As the cover to Craig Holden’s novel states, MATALA is all about deceit, with only a touch of suspense in the last few pages. In the first few, we meet 19-year-old Darcy, on a group tour of Europe. She could not be more bored by the daily excursions to the museums and local ruins, so one day, she sneaks out and runs into a fellow American named Will, with whom she believes she went to high school.
He offers a night of excitement over at his hostel, where she can meet interesting folks and drink some wine. Darcy figures that will be more entertaining then the group’s planned opera outing. When she meets up with Will later that evening, she meets one of his friends: a much older woman named Justine, who holds a most unusual sway over him.
It turns out these two are just low-level grifters who plan on rolling Darcy for her money and credit cards, but Will has grown attached to her. Justine and Will drug Darcy and figure they could have her pay their way around Europe, since one she awakes, she’ll realize her tour group has left her in the lurch, and Will and Justine would be too happy to help her catch up … even if they make sure to take the wrong train and run into one of their associates named Maurice, who needs Justine to carry a package for him.
However, the situation becomes problematic when Darcy proves she is not as dumb as they think she is. In fact, she has been playing them both the whole time. Knowing full well she was drugged, she thinks it would be a bit of fun to run off with these two instead of continuing with the tour. The novel follows the three as they travel around Europe, all the while playing mind games on one another, using any type of foothold they can – even sexual – to the point where Darcy sets Justine up to be arrested for drug possession.
While this goes on, Darcy is also playing another game. It seems her folks have sent someone after her to bring her home, so she constantly plays cat-and-mouse with her tracker, leaving subtle clues along the trip – even at the climax, when it’s revealed what this precious package is that they have been transporting.
MATALA moves at a leisurely pace, focusing more on the inner workings of this trio than the thriller aspect you might be thinking you’re about to read. Its one huge left turn of a discovery in the last few pages will throw some readers, since you’re led to believe a few things all through the story, only for it to become like an arthouse version of THELMA & LOUISE. –Bruce Grossman
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I think Holden is really good. LOVE River Sorrow.