R.A. MacAvoy's novella In Between is due out at the end of the month from Subterranean Press and it's a very interesting blend of genres. Ewen Young is a Chinese American artist who gets jumped on his way home from a gallery showing. The message is not for Ewen though, but his marital arts instructor uncle. Soon enough Ewen's twin sister and her family are threatened and Uncle Jimmy winds up dead. Ewen takes a bullet to the chest as he discovers the body and finds himself on a "white light" type journey. He does not die however and when he wakes up in the hospital discovers his uncle had a bad gambling habit and that has brought them all to their current dangerous place with a hit man Ewen can identify on the loose, a bad man with a drug habit whose owed some money pulling the strings and Ewen's new and uncontrollable habit of disappearing pretty disconcerting for everyone involved.

The book is 104 pages long and it zips along - I read it while my son was at his own martial arts class. I think MacAvoy did a good job blending the violent crime bits with an interesting spiritual discussion. Ewen is moving into the space "in between" a transitional place between life and death that he entered when he flatlined after the shooting. His brother-in-law is a Buddhist who discussed the issue with him more than once, but MacAvoy doesn't stop there. The top cops on the case are a split between a Native American poet who doesn't blink when Ewen disappears and reappears in front of him and a Mormon who is equally at ease with matters of murder and the afterlife. Ewen's doctor father is less willing to accept the spectral travel but grudgingly accepts that there is more here than he can see. After Ewen goes to a nursing home for care before he can go home, he meets people finding their own way to the afterlife, and the literary conversation about death continues.

The action propels the narrative - it's a plot that doesn't really quit and I liked that you could have the chase hanging over Ewen's head at the same time that the deep questions are presented. All the characters are strong and the ending is quite satisfying. It was a very solid read and introduced me to an author I'm completely unfamiliar with, all of which was cool. Right now the book is only offered as a limited edition from Sub Press so it's spendy at $35 but if you're a fan of the author or if you're interested in the premise then it's worth it. Oh - it's also good for people with a healthy commitment fear of Bonsai trees. That made for some very funny moments.

[ARC provided by the publisher]