Monday, November 30, 2015

Kourtney Heintz, The Six Train to Wisconsin ** 1/2

Kai is a telepath, and her husband Oliver worries that New York City is overwhelming her. All those people, all that misery; Kai even works at child protective services, giving her an extra dose of pain and helplessness. She is understandably suicidal. For the sake of her sanity, Oliver "kidnaps" her and takes her back to his hometown of Butternut, Wisconsin. Kai is angry that Oliver has pulled her away from her life's work, but eventually settles in to the slower pace of life. But of course there's drama: a secret in Oliver's past...

Ultimately, The Six Train to Wisconsin is about Oliver and Kai's relationship, and it stands or falls on how well it presents that relationship. Alas, it falls. A couple that can communicate telepathically should have a deep understanding of one another, but Oliver and especially Kai have a very immature relationship. Each character feels only one emotion at a time, repeatedly going "from hearts-to-hatred in fifteen seconds." The central emotional conflict is when Oliver kisses his old girlfriend during a difficult event and Kai responds by flirting with another guy. Both parties treat these events as existential threats to their marriage. Come on! That's teenager stuff.

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