Time was, a book needed two things: great writing and a reasonable plot. And of course, characters that you can either hate or fall in love with. This system worked nicely for more than a hundred years, until the marketing era dawned and everything had to fit a category or niche or that dreaded word: genre.
Heaven forbid the genres would mix — no, only one to a book, please. But there have been exceptions: Think Treasure Island (1883) by Robert Louis Stevenson or Ivanhoe (1820) by Walter Scott. Or Pride and Prejudice (1813) by Jane Austen or Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte Brontë. Each of these has disparate parts: maybe romance, maybe mystery, maybe chivalry, maybe pirates, maybe gothic. None of them have suffered from the variety of actions, although two of them suffered from having been written by women! Oh, the scandal.
Now comes another woman — Annie Hogsett — with a crackling good story that combines nearly all the genres in one tasty morsel of a book, Too Lucky to Live. The fact that it’s mostly set in my own neighborhood doesn’t hurt it any either. I really did wonder at times if I’d find myself in there somewhere, but not this time around. The writing is superb throughout: witty, literate, snarky when necessary and totally engaging at all times. It’s also chock full of the best assortment of Damon Runyon-like characters since, well, since Damon Runyon’s last book.
A lot of people buy lottery tickets every week in the hope of cashing in. But when the jackpot exceeds every expectation of sensibility, it can quickly become more menace than comfort. In an effort to demonstrate the futility of gambling (unless you can afford it, that is) to Runako Davis, a young African-American boy, known as Rune, CWRU professor Dr. Tom Bennington III, buys a Mondo lottery ticket. The two had carefully chosen their numbers, then gone on their way, waiting for the drawing later that day. The prize? In excess of 500 million dollars.
Tom nearly doesn’t make it that long, as he’s somewhat upset in the crosswalk at an intersection near Lakeshore Blvd and E 156th streets (Yes! In Cleveland. North Collinwood, to be exact.) His white cane failed to protect him from the busy blonde lady driving a Hummer who leaned on her horn, which only caused him to drop his groceries. Allie Harper was waiting for the bus, when she saw all this action unfold, practically in her lap. As she lives in the area — very near Lake Erie — she invites him and his spilled groceries back to her house, where they partake of the chili, for which Tom had bought the ingredients.
And so begins this marvelous story which will lead to all sorts of adventure, plus a good bit of mayhem and an egregious number of deaths, as an unscrupulous hunter seeks the ticket for his own reasons. The now $$$550 million jackpot is merely a means to his own ending of the story.
The story ranges from the highrise project housing along the lake to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in downtown Cleveland. There are other stops at the Key Marriott and the Wyndham, plus a few other locales familiar to anyone who’s lived here.
There are good guys as well as bad ones (and some females in both categories, as well) before the nifty resolution, which isn’t exactly what you might have thought was coming, but is satisfactory, all the same. Still, the best part is that the author is now working on a second book, also featuring Tom and Allie. Or Allie and Tom. Whichever. It can’t get here fast enough to suit me!
One Response to “BOOK REVIEW: ‘Too Lucky to Live’ by Annie Hogsett”
Janice
Go, Annie! How about putting it on our bookclub list?