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Rhiann Fahey is trying to keep her life from falling apart. Her second husband, a policeman, has just died in a freak accident. Her son, Jimmy, the product of her first marriage to a man who went missing in action in Viet Nam, is handling the loss even worse than she is. He's taken to cutting school, drinking, stuff like that. Rory Sinter worked with Mickey Fahey, and he seems to think that this gives him some kind of claim on Rhiann now that Mickey is gone. Rhiann is not interested, and not just because the grief is too new. Rory Sinter makes her uncomfortable, and she knows enough to listen to those feelings. Jimmy decides to find out more about his father's family, from whom Rhiann is (at best) estranged. Rhiann isn’t very happy about this, but there’s not much she can do. While tracking down his family, Jimmy meets a young woman and begins a relationship with her. He, in the ways of teenage boys, does not tell his mother about this. Into this mix comes John Devlin. He buys the house next door, and begins the slow process of making himself part of Rhiann's life. He gives Jimmy a job. We, as readers, suspect Devlin is up to something; what we don’t know is whether or not Devlin is a good guy. Rory Sinter has already decided that John Devlin is not someone he wants around. He harasses everyone - Rhiann, Jimmy, John - but nobody in the police department believes Rhiann until Rory beats the crap out of John. Rhiann finds out more about John, but that doesn’t make her reactions to him any easier for her to handle. Michael Allen Dymmoch is a superb writer. M.I.A. is yet another in a long line of well-written, well-plotted novels, peopled with strong characters and interesting settings. Dymmoch is not afraid to step outside the comfort zone provided by a well-received series (Caleb and Thinnes). Dymmoch has, in M.I.A., given readers yet another, different look at what the Viet Nam war experience can do to a person. Because this is a stand-alone, the ending is tied up a little more neatly than in the series' books, and perhaps a bit more tidily than one might encounter in real life. It is not unbelievable - it's the ending most of us would like to have happen, under the circumstances.
Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, June 2008
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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