Abracadabrantesque

John M. Keller’s mind-spinning, continent-spanning new novel takes off from a term coined by the word-intoxicated poet, Arthur Rimbaud. Its intimations of flying-carpet magic and pierrot lunaire adventure are fully realized in this tale of Americans at large in South American, European and African landscapes. Marcus, our narrator, is a former-athlete-turned-gypsy who finds his way, along with his scandal-raising sister, Connie, to the unlikely refuge of Montevideo. When their quixotic journalist pal, Felip, gets into deep waters in his heedless investigative crusading, Marcus is flushed from his Uruguayan hideaway and exposed to the perils of global intrigue.