After a horrific accident, Andy Ludlow, a college instructor and single father, hopes for a fresh start by leaving the crimes of the city and purchasing a foreclosed home in northern Michigan.
What he does not predict is that a local taxidermist named Jack Stream could hinder every page of this new chapter. Stream, an unemployed mill-worker had contrary dreams of moving from Deer County to the city, but the failing relationship with the young Deborah Gates, distorts his focus.
Determined to stay creative despite conflict, both men work to construct the future of their split-leveled stories – only to discover that they have more in common than anticipated.
Split-level takes the reader on a post-modern journey into the psyche of two artists struggling to stay relevant in a time where everyone’s a critic.
About the Book
The debate states that either, art imitates life or life imitates art; but at this point in time, it has become hard to differentiate between both intertwined perspectives. As Split-level unravels, a blurry picture is painted of Jack Stream’s character getting lost somewhere in the middle. Monsters and ghosts do not need to be conjured up in the mind of an author. Humans are grotesque enough. They are the monsters. They are the sounds in the woods, the howls in your closets, and the beasts under your beds. There is no need to exert unnecessary energy making up fictional apparitions when they seem to be living right among us.
Split-level was a conceptual idea, framed by the recent foreclosure crisis, with all of its misery and dislocation for millions of Americans in 2009. This served as the focus to begin this series. What would happen if someone purchased a foreclosed home in an unfamiliar location and the previous owner was angry enough to commit unspeakable crimes in retaliation? Additionally, the question was posed as to how far can one person could misinterpret squatter’s rights in America?
At the core of Split-level lies another allegory, loosely based on the beloved children’s story – City Mouse and Country Mouse. Is it possible to escape crime just by moving away from the city, or are people just as susceptible (if not more) to crime no matter where they sprawl? This escapism, coinciding with the ever-battling conflict of good versus evil plays out in Split-level, the first postmodern suspense/thriller in the series written by Ray Lebert.
Ray Lebert 