A young man agrees to drive an older woman and her grand-daughter from New Orleans to her trailer in Nashville – a road trip that goes from bad to worse.Exhausted from over-work and suffering from the humidity of a scorching summer, David has little idea what awaits him when he agrees to this act of kindness.As he drives the decrepit overloaded car north, hungover and agitated David attracts the unwelcome attention of the traffic police, suspicious of his intentions.Further, he is drawn into the strange world of Martha, who begins to confuse him with her daughter’s partner, recently killed in a road accident.As cabin fever sets in, and his companion’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic – flirtatious, salacious, hostile, vindictive – David begins to realize he is in danger.Quite what type of danger will come as a nasty surprise. The trouble is, David is so caught up in the situation that even when he clearly sees the threat coming, he drives straight into it.
amazon customer 5.0 out of 5 stars excellent
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 19, 2017Verified PurchaseThis is an excellent novel, with an original, engaging style that draws you in to its inner world of chaos. Like many great writers, McNay finds the extraordinary in the ordinary, and the beautiful in the mundane. The protagonist, David, is how you might imagine Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye, if Holden ever made it adulthood. There is no teenage angst, but there is still alienation and moral confusion. Burdened with the ability to see through the phoney and the pretentious, David’s self-reflection and insights into the people and the world around him bring him a deeper understanding, if little joy. An unsettling and beautifully written book. Definitely worth a read.
Wayne Turmel 4.0 out of 5 stars An original tale that defies easy categories
Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2017Verified PurchaseSet in Louisiana and the deep south in the early 1970s, The Smallest Creatures defies categorization. That’s a shame because it will be a hard book to find by accident, since most Kindle readers select by genre. It’s not an easy read–the characters are all damaged and behave badly, and the story has numerous unexpected and unsettling twists. The writing is at times deeply emotional and moving, at other times a little annoying and over-written. The road trip itself is well told , but several flashback scenes lack the same crispness and depth.
This was a solid read, from a small press and I hope it finds readers. I’ll look for more from Dan McNay.