Book Review – Veins

Author: Lawrence C. Connolly 
Cover Artist: Star E. Olson
Publisher: Fantasist Enterprises
Binding: Paperback
Publication Date: August 2008

 Veins by Lawrence C. Connolly is a fast-paced contemporary fantasy that takes place in Pennsylvania’s mining country.  It isn’t a particularly long novel and it’s fairly dense with action.  It sacrifices a little in characterization, but it makes up for that by being a near-compulsive read.

The story takes place over a very short span of time, essentially, the entire things takes place in about two weeks. A group of three people decide to pull off a robbery that will net them about $100,000 cash.  They realize in short order that they need a driver in order to manage the heist.  The young man they hire, Axle, is a local mechanic with a fully restored Mustang.  More imporantly, however, Axle is an Okwe Indian and the events surrounding the attempted robbery are much larger than simply stealing some money.  A winged spirit named Kwetis lives near Windslow, Pennsylvania, and the events that take place the night of the robbery have been planned for a very long time. The plot is a good meld of action and fantasy, and in addition to the three would-be robbers and Axle, there is also a Russian gangster and a sniper, and Axle’s grandmother.  There are even some great Hollywood-ready car chases that involve a Dodge Viper as well as the Mustang.

The story is self-contained, but the author has done a great job making it feel as if the story is part of a larger mythology without making the reader feel as if they need a greater understanding of folklore to make sense of the book.  The Okwe are an imaginary tribe, though the author did base some language on another language from the region.  This book doesn’t require great leaps of imagination to suspend disbelief, since the story is told in a way that feels like some of the best magic realism that’s been written lately.  While the author’s world is clearly a parallel one, it’s also clearly a world that isn’t that far removed from ours. 

Peppered between the chapters are illustrations by Star E. Olson. The sketches are well done and match the characters in the story fairly well.  Interestingly enough, the author seems to let these sketches stand in for actual descriptions.  There are a few details sprinkled into the story but the picture the reader forms of the characters is formed, more than anything, from the sketches provided in the book.  This isn’t necessarily bad, since the illustrations do make sense from the information the author gives the reader.

Veins would be a great read for fans of action movies and car chases.  It’s got an exciting plot and it’s very tightly written. It doesn’t allow itself to get bogged down with too many details, but manages to stay both remarkably consistent and highly readable.

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