Perry Stormaire, the protagonist of Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick, is having a pretty good "gap year". He's been accepted at Columbia, and his band Inchworm are booked to do a twelve-city/eighteen-day tour of Europe, thanks to his girlfriend Paula, who works for a music producer.
Subconsciously , Perry wonders if he might run into Gobi Zaksauskas, the exchange student who'd lived with his family the previous year, but was, in reality a hired assassin. Consciously, he tells himself, his family and friends, that he's glad she's out of their lives. But when the band arrives in Venice, Perry finds himself wandering off on his own and ending up at the Harry's Bar, where Gobi finds him. Before he can blink, he's jumping into canals, being shot at and wondering whom to trust.
On the surface, this quick read is pure escapism. But there is some pathos when we learn what's really going on with Gobi, and Perry is forced to make some major adult-type decisions as he endeavours to keep both himself and his companion alive.
Each chapter title, taken from a song by musicians like Green Day (American Idiot), Death Cab for Cutie (You are a Tourist) and David Bowie (This is Not America), aptly describes the events within it.
The trade paperback version of this book will be released next month.
FTC Full Disclosure: I borrowed this book from my local library.
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