Dangerous Blues (2022) by Stephen Policoff

reviewed by Audrey Fong

For fans of Haruki Murakami’s ability to blend reality with fairy tale elements, Stephen Policoff’s third novel, Dangerous Blues, is a must read. Like Murakami’s work, Policoff’s stories follow lost characters who find themselves in supernatural circumstances.

Dangerous Blues follows the journey of Paul Bricker and his sprite-like daughter, Spring. After the death of his wife and Spring’s mother, Paul moves to New York in hopes of a new beginning, where he meets Tara White, a blues singer and mother to Spring’s new school friend, Irina. But Tara, who grew up in a cult, is being stalked by her brothers for stealing a magical Tibetan vessel from their leader. Soon, Tara’s brothers stalk Paul as well, demanding he hand over the vessel. If moving to a new city, raising a preteen daughter, and menacing cultists isn’t enough, Paul is also seeing his wife’s ghost – a sign he’s not sure is a blessing or a curse.

Despite the darkness, Policoff writes with such warmth and humor that Dangerous Blues leaves you feeling optimistic for the future of both Paul and Spring. The novel ends on a tender note about the relationship between Paul and Spring, and on their enduring friendship with Tara and Irina, suggesting a world in which all these characters will endure and thrive.

Purchase here through bookshop.org or your favorite local store.

Flexible Press will donate a percentage of its profits to the National Niemann-Pick Disease Foundation (NNPDF) a cause dear to Mr. Policoff.

Mr. Policoff is currently Clinical Professor of Writing in Global Liberal Studies at NYU. You can read his essay “About Suffering” from riddlebird I.I.V.I. here. Dangerous Blues is his third novel.