Safe Return Doubtful

There is a significant dose of comedy in <i>McBride’s </i> new novel, more of the slapstick, in you face, style, rather than it being dry or subtle. Its the aspect that works least well.
The humour mainly derives from the small congregation of Five Ends Baptist Church, which operates out of a cinderblock building by the Brooklyn waterfront. The real entertainment though comes from the motlley collection of characters, and the ‘whydunnit’ plot. A 71 year old alcoholic Deacon shoots the 19 year old drug dealer Deems Clemens outside the housing projects where they live. Though the set-up, and the nicknames of many of the cast (Bum-Bum, Lightbulb, Soup, Sportcoat, Hot Sausage and Elephant), may sound gritty and Wire-esque, it absolutely isn’t, its interactions are much more affectionate.
Overall I enjoyed reading it, though its too long. It works as an observation of a Brooklyn project as drugs, their addiction and associated violence, began their grip, and also on race and religion in the Five Ends Church. But on a historical level, and set in 1969, there seem notable omissions; there are no veterans around, nor a mention of Vietnam, or of Luther King. As with <i>The Good Lord Bird</i>, I don’t think <i>McBride</i> is concerned with that, whether we like it or not – it certainly didn’t affect my experience.