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(More customer reviews)Kudos to Robert Bausch for another fine novel following his strong selling A HOLE IN THE EARTH. THE GYPSY MAN is astoundingly different: a literary thriller set in the 1950's. Told from multiple - one might even say numerous - points-of-view, the novel constructs life in the Virginia mountains in a small mill town called Crawford. Legend has it that the woods around Crawford are frequented by a disfigured man nicknamed the Gypsy Man who steals small children and sets fires. The last time he struck, a black boy named Terry Landon disappeared; six years later the town is still grieving. When old Morgan Tiller finds signs that the Gypsy Man has returned, the person who worries most is Penny Bone, a woman with a six year old daughter and a husband in prison. Her Aunt Clare is missing, and she is convinced that this is the work of the Gypsy Man. From this auspicious start, the tension only increases as the reader begins the see the impending danger to all.
The plot is complicated, and giving away anymore of it might spoil the enjoyment of a riveting read. Bausch's use of many voices - from John Bone in prison for manslaughter, to Gault the town's teacher and lawyer, to Aunt Clare, to the volatile escaped convict Peach, to name only a small fraction - reveals the truth in pieces, even if the characters themselves cannot see it. Penny is the spiritual center of the novel since she has both the most to lose and the most to gain, but even she cannot rightfully be called the protagonist. THE GYPSY MAN is a mosaic that can only be seen clearly at a distance and with all the pieces in place.
THE GYPSY MAN is not a flawless book. Some of the exchanges go on for too long, with little or no information conveyed. Bausch's insistence on using first person narration for all sections often leads to confusion, especially after a lengthy passage when the reader has had a chance to identify the "I" with a particular character. Despite these lapses, you won't want to miss the thrill of reading this novel. The storytelling is superb, the characterizations wonderful, and the prose well-written. What more could you want?
I highly recommend this book for anyone who reads fiction. Bausch fans will want to snap this up right away, to be among the first to read it. Newcomers won't regret their introduction to this gifted novelist.
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