Alice Isn't Dead

December 26, 2018 2:57 PM - by Joseph Fink

Keisha's wife is dead. Or she's supposed to be. One day, Alice shows up in the background of a TV news story, staring directly at the camera. And then again. And again. Already riddled with anxiety, Keisha abandons her old life to become a truck driver, looking for the wife she no longer believes is dead and investigating the clues she left behind that may point to a larger, more sinister mystery. Based on the podcast of the same name by Joseph Fink (Welcome to Night Vale).
posted by DirtyOldTown (4 comments total)

In my own personal headcanon, the unnamed friend of young Jeff from Denton, Texas is Cyrus. And he and Jeff practice twice a week in Jeff's bedroom for their death metal band, which is the best ever out of Denton, Texas.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:59 PM on December 26, 2018 [2 favorites]

The setup for this was great. But the Jumping the Shark moment is super easy to identify: when the Thistle Men are unmasked as KKK-type dudes who went over the edge and the world responds to the story with indifference. I absolutely get why that hopeless take would resonate in a kind of fatalistic way in 2018. But it comes across like a wet fart. Then, after that, the novel does a bunch of clumsy fast forwarding and stumbles its way to a lazy ending.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:11 PM on December 26, 2018 [1 favorite]

Considering that Joseph Fink made a podcast with John Darnielle about the music of The Mountain Goats, and they started with that song, I think it’s probably more than just your headcanon!
posted by beandip at 4:54 AM on December 27, 2018 [1 favorite]

Loved the podcast, not sure if I want to re-experience it in book form.
posted by jazon at 6:33 AM on December 27, 2018