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"Disciples" Disappoints

© Robert Powers

Austin Wright's 1995 novel "Telling Time" dealt with the family rallying around their paterfamilias, who has been the target of a gunman. With death waiting in the wings, the father asks his children to search through his papers. He wants material "not fit" to be removed. The search reveals a man unknown to his children.

Told from multiple points of view, "Telling Time" received high praise from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews. Wright, a retired English professor at the University of Cincinnati, writes in a controlled style, easily handling a varied cast of characters. The book resonates long after being read.

Wright's new novel comes as a major disappointment. "Disciples" (Baskerville, $22) uses the same formula of multiple voices in the first person, describing their actions and reactions to a somewhat unbelievable set of circumstances. The plot is the stuff of bad TV movies, as a crazed religious zealot kidnaps a baby from his estranged wife. The fanatic and a mentally deficient companion take the child to a New England community headed by a man his followers believe is God.

The kidnaper lures his father-in-law, a college professor, and the mother's new boyfriend to the remote camp. There's a mysterious plunge to death from a waterfall, followed by a mock trial of the innocent accused. Meanwhile, the professor conducts an interview with Miller, the man whose followers believe is God in human form.

A major flaw in "Disciples" is the lack of a sympathetic character. Or rather it's the missing element of someone with whom the reader can relate to or identify with. The eight narrators employed by Wright are distinctly different in attitudes and outlooks, but none of them demands a rooting interest on the part of the reader.

The plot merrily rolls along, with the changing points of view adding some spice. But the material is often more silly than convincing. Wright unquestionably is a talented and an unfairly neglected novelist. In this instance, however, "Disciples" won't attract many followers, despite a positive mention in a recent issue of The New York Times Book Review.

* * * BEST NOVELS OF THE YEAR?

Members of The National Book Critics Circle, a group of 700 book reviewers, annually chooses their favorite titles of the year. The nominees this year include 50 titles in fiction. Of those, this reviewer (a member of NBCC) had read only two--Thomas Pynchon's "Mason & Dixon" and Philip Roth's "American Pastoral." Although both titles display some of the strengths of their creators, neither will stand out over the long run.

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