Conner Habib

Hawk Mountain relates the story of Todd Nasca, a divorced man living with his six year old son in New England. Jack, who bullied him in high school, “accidentally” finds Todd, and begins to invade his life, acting like nothing ever happened. Then everything deteriorates after a shocking incident.

I really wanted to like this book. The premise was intriguing, and the writing well done in parts, but the mental landscapes of the main characters, while well drawn at times, were unevenly portrayed. The effect of all the events on Todd’s young son were not convincing to me. The secondary characters were unrealistic. For me, the structure of the book was off putting, and I found myself just wanting to finish the book and get it over with.

I do appreciate the author’s attempt at exploring the long term effects of bullying and homophobia.

My thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing an ARC of the book.… (altro)

William Faulkner's famous line, "The past is never dead. It's not even past," would be an apt epigram for Conner Habib’s novel. His protagonist, Todd Nasca, may have successfully repressed his haunting past, but the return of a former high school bully reawakens old obsessions. With this bleak and unsettling psychological thriller, Habib examines the stubbornness of complex human relationships and the suppression of personal identity.

Todd is a 33-year-old high school English teacher, who is divorced and estranged from his former wife. He is raising his 6-year-old son, Anthony, in a quaint coastal New England town when a former classmate, Jack Gates, mysteriously shows up. Whether the charismatic Gates’ appearance was really coincidental or planned is never clear. Likewise, his motives are obscure. Jack’s presence raises memories of the brutal bullying he led against Todd in high school. It also raises the specter of homoerotic feelings that Todd has long suppressed. Habib uses this relationship to explore complexities in human interaction, including bonding, manipulation, control, revenge, and forgiveness while maintaining a tight focus on Todd’s struggle with his homosexual urges. The latter leads to a violent incident and its subsequent coverup.

Habib repeatedly raises the issue of Todd’s repressed homophobia with imagery ranging from the subtle to the overt. Todd’s ex-wife, Livia, becomes convinced that he and Jack are a couple following a phone conversation with Jack. Todd precipitates a haunting recreation of his own high school homophobic bullying experience using one of his own male students. Todd witnesses a homosexual act by one of his colleagues and is confronted about his attitude toward this person by his principal. In a more subtle vein, Habib also has Todd assign multiple readings to his students with themes of male bonding and camaraderie.

Habib deftly uses flashbacks to explain Todd’s motivations and to build tension. However, his narrative is flawed by multiple murky issues. Todd’s actions are not always clear or reasonable. Is he truly mad, or just obsessed with secrecy? What does Anthony see and understand from what he may have witnessed? What happens to Anthony? How are we to understand Livia’s scattered behavior? And of course, is Todd a closeted gay man?… (altro)