Fiction Subjects

Callisto

Name: Callisto
Author: Torsten Krol
ISBN: 9781616840372

by Torsten Krol

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Overview

Odell Deefus, who's not the sharpest tool in the shed, has one goal: to "try my hardest to be a good soldier against the mad dog Islamites." But while driving to an army enlistment office in Callisto, Kansas, his '78 Chevy breaks down on the side of a country road, and it's only the beginning of his troubles. When he accepts a local's offer of shelter until the car is repaired, things go from bad to worse—worse as in murder, drug dealers, tenacious televangelists . . . and finding himself a prime target of the FBI, which thinks he's a member of a terrorist sleeper cell. And none of it bodes well for his unrequited crush on Condoleezza Rice. But fear, rash judgments, and extreme reactions are simply the norm in a post-9/11 world. Odell will just have to deal with it.

Synopsis

The Washington Post - Ron Charles

…a witty sendup of the anxieties that make Americans so dangerous, and ultimately it's barbed with enough tragedy to sting…The novel's success rests on the rambly voice of its hilariously clueless narrator…There's something mesmerizing about the way Odell teeters along the line between sense and nonsense, tripping over his own grammar and then barely righting himself.

About the Author, Torsten Krol

Torsten Krol is the author of Callisto. Nothing further is known about him.

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Editorials

Ron Charles

Publishers Weekly

Krol's bizarre novel mires a "big dumb hick" in a small town, where he is targeted for aiding and abetting terrorists. Gentle giant Odell Deefus is driving to an army recruitment center when his car breaks down along a country road. But he gets much more than he bargained for with his rescuer, Dean Mowry. Turns out that Dean has been studying Islam, had more than a little to do with his aunt's recent disappearance and is somehow involved with a shady character who goes by "Donnie Darko." Soon enough, Odell accidentally kills Dean and becomes a surveillance magnet after he reports the discovery of a body (not Dean's) in the house. Meanwhile, Odell's story is so preposterous that it has the FBI thinking he is a member of a terrorist cell who can lead them to Dean. Though Odell is initially difficult to connect with, his naïveté becomes a sharpened satirical tool as he confronts the flaws in the institutions he treasures. The plot has its patently absurd moments, but readers of a certain demographic (hint: they're not driving to the recruiter's office) will enjoy the romp. (Mar.)

Kirkus Reviews

An endearing simpleton blunders into the War on Terror in this blistering satire, the second novel by the pseudonymous Australian author of The Dolphin People. Meet Odell Deefus, a white guy with a black name, as he puts it. He's a big fellow, slow on the uptake, but real proud of his greatest achievement, reading that Rawlings classic The Yearling 16 times. The 21-year-old is on his way to join the Army when his ancient Chevy expires near Callisto, Kan. He's offered shelter at a desolate farmhouse by Dean Lowry, as mean as Odell is good-natured. A misunderstanding causes Odell to accidentally kill his host with a baseball bat. There's another dead body in the house: Odell finds Dean's Aunt Bree in the freezer. The hole Dean had dug for her in the yard will serve for him, though Odell will have to move the body six times to avoid detection. Through it all he is contrite but stoic. He reports the missing Dean and his aunt's death to the cops, but his small fib about Dean's association with Muslims leads to FBI and Homeland Security involvement and a nationwide hunt for the presumed terrorist, while Odell himself becomes a suspect. The busy plot also involves an evangelical preacher linked to a right-wing Presidential contender, and Dean's sister Lorraine, a hard-as-nails prison guard who's part of a drug-smuggling ring. The inexperienced sentimentalist Odell had had a massive crush on Condoleezza Rice; now he falls for Lorraine. The story rolls along as Krol nicely balances humor and menace. Odell, the "starry-eyed baby bird that just fell out of the nest," has some close calls but lands on his feet. All that changes when he is sent to a tropical base (Guantanamo); the caper aspectdisappears in this horribly believable hell, where the world's most unlikely terrorist is put through the wringer. Funny, suspenseful, scary and, most importantly, the best portrayal of an American Innocent since Forrest Gump.

New York Times Book Review

"There’s plenty to love.... Krol’s best twist in a plot packed with them: our identification with his clumsy charmer becomes at once the scariest and most appealing thing about the book."

San Diego Union-Tribune

"Torsten Krol pulls no punches with his modern farce.... He’s crafted the perfect foil in Odell.... Callisto is a funny, smart and well-timed novel."

Booklist (starred review)

“Odell has one of those narrative voices that grabs you out of the gate and never lets go. Think The Good Soldier Swiek with a touch of Confederacy of Dunces and maybe even a little Catcher in the Rye.”

Washington Post Book World

"A witty sendup of the anxieties that make Americans so dangerous...barbed with enough tragedy to sting.... A macabre farce, a la the Coen brothers."

Booklist

"Odell has one of those narrative voices that grabs you out of the gate and never lets go. Think The Good Soldier Swiek with a touch of Confederacy of Dunces and maybe even a little Catcher in the Rye."

Adam Davies

"Callisto is an absolute joy and a rare pleasure. A work of stark raving genius. Imagine a collaboration by Sinclair Lewis, John Kennedy Toole, and Stephen Colbert—but funnier."

John Barlow

"Callisto is wickedly well-plotted and just plain funny... Deefus is an extraordinary character...like a grown-up Holden Caulfield in a crueler, more dangerous world."