum in Chicago where he uncovers the devious plan to blow up a dam somewhere along the TVA’s system of many locks and dams.
The author has two protagonists and another interesting subplot. Archbishop Michael Brittian wants to deal with a priest who has molested a boy by bringing the church into a position of openness and honesty rather than moving the priest around only to molest again. Of course, the church treats him as a man going mental and tries their best to profane the character of the Archbishop. The author sheds light on the Catholic Church’s closed lips policy in regards to dealing with its pedophilia problem.
Goodson takes readers back and forth between these three plots and weaves a tale of intrigue and harrowing disbelief that two homegrown terrorists are going to destroy so many lives if successful.
Personally, I wouldn’t have picked up the book with a title that I didn’t understand. It goes perfectly with the story, but one doesn’t find out its meaning until nearly halfway through the book. By sticking with the book, I ended up reading a story whose outcome was completely unpredictable and well worth the read.
Dee Jordan writes articles for New York City Voices and has a short story in the literary e-zine, Free Fall.