Aliens On The Moon by Thomas King

Insightful author Thomas King is always entertaining, and regardless of his personal journey, readers love his characters of all cultures woven through his novels. We don't read him for his heritage; we read him because he's a great storyteller.

Aliens have landed on the Moon. Not that it changes anything, but it's a new excuse for why things aren't working.

Nico Karras' Subaru has broken down - again. Gary at the dealership says it will be six weeks for a new battery - blame it on the aliens. Gary is married to Ellen, but when she discovers his affair with Brenda, it's enough to make you drive your truck through Walmart. Nico's mom Thea is unhappy at Autumn Leaves home and yearns for her old house. She escapes and finds the family home for sale by realtor Chuck Mason. Chuck has just sold Hugh the odd property of the Lunar Drive-In, where he is free to drive golf balls across the lot at the screen. Richard Dock is the publisher of Victoria's premier lifestyle magazine, he likes to tell people. But without a single article written, it remains the pipe dream of a man who lives in his sister Darby's condo and doesn't own anything, not even a cell phone. Darby Dock was once married to Chuck and has decided to sell her condo and evict her brother. Jackson Moseley's stepdaughter Darlene is a case, constantly defending her abusive boyfriend Billy who is in and out of jail, sending her in and out of the hospital. There are many more characters as this story weaves like a modern "La Ronde" through the connections they all share - Nico's wife Sudi whose sister continually changes her name; Bria throws her great-grandmother's rosary away, and the Pope himself somehow receives it.

The aliens' requests are simple, but it doesn't look like Earth is prepared to meet them.

As a slice of life, King's characters spring off the page, but without a clear direction, we kind of end up back where we started. Aliens on the Moon, aliens on Earth, life goes on.

Thomas King is going through his own personal events, finding out his lifelong status as a member of the Cherokee First Nations is false. However, as an accomplished writer, this should not affect the publication of more of his work (I've read the next in the series of Thumps DreadfulWater mysteries has been postponed). Readers support good writing, and King always delivers.

2025 / Hardcover / 272 pages