To Die in California by
Newton Thornburg
Another great book from cult author Thornburg. First published in 1973,
To Die in California was Thornburg’s third book after his debut in 1967
with Gentleman Born. Like the classic Cutter and Bone (1976),this is a
page-turning thriller that turns formula inside out and, whilst its
themes are timeless, delivers a harsh and haunting portrait of America
at a specific time and place.
David Hook, a cattle farmer from Illinois, buries his son and sets out
to discover how his son came to die in far-off California. There are two
witnesses to the boy’s apparent suicide, a Mrs Rubin, a key figure in
the public relations campaign on behalf of a young and charismatic
politician running for Congress, and Liz Madera, the beautiful daughter
of a rich Californian family. But Hook knows his son would not commit
suicide and will not accept their account. Furthermore, he is prepared
to doggedly pursue each participant and associates until the
cracks begin to show.
This is a beautifully written novel, in truth a little over-written in
places, but literary in the best sense. It’s both a vengeance thriller,
albeit one with unforeseen and disturbing consequences, and a moral tale
of long-held values vs. Californian decadence. Its ending is perhaps the
most desolate, though less profound, than any in crime fiction since
Dürrenmatt’s The Pledge.
It’s also about the relationship between father and son. Thornburg
carefully sets the scene: the widowed Hook is a troubled figure, an
outsider in the tight-knit interdependent rural community that surrounds
him and uncertain of his own motives in pursuing his investigation.
Later he discovers uncomfortable parallels between his son’s behaviour
and his own many years before.
The key Californian characters are similarly well-crafted; Thornburg
plumbs their complications (there are no easy answers here) in a way
rare in crime fiction. Note particularly the beautifully drawn
developing relationship between Hook and Liz.
Thornburg’s political points (more accurately anti-political points)
are also made subtly. Hook’s son awaits the draft; the would-be
Congressman is a Democrat; the period is pre-Nixon (the fact that he has
just been elected is not even mentioned). California is post-Manson, its
freeways, Hook’s son tells his father in a letter, "more violent than
Vietnam" (how would he know?).
A book, finally, of great power, one that can sit proudly alongside
Cutter and Bone. Don’t miss it.
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