Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Wave Goodbye to Charlie 
AUTHOR: Eric Arvin
PUBLISHER: Wilde City Press
LENGTH: 156 pages
BLURB:
My name’s Charlie. I’m many things, though none of them having to do with any real talent. I’m a runaway, a hustler when I need to be, a ghost when I have to scare hoodlums away from my home, and a loner who maybe reads too much. But most of all, I’m the keeper of the carnival. That’s how I see myself. I look after the place ’cause even dying things need to be cared for. Maybe it’s illegal. Maybe that rusty metal fence around the carnival is supposed to keep me out too. Or maybe me and this place were meant to find each other. Truth is, I never felt at home anywhere but here, not even in all the foster families and orphanages I was placed in as a young shit. They don’t look for me no more, those places. I suspect I ran away so much they finally just said, “Fuck! Let him go.” I am a hangnail on society’s manicured middle finger. I’m older. One year past the age anyone gives a shit.
And this is my adventure…
REVIEW:
Damn it! This is one of those books that I don’t feel qualified to review. I am not educated enough to talk about the writing of this book. It was amazing.
I’ve read a few books by Eric Arvin, and I have to say I haven’t always liked them. Some are so odd (Kid Christmas and Subsurdity) that I just giggled and groaned through them, some I tried to read (Woke up in a Strange Place and Mingled Destinies) but I didn’t finish them because I didn’t get them. Some (Simple Men and Galley Proof) I liked just fine. I know he’s a great writer, but some are just waaaay over my head. So I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read Wave Goodbye to Charlie. It sounded interesting, but I wasn’t sure. Then I saw the reviews start to come in, and I was more interested. I had it on my list to read, when the opportunity came up to review it for Love Bytes. I can’t tell you how glad I am that I read it. It is so bizarre and wonderful.
I don’t know where to start with the plot though, without giving anything a way. I had read bits of some reviews to see that it sounded like a creative story, but I didn’t read enough that I knew what to expect. I didn’t really have any clue about the plot, other than that it had a hustler named Charlie living in an abandoned carnival. I don’t want to be the one that gives away something that will ruin it for a reader! I said “Oh shit!” repeatedly during this book, and had no idea where the plot was going at any point. I try so hard not to “solve” a book as I’m reading it, not to anticipate what will happen next, but just to go along with the story and see where it will take me. And what a trip this book will take you on…
So Charlie is a hustler, he does live in an abandoned carnival, near a small town in the south. I never really figured out where, just that it’s hot and humid, with bugs. I don’t know when the story is set either, it’s contemporary, but I never got a sense of “when”. Neither of those things matter though. It just was. It just happened. Charlie lives this bizarre life, squatting in this old nasty carnival site, while walking in to town occasionally to have sex for a bit of money. Sometimes it is just a bit. Or a meal. He has a female client, and males ones as well, although there is no actual on page sex. This is also not really a romance story, just so you know. There is no romance, no wine and dinner, although there is love and a happy ending. The carnival wakes up every night between 2:00 and 3:00 am, the music playing and the rides turning. Charlie eventually learns way this happens as he meets the people that inhabit the carnival. Charlie has a run in with Bull, the local bully that ends badly for all involved. He finds out some really bad shit that happened at the carnival years ago, and is dragged deep in to the mess.
There are a very odd assortment of characters in this story, I can talk about them without talking about the plot. Charlie, obviously, is the main character, but he has some friends, helpers, and enemies. Trent, another rent boy and possible source of romance, but it didn’t play out the way I expected it to. Jimmy and Leroy are a couple that live in the caretakers house near the carnival, they were wonderful, and I loved them dearly. They are parental figures and friends, helping Charlie as they can, then getting all caught up in this tragic story. Nessa a local “witch” that turns out to be so much more than just the creepy lady that lives on her own. Bull, one of the bad guys, and his nasty dog. Patricia, Charlie’s client and pain in the ass. I didn’t think much was happening with her, until it did! Alfie and his big dick, Cal, Carter, the shadow man, the grays, the house, and the carnival too… It’s actually a large cast. They all fit together and make this story work, even with the paranormal parts, and a house that sprouts legs and walks. (I heard my mind pop at that part!)
I have to say I was surprised when I was setting this review up and saw this book only has 156 pages. It seems so much longer, it’s such an intense story. But it didn’t feel rushed or crowded, it just flowed so smoothly. It’s creepy and dark, there are some really bad people in this story, alive and dead. Also some really good people, alive and dead! There is death and violence, ghosts, haunting, possession, and insanity. Walking through brains and dreams, and a walking house. Hate and love. Charlie and Nessa are a odd team, but work very well together, along with the help of Alfie and Cal, saving the souls if not the lives of others. The ending is satisfying, and brought a tear to my eye.
Again I don’t have the ability to talk about the style of writing, the details, and the technique. I only know what I like, and I liked this book a lot. I was surprised how much I liked it. I think I understood it, I feel like I did. The story flowed well, the characters were interesting, the plot was creative, and it was just creepy enough, but not too much to keep me awake last night. Eric Arvin is a very talented author, and I hope with all my heart we’ll see more from him in the future.
RATING: 
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