There is a rarified air to seeing a stalwart of the indie lit scene making it to the major leagues and it’s the type of thing that ought to be supported by the whole of indie lit, both as a glimpse at the possibility and as a way to make it more frequent.
Bud Smith has written the runaway doomed lover saga for our increasingly fraught and bizarre times. Kody loves Teal, but he is locked away in juvie for calling in a fake bomb threat and receives a letter from her dad advising she’s being sent away and he’s never to see her again. Kody embarks upon an escape and sets out to Teal’s home only to kill her parents and our lovers run from there.
Smith grabs you by the scruff of the neck with short, propulsive sentences that keep you reading before delving you into the many delusions of young Kody. Are they the delusions of a seriously ill man or youthful whimsy? In some instances, they anticipate a coming seizure with any sighting of pink mist a warning sign for our protagonist.
I feel that Smith shows off the fallacy of youthful thinking throughout the novel and without anyone to defy, Kody and Teal drift through the United States seeking answers and a future without fully understanding the questions. Becoming a cowboy and possibly being related to Elvis (felt like a nod to Wild at Heart and True Romance) show us what America once was and how these things are undoubtedly of the past.
This is a bold novel that sets out to demythologise America and doomed, desperate lovers on the run and succeeds in doing so. Whether the relationship we see is a metaphor for America itself is up for debate, but it is built upon a rocky foundation seemingly not meant to last, but is never argued against even when Teal has her doubts about Kody, she dare not voice it to him.
One thing I would urge is for anybody to seek out podcast episodes where Bud is the guest as he speaks so well about the book and another topic that may come up. Down to Earth and with a soothing voice, he is easy to listen to for hours on end. And so it is with his writing as he has managed to write what is a literary novel that runs with the pace of a thriller bringing wit, mystery, whimsy into play along the way.
Punk Noir Magazine 
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