The Harder They Come: A Novel

An Amazon Best Book of April 2015: It is a testament to T.C. Boyle s worldview and authorial skill to say that, while The Harder They Come is not always a taut narrative, it is a book that embraces the reader and takes him where he s supposed to go. After opening with a tightly-plotted set piece (in which one of three main characters kills a local bandit after his cruise ship lands in Costa Rica), the novel settles down into a more leisurely pace. We are introduced to Sten, a seventy-year-old former marine (he killed the bandit), who lives in Mendocino County, California with his wife Carolee. He s not particularly proud of what he did in Costa Rica, even if it garners him a little local acclaim. Sten is more concerned about his twenty-something son, Adam, who calls himself Colter after the real-life, wilderness-inhabiting guide for Lewis and Clark. Adam/Colter, who is living in the woods and descending into some serious mental health issues, has taken up with Sara Jennings, a fortyish woman inclined toward libertarianism. The other thing that Sten is concerned about is a group of local drug mules who are poisoning the forest around his community and generally raising havoc. These concerns conspire to lift the pace of the novel around the midpoint, where violence starts its inevitable creep back into the story. Reading The Harder They Come works on two levels it s a fun, thoughtful novel and it s a darker rumination on the intersection between the myth of the west and the reality of it. This is an enjoyable novel that balances story with big ideas. The more I think about it, the more in awe I am of Boyle s talent. Chris Schluep