The Fact Checker

DEBUT The protagonist of Kelley’s debut is the Fact Checker, who works for a magazine in New York City in 2004 and is obsessive about checking facts for every story he is given. He is assigned to a story about the New Egypt farm in Southern New Jersey, which supplies trendy Ramapo tomatoes to the farmer’s market at Union Square in Manhattan. A comment in the story from a farm worker named Sylvia about nefarious activities at the farmer’s market causes him to visit the market to interview her in person. They meet, but distractions keep the Fact Checker from clarifying her comment. Then Sylvia disappears. He spends weeks looking for both Sylvia and the nefarious activities at the market, to no avail. He eventually visits the farm where Sylvia worked, thinking she has been killed by the owner. His search gets increasingly bizarre, taking him to little known corners of the city, making him question what he actually knows, along with questioning motivations, the social morals of New York City, and his place in the world. Kelley is a former fact checker for the New Yorker, providing excellent insider knowledge for this novel.