Book review: “Find Me”

While reading Carol O’Connell’s “Find Me,” the latest in a series of novels featuring detective Kathy Mallory, a realization struck me:

“Find Me” (352 pages, Putnam, $24.95) is the first novel by a major, bestselling writer that takes place on modern-day Route 66.

That alone tells you how far Route 66 has come. About 15 years ago, Route 66 was all but left for dead. But the legend and popularity of the Mother Road continued to grow, culminating with a wildly popular movie last summer, “Cars.” Now, O’Connell’s book, nearly all of which occurs on the historical highway, promises to reach to thousands of readers — and potential Mother Road tourists.

The book’s main protagonist is Mallory, whose blond-haired beauty is matched by her ruthless efficiency. Fellow New York cops call her a “sociopath,” and those are the ones who admire her. It’s apparent the only reason they tolerate her deep flaws is because she’s a brilliant detective. Mallory doesn’t have much likability, but it’s a tribute to O’Connell’s writing skills that her femme fatale remains a compelling character. “Find Me” is the ninth Mallory novel.

In “Find Me,” a body is found in downtown Chicago, with a hand pointing west at Adams and Michigan, the start of historic Route 66. Back in New York City, a dead woman is found in Mallory’s apartment. Mallory is driving Route 66 in a souped-up Volkswagen Beetle, guided down the road by a set of ancient letters. We soon discover that bodies of children are being found along the Mother Road, and that the killer is still active. Complicating matters are turf battles between law enforcement groups, a caravan of the missing children’s parents, and signs that Mallory is cracking up.

Not much more of the plot is going to be revealed, as one of the pleasures of “Find Me” is finding how the story develops. Reading “Find Me” is like an onion — you peel off a layer, and you find more layers underneath. Some may quibble about the novel’s pacing at times, but there’s a method to O’Connell’s — and Mallory’s — madness. It sets up the last 50 pages, which are as gripping and unexpectedly satisfying as any I’ve read in years.

As for the Route 66 connections, there are plenty in “Find Me.” According to her publicist, O’Connell drove the entire route during her research for the book. Roadies will find brief descriptions of these Route 66 icons during Mallory’s cross-country tour:

• The Bunyon Statue, which was moved from a Cicero restaurant to Atlanta, Ill.
• The Gemini Giant of the Launching Pad Drive-In in Wilmington, Ill.
• Dixie Truckers Home in McLean, Ill.
• Our Lady of the Highways
• Rainbow Bridge in Kansas
• Mickey Mantle Boulevard in Commerce, Okla.
• The Blue Whale in Catoosa, Okla.
• The Cherokee Trading Post in western Oklahoma
• U-Drop Inn in Shamrock, Texas
• The closed Club Cafe of Santa Rosa, N.M.
• El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, N.M.
• The Painted Desert
• The Crookton Road exit in Arizona
• The old Black Cat bar
• The Seligman Loop
• and, of course, the road’s symbolic end at the Santa Monica Pier.

The book also contains a memorable scene involving a light show and a Kate Smith recording during Mallory’s tour of Meramec Caverns in Missouri.

And the real-life Fran Houser of the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Texas, chats it up with detectives on several pages.

O’Connell also shows awareness of the Mother Road’s history by referring to the Santa Fe loop from the 1920s and ’30s. The only error I found was that the U-Drop Inn was described as a former saloon. To my knowledge, U-Drop Inn was only a filling station and restaurant.

I think the trip down the Mother Road turned O’Connell into a permanent roadie. Here’s the book’s dedication:

This book is dedicated to historic Route 66, the Mother Road. One day it will be gone. Pieces of it disappear as I write this line. And when it dies, among its remains will be many tales and memories of the way it never was, and that’s all right; for the road is mythic, and myths tend to swell with each telling. From now on, let every tall story begin: Once upon a time, there was a great highway …

And that part is true.

Recommended.