Publishers Weekly - 09.03.2020

BOOKLIFE.COM 73

MEMOIR

Leave the Lights on

When You Go

Janis Ahlenberg | Sky Street

350 pages, e-book, $8.95, ISBN 978-1-73284-

621-0

The pseudonymous Ahlenberg’s

uneven memoir boasts fluid prose and

a strong narrative flow that’s some-

times disrupted by navel-gazing. She

was born in the 1940s and raised in

New England with her brother, Steve.

She was 12 when their mother, preg-

nant with triplets, announced she would no longer give Ahlenberg

care beyond room and board. Ahlenberg never recovered from

that betrayal and left home at age 18. The triplets, denied nothing,

descended into mental illness. After Ahlenberg’s 30-year marriage

ends in divorce, she tries to reconnect with her family, but Steve’s

libertarianism manifests as selfishness, and her aging parents

and the triplets are locked in a self-perpetuating cycle of despair.

The author deserves kudos for crafting nonfiction that reads

like a novel, but her all-too-human faults sometimes make her a

challenging protagonist. Though she’s a therapist who under-

stands toxic family dynamics, she’s often blindsided by those she

loves. Still, she describes them vividly, particularly the sadness of

her parents’ final years and the triplets’ struggles. Her attempts

to confront her parents are understandable, but her bad timing

makes for cringe-worthy moments. Her account of grieving her

ex-husband’s death is an evoca-

tive portrait of being emotionally

stuck, but the overabundance of

self-analysis is difficult to read.

Ahlenberg makes the curious

authorial decision to only briefly

summarize the eventual upward

trajectory of her personal story.

She writes that she has not

“taken the room here to tell”

about her joy, but after so much

emphasis on her sadness,

readers will wish for balance.

Regardless, the underlying

resilience of her spirit comes

through. Readers looking for

stories of coping with difficult

relatives and childhood sorrows

will find this memoir satisfying

and inspiring.

FICTION
Zip Monkey
Eric Randolph Rasmussen |
Eric Randolph Rasmussen
299 pages, e-book, $4.99, ASIN B07NKYRS2W
Political intrigue and sexual
hijinks abound in this quirky novel
from Rasmussen (American Banjo).
Former porn star Angel Bimini has set
herself up as a private investigator in
Secaucus, N.J., desperate to get away
from her past. She’s approached by an
unscrupulous accountant who claims
he’s being stalked by his mistress and wants Angel to investigate.
The university he works for has come under scrutiny for its animal
experimentation. As Angel begins work on the case, she uncovers
mysteries, secrets, and half-truths that envelop the local scientific
community—and when someone shoots up her office, an eyewit-
ness claims the shooter was a chimpanzee wielding a machine gun.
Rasmussen crafts an atmosphere of palpable intrigue; there
are many twists and turns, and the underhanded moments and
double-crosses keep the plot moving. The book is replete with
scenes of sexual misadventure. Lust is quite a preoccupation for
several characters, and though some lines are funny (“The idea of
this statuesque goy dish with an assault rifle made him turn
inside out at the groin”), readers will eventually weary of the
descriptions of each character’s libidinous thoughts. At times
these scenes are uncomfortably
puerile, and the humorous
treatment of a primate sexually
assaulting Angel is disturbing.
Where Rasmussen succeeds
is in the character of Angel
Bimini herself. She is a strong
lead, instantly likable, with a
familiar but not unwelcome
story of personal redemption,
and she gives the story color
and life. Rasmussen is at his best
when he delves into her personal
background and her quest to
reinvent herself. Like any noir
PI, she’s sharp and cynical, but
her moments of soul-searching
and reinvention keep her well-
rounded. Character-motivated
readers will be glad to follow
her through this madcap story.

BookLife Reviews

BookLife Reviews are paid reviews of self-published books. Each review contains

the honest opinion of a professional Publishers Weekly reviewer. A lightning bolt ( )

indicates an Editor’s Pick, a book of outstanding quality.

Fans of beautiful

prose and sad sto-

ries with a glimmer

of hope will be

satisfied by this

memoir of a family’s

fragmentation.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design & typography: B+
Illustrations: –
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-

Production grades

Cover: B

Design & typography: B

Illustrations: –

Editing: A+

Marketing copy: B

Fans of humorous,

tongue-in-cheek

detective fiction

will enjoy the

misadventures of

Angel Bimini, a porn

star turned PI.

PAID REVIEWS

Great for fans of

Melissa Olson, Justin

Robinson.

Great for fans of

Jeanette Walls,

Annabelle Gurwitch.