Stand in Hell

Matt Hartman is a freelance editor and cataloguer, running Hartman Cataloguing, Editing and Indexing Services.

Bolen’s second book is a road novel with a difference. Robin
Wallenco’s journey from Saskatchewan to Richmond, Virginia, is full of
violence, though much of it is recounted after the fact. His quest is to
determine whether or not his grandfather was a Nazi war criminal. To do
so, he must travel to Richmond and see another Nazi who is in the
process of being extradited.

Bolen’s first novel, Stupid Crimes, drew upon his experiences as a
Corrections Canada parole officer in British Columbia. The violence of
Stand in Hell is more gratuitous, sometimes almost accidental,
aggravated by whisky, plagued by circumstance. Wallenco remembers the
shooting of a dog by his drunken father. His traveling companion, a
hitchhiker named Norma, has her own devils to expiate, rape and incest
among them.

Bolen switches frequently from third person to first. The writing in
the latter voice—Wallenco’s voice—is unnerving, penetrating,
searching. The generational battles are detailed with a disturbing
flatness, serving to increase the feeling of expected and circumstantial
violence. This is a dark and disturbing novel, but Bolen writes with an
eye toward the healing and redemptive powers of experience. Recommended.