Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone

Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson  372 pp.

Yes, the family featured in this book have killed someone either intentionally or unintentionally. The one son who hadn't when the story starts manages to before the end. They all meet for a family reunion at a ski lodge which immediately gets deluged with massive, non-stop snowstorms. A dead body found outside in the snow brings up the possibility of a recent serial killer being in the locale. The story is very convoluted but highly entertaining. The family is highly dysfunctional but takes care of its own. I actually figured out who the killer was only to discover the killer was not who they said were. Kidnapping, robbery, blackmail, substance abuse, murder, suicide, you name it and it's probably in this story. It's odd to say this is a fun book but it is.

The Third Policeman

The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien  200 pp.

I had a tough time getting into this novel at first and it's a tough one to explain/review since I'm pretty sure I didn't quite "get" all of it.  In rural Ireland, the narrator has committed robbery and murder with an accomplice. Then he encounters the odd policemen who at first seem inexplicably obsessed with bicycles. He is to be sent to the gallows without a trial but they have to be built first. Interspersed through the story are the theories of a scientist/philosopher De Selby who believes the earth is sausage-shaped instead of round.  Atomic theory, bicycles and the existence of eternity in a house down the road all play a part in this convoluted tale. The ending is surprising...or not.