Collegiate Times

"I think there’s something special about you.” These mystifying words and a disconcerting experience with the elderly and mysterious Grant Danko are the catalysts that send Penn State senior Avery Walker into making a life-changing decision. That very decision affects those around her in ways no one ever thought possible and, in turn, uproots chilling histories of violence and abandonment among everyone.

Today marks the release of English professor Edward Falco’s latest novel, “Saint John of the Five Boroughs,” and it does anything but disappoint. Falco is the director of the Master of Fine Arts program and it’s no wonder as his chilling, lyrical prose sends readers into an inescapable trance until they read the last sentence.

Avery is an art student who is unaware of how exhausted she is with the college experience until she suddenly finds herself en route to Brooklyn on the back of Grant’s motorcycle, with no regrets in mind. In the wake of this spontaneous decision, the novel branches out into the effects it has upon her family, friends, Grant and even Avery herself.

Laden with sharp twists and turns, each chapter alternates narrators, delving into each of their violent personal stories and weaving an intricate web of relationships. The novel explores contemporary topics that everyone, especially in our generation, can identify with — including the war in Iraq and the day-to-day experiences of the college student. It also raises some issues that sadly resonate in people’s lives, but aren’t as easily dealt with, like suicide, depression, abandonment and rape.

Essentially, Falco’s choice is to illustrate the reason behind the choices people make, whether they are for better or for worse. Every character in the novel has a difficult life-altering decision to make. For Avery, it’s about finding who she is in the world. For Grant, it’s about converting the lost, empty version of himself into a redeemed man despite his overwhelming past. For Lindsey, Avery’s aunt, it is about coming to terms with the devastating consequences of the war overseas. With all of the various intertwined events, readers lose themselves entirely in the plot of the novel much like viewers would in the storyline of a soap opera, sans the cheesy soundtrack and predictable outcomes.

As a Blacksburg resident, Falco teaches at Tech in addition to editing the local online digital writing journal, “The New River.” With this newest edition to his strikingly hard-edged and involved method of creative writing, students are lucky if they have the chance to learn personally from Falco. If not, they can at least take comfort in the remarkable experience that is reading “Saint John of the Five Boroughs.”