Glen Larum’s “Waltz Against the Sky” (Walking 3 Bar T Publishing, 399 pages, $28.95 U.S.) might have been his introductory novel, but clearly it ain’t his first rodeo. This Permian Basin author has crafted a tale that begins in West Texas and winds up in your brain pan. Calling on his Montana upbringing and a newspaper career path that him through Odessa, Fort Stockton, and other ports of hometown journalism, the author has found a certain voice that rings true in brisk, authentic dialogue. Larum’s fictitious West Texas setting of Indian Springs could be Alpine or Fort Davis … or Anywhere USA, so long as it’s west of I-35. So skillful was Larum in creating his lead characters –especially the feckless young Tony Angionne and the evil jailbird Valdez – this reviewer, even weeks after reading “Waltz”, still simmers with righteousness indignation. Which is to say the coldly calculating Valdez needs to have his ass kicked, and I’d like to volunteer. Warning: Once the author introduces the characters, prepare to keep pace. Events both heroic and dubious occur with such rapid succession, the pages fairly melt into the story. Or, is it vice-versa? Either way, do not venture into the last half of this one, unless you are prepared to race home after work each day, skip dinner and dive back into the story, to see what happens next. Mark well the name, Glen Larum. This guy gots game! As a freshly minted Larum follower, I look forward to his next title – “Spring Coulee,” a fictionalized account of the end of the homestead era in the West, when the rough country and demanding lifestyle chewed up and spit out a generation of Americans. After years in newspaper nonfiction, a new master of fiction is emerging and, better yet, he walks among us.
– review by Mark S. McDonald, Permian Basin Bookies
