Because the Rain by Daniel Buckman

Because the Rain by Daniel Buckman

Review by Jacob Malewitz

“You’ll stay a year,” his wife said. She thinks Mike won’t last long a as cop, his newly chosen career.

The opening of “Because the Rain” does, in affect, flow quite perfectly. It’s a pace driven by Daniel Buckman’s natural gift for storytelling (which becomes more and more evident, the more you read). It’s just hard not to write about this auspicious beginning, the masterful way which Buckman brings the reader in.

There has been an abortion and other sacrifices, and for being a writer losing these things is perhaps the important piece to the puzzle. Mike tried sacrificing for his art; it made his wife a hard breather, his dreams failures. Yes, he wanted to be a writer. No, it didn’t work out.

You get mesmerized in the present tense movement of love, escape, and memory of “Because the Rain” and its characters. Perhaps forgetting, or wanting to forget, holds the power for this book amidst the mind numbing drinks and friends and lovers. Something else it at play.

Donald Goetzler is a successful but less passionate character than Mike. A former Iwo Jima, Korea, and Vietnam vet, he is the secondary piece to this novel puzzle. He too is trying to make sense of things, but not his art—his war.

However, there is more to this novel than the background of its characters, their words and desires. The decisions they make change their lives. They grow dark. Good thing happens. Mike is the winning character, the beat cop stopping kids from selling weed too close to Starbucks.

It has just that kind of pulp feel you rarely see in many modern literary novels. The characters do come alive, and Buckman is always perfect with his storytelling angles.