Be sure to read Bob Moyer’s review before you go looking for this new novel from Richard Russo.

Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer

UNDER THE FALLS. By Richard Russo. Knopf. 256 pages. $30.

Richard Russo has consistently produced atmospheric books capturing the plight of small towns in the Northeast suffering a decaying economy and a declining population. More people leave than live in his fictional locales. His usual protagonist is someone who is from the community, but not of it, an Everyman who gives us a unique perspective on life in a dying community.

The star of Russo’s latest book is definitely from the community of Stone Mountain, but not of it. He’s also not Russo’s Everyman, but Tyler Sinclair, a hometown boy who left with a guitar and started a now-famous band called Stone Mountain.

He’s back to do a benefit concert for his friend Doc. Tyler was part of an accident that crippled his friend, but has not spoken with him, or his best friend Curt, since he left town. Tyler is reluctant to do the concert, but his manager and girlfriend persuade him.

Unfortunately, the night of the concert, the emcee announces Doc has just died of a blood clot. Things turn ugly, and the death sets off a series of events including a tragic accident and a kidnapping that ostensibly turn the story into a mystery.

Unfortunately, these events as they play out do not lift this book to the literary level we expect of Russo. The perpetrator of the accident is the most thinly sketched character in the book and is not hidden in plain sight as most good villains are — he’s just basically hidden. The kidnapping is committed by a one-dimensional character who obviously had an issue with Tyler from the onset of his arrival. The book also lacks the turns of phrases and dialogue Russo excels at.

In a comment in the back of the book, Russo notes that this was originally a script that was not developed. There’s a reason — it wouldn’t make a very good movie, and it doesn’t make a very good book.