August 5, 2024
Baxter (The Sun Collective) pokes fun at religious do-gooders, conservatives, and the medical community in this entertaining if slight offering. Mild-mannered Brock Hobson, a divorced insurance salesman and Sunday school teacher, lives in rural Ohio with his two teen children and is romantically involved with a widowed park naturalist named Trey. At a doctor’s appointment, Brock opts into an experimental blood test offered by a startup company in Cambridge, Mass., which purports to predict the future behavior of its test subjects. To Brock’s surprise, his results forecast a life of crime, including murder. Though Trey laughs the prediction off, Brock flirts with his supposed fate by shoplifting, and after his ex-wife’s boyfriend uses a hateful slur against Brock’s gay son, Brock sees red. Then the start-up tries to sell him insurance in case he kills someone, causing him to wonder if he’s being scammed. From there, the story barrels toward a violent climax. The ending feels hasty, but Baxter’s sharp observations and ear for dialogue are on full display, and he molds a distinctive protagonist in Brock, who thinks of himself as righteous even as he judges others and corrects their grammar. Readers will love seeing Brock break bad. Agent: Liz Darhansoff, Darhansoff & Verrill Literary.