Robots and Vamps

Reviewed by Matt

Disclosure: I received a copy of this novel from the nice people at St. Martin’s Press.

Wormwood, Nevada is David Oppegaard’s second novel. His first novel, The Suicide Collectors, was an incredible and imaginative  story that was a very addictive read.  Unfortunately this Wormwood, Nevada left me frustrated by the ending. The imagination and the willingness to push a story that made The Suicide Collectors so outstanding is absent in Wormwood, Nevada.

The story begins with a married couple, Tyler and Anna Mayfield, moving across the country from Lincoln, Nebraska to Wormwood, Nevada. They are going to stay with Tyler’s Aunt, Bernie, for the summer in order to save money and hopefully find some direction in their lives. Tyler and Anna met in college (University of Nebraska, Go Big Red!) and after graduating their lives have not gone the way they thought it would. Neither has found satisfaction with their careers, but Anna, a former Miss Nebraska, has taken it especially hard after the limelight has faded. They believe that a change of scenery will help them plan for the next step in their lives.

Wormwood, Nevada is your typical small town but stuck out in the middle of desert. Tyler quickly adapts to the small town lifestyle but Anna struggles with the boredom. But, things are about to change in Wormwood and get alittle more exciting. While they are drinking in the local bar a meteorite crashes outside leaving a crater in the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant. Soon after some strange events start occurring such as Tyler starts seeing strange little grey creatures, Anna begins to have disturbing nightmares and the owner of the Mexican restaurant starts a vigil by sitting next to the meteorite with a sign that says The End Is Near.

So, the story is building nicely at this point but then it just continues to stay in second gear until the ending. Mr. Oppegaard does a nice job of building his characters and setting the mood for his story. He builds a believable small town atmosphere in Wormwood from the small town sheriff to the depressed insurance salesman. But the story just meanders like a lazy Sunday afternoon.  He never commits to a direction in which to move the story along.

The ending is probably the biggest weakness of the novel, it is just ho-hum when it should have been jaw-dropping. I really enjoyed the ending of The Suicide Collectors but the ending of Wormwood, Nevada just left me flat.

The only other quibble I had with the novel was on the personal side. Since the characters are from Lincoln, Nebraska and went to the University of Nebraska there is much discussion about Husker football.  My wife and I used to live Nebraska and are huge Husker fans. One passage in the book mentions how the Huskers beat Texas at the Homecoming game. Huh? I don’t remember that. Any good Nebraska fan has felt the numerous heartbreak losses that the Huskers have suffered at the hands of Texas over the years, so this was surprise. So I looked it up and the last time Texas lost to Nebraska in Lincoln was 1933. Ouch.

Whereas The Suicide Collectors was a cracklin’ good sci-fi story, Wormwood, Nevada is only mediocre. This is a shame because Mr. Oppegaard had two solid acts but he was unable to develop a solid ending and the story just kinda fizzled.

Author’s Website: David Oppegaard Homepage