The Crow Valley Karaoke Championships

May 8, 2023
In the antic and darkly comic latest from Bryan (The Figgs), a small town near the Canadian Rockies holds a regional karaoke competition while an inmate escapes from the prison where many of the residents are employed. The action takes place over one night, and Bryan switches, sometimes confusingly, among the points of view of five people connected to correctional officer Dale Jepson, who died in a forest fire the year before. They are Dale’s widow, Roxanne, who works for the mayor; Dale’s best friend and fellow guard, Brett Farquhar; Brett’s wife, Val, also a guard; Molly Chivers, a woman who blames herself for Brett’s death because he saved her in the fire; and Marcel, the escapee who was transferred to Crow Valley from a prison in Quebec. As the show goes on despite the news of an escape, Marcel invades the homes and befriends the children of those obliviously caught up in their performances. Though the many subplots don’t all cohere, Bryan provides entertainment with the ups and down of the competition and the bumbling efforts by Marcel to evade capture. There’s fun to be had, but this often buckles under its own weight.

June 1, 2023
A small-town karaoke championship is the backdrop for grief, forgiveness, glory, and a prison break. Crow Valley is hosting its first karaoke championship since losing its star singer a year ago in a wildfire. Dale Jepson was more than just a karaoke celebrity--he was also a prison guard, a devoted husband, and one of the Canadian town's most beloved residents. His widow, Roxanne, is so lost without him that she carries his ashes around in a thermos, wears a headlamp everywhere she goes, and communes with his spirit by eating Tic Tacs from a container he left behind. But Roxanne, one of the judges for the karaoke championship, isn't the only Crow Valley resident who's having a hard time. Dale's best friend, Brett, wants to perform a suitable tribute to Dale while also winning back his wife's love. Brett's wife, Val, is a prison guard who's struggling to remain sober and unable to forgive Brett for cheating on her. Molly wants to stun the crowd with a karaoke performance that shows she's more than "just" a mother as she deals with resentment over the way her life turned out and guilt over her role in Dale's death. And then there's Marcel, a convicted murderer and arsonist who manages to escape from prison during one of the most chaotic and eventful days in the town's history. With Crow Valley, Bryan creates a small town that's both quirky and disturbingly realistic. While her characters have flaws (be they cheaters or murderers), Bryan shows sympathy and respect for all of them. A surprising, darkly comic look at people dealing with tragedy and choosing to sing anyway.

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July 1, 2023
Centering on a highly anticipated karaoke contest, Bryan's latest (Coq, 2023) is at turns a comedy verging on slapstick and a character-driven exploration of grief, alcoholism, adultery, and postpartum depression. In a small Canadian town near the Rockies, where everyone knows everyone, Roxanne frantically searches for an important thermos on her way to judge the annual Crow Valley Karaoke Championship. A year earlier, her husband Dale, a local karaoke legend, died in a fire. Molly, a townswoman who blames herself for Dale's death, and Brett, Dale's best friend who worked with him as a correctional officer at the local prison, hope to honor Dale with their songs for the competition. The story is told through their shifting perspectives, as well as that of Val, another correctional officer and Brett's wife, and Marcel, a prisoner Val fantasizes about. When Marcel executes a ridiculous escape, Crow Valley goes into lockdown, and the quirky, small-town characters are forced to deal with painful traumas. Though the combination of seriousness and comedy of errors can be jarring, readers will love becoming a part of Crow Valley.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.