FICTION

The Scamp

by Jennifer Pashley
Tin House. Aug. 2015. 416p. ISBN 9781941040119. pap. $15.95; ebk. ISBN 9781941040126. F
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[DEBUT] The Scamp is a small white camper marked with a swirl of orange. It could be Rayelle Reed's haven or a gateway to hell. At 23, Rayelle has seen too much, is mired in depression, and numbing her pain with alcohol and anonymous sex. Scamp's owner is Couper Gale, a writer investigating stories of missing girls, stories that circle back to Rayelle's family. Her cousin Khaki left town years ago, carrying her own scars and leaving a trail of destruction behind her. The cousins share the narration, their stories swirling around, crossing memories, and uncovering the lies they've told and been told. Couper pulls Rayelle in, but is he using her, saving her, or risking her life for a book deal? They will find Khaki but what about redemption?
VERDICT First novelist Pashley has won awards for her short fiction, and she'll be attracting attention with this unrelentingly gritty book. Fans of darker fiction have a new author to follow.
Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Davidson Coll. Lib., NC , Aug 14, 2015
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