Plain Heathen Mischief

Moments after finishing a six-month sentence in the Roanoke jail for a crime he might not have committed, Baptist minister Joel King is served some unwelcome papers. His wife wants a divorce, and the teenage vixen everyone believes he seduced is suing him for five million dollars.

Holding on to his faith with a white-knuckle grip, Joel accepts a ride out west with Edmund Brooks, a member of his former flock who has some Commandment-challenging ideas about helping Joel help himself. From the author the New York Times Magazine called "the drinking man's John Grisham," Plain Heathen Mischief ranges from the cross to the double cross, from Virginia to Las Vegas, from courtrooms to trout streams, as Martin Clark follows his Job-like hero through dubious choices and high-dollar insurance scams to a redemption no reader could possibly predict.

"Clark's second novel is a delight from start to finish, delivering resoundingly on the promise of his well-received The Many Aspects of Mobile Home Living. The adventure begins when the Rev. Joel King is released from jail after a six-month sentence for the statutory rape of now-18-year-old gold digger Christy Darden. The question of whether Joel is actually guilty of the crime to which he confessed persists, but he keeps his lips sealed as he and parishioner Edmund Brooks drive from Roanoke, Va., to Missoula, Wyo., to be with Joel's recently single sister Sophie and his Alzheimer's-afflicted mother. It turns out the irascible Edmund is into insurance fraud, among other things, and, with Las Vegas attorney Sa'ad X. Sa'ad, is capable of unimaginable deceit and criminal activity. Facing divorce, jobless and desperate, Joel gets wrapped up in their latest scheme and, before he knows it, the Feds, a corrupt probation officer, the state police and a detective are hot on his trail. Clark also throws in issues of spousal abuse, parental responsibility, and justice, to name but a few. Joel perpetually wrestles with issues of faith, but never in a way that is pedantic or overbearing. There is barely a false note in this comic novel of hope and redemption. Minor characters are rich and multilayered, and the dialogue is priceless ('This is some crazy shit, like the Marx Brothers or I Love Lucy when a person misunderstands one teeny fact and everything snowballs and builds on the wrong idea'). All in all, this is one of the year's most entertaining surprises. Fans of Elmore Leonard's meatier novels will not be disappointed. Agent, Regal Literary Inc. (May)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Big, boisterous and hugely enjoyable....[H]ilarious and exciting....With its impressive sweep and density, Clark's work triumphantly clears the second-novel hurdle. Don't miss it." Kirkus Reviews

"Despite its narrative depth, this book zips by. Highly recommended." Library Journal

"[T]his entertaining novel is moving and real, even though the setup might suggest otherwise." Booklist

"Sweet and wicked....A pumped-up joyride across the rocky terrain of modern ethics and faith." Entertainment Weekly

"Outlandishly believable....Clark deftly handles all of the details of the criminal justice system, the psychology of its criminals and the difficulties of re-entering society....To the end, Plain Heathen Mischief remains an unpredictably good ride." San Francisco Chronicle

"Outstanding....Delightfully deceitful characters and a perfectly imperfect zinger ending....One of the season's most entertaining yarns." Miami Herald

"Juicy characters and memorable dialogue are what make this book as pleasurable to inhale as a Krispy Kreme doughnut....Clark's tracing of King's moral arc, from a flawed man of the cloth to a hardened pragmatist, is a thing of beauty. " Newsday

"Peopled with perfectly drawn characters and eccentrics, a human panoply that shuttles between the farcical and the heartfelt, all of them breathed full of vivid life by Clark's astonishing literary skill. Clark [is] a master of dialogue and a brilliant scenepainter." St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"A top-notch story from a truly original writer that defies the reader not to rip through every page with sheer delight." David Baldacci, author of Total Control

"A delightfully surprising book. Its tricky plot and morally ambiguous characters recall Elmore Leonard, its deadpan humor and dead-on details evoke the Coen brothers' films, and its coupling of over-the-top behavior with unflinching moral concern recalls...masters such as Flannery O'Connor and Harry Crews." St. Petersburg Times

"Martin Clark is a skillful storyteller whose style recalls Thomas McGuane's. Plain Heathen Mischief is an American fable that combines the archetypal road story with one man's quest for redemption." Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

"[A] suspenseful, charming read that is one part John Grisham and two parts Tom Robbins." Playboy

"A wicked, humorous yarn." Esquire

In a feat of bravura storytelling, Martin Clark ranges from the cross to the double cross, from Virginia to Las Vegas, from jail cells to trout streams, as he follows his Job-like hero through dubious choices and high-dollar insurance hustles to a redemption that no reader could possibly predict.

Martin Clark, a circuit court judge, lives in Stuart, Virginia. His first novel, The Many Aspects of Mobile Home Living, was a New York Times Notable Book, a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, a finalist for the Stephen Crane First Fiction Award, and appeared on several bestseller lists. His Web site is www.martinclark.com.