Strange Skies

by Matt Marinovich

I never thought I would despise a main character so much and yet be unable to stop reading. Paul Mauro, said character, fakes developing cancer after his doctor finds a suspicious lump on his arm. His motivation is to put off starting a family with his wife. If that weren't bad enough, he ends up having an affair with a young woman with serious cancer, who ends the affair and her life by committing suicide. Does this deter the self-absorbed main character? Nope. He takes a mini vacation, without his wife, and "befriends" a young mother, Barb, that he meets in the airport and her young son, Jack. The hitch: Jack has cancer. Finally, you think that Paul will have some sympathy for the kid and not try to get in the sack with his mom, but you're wrong.

My motivation for finishing the book was to find out if Paul learns his lesson. I did get a sick satisfaction when he gets knocked down a peg or two by his wife, but since he didn't really learn anything from that experience, I kept reading.

Paul is a jerk, but he's the kind of jerk (like some celebrities) that you are addicted to. Although I felt utterly repulsed by some of his actions and never once felt sorry for him, I couldn't help chuckling at some of the dialog and scenery that Marinovich describes. Pretty good read, and ultimately different than anything I have ever read.