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What other people have said about The Life and Deaths of Carter Falls.

Title: Change-up Tale ,  By: Pool, Nicole, Lambda Book Report, 1048-9487, March 1, 2004, Vol. 12, Issue 8/9
Database: Academic Search Premier
Section: Reviews mystery
Change-up Tale 


The Life and Deaths of Carter Falls
                              By Gypsey Teague
                              Publish America
                              ISBN 159286435X
                              PB, $19.95, 189 pp.

Two agents of a National Security Agency, Claire and Danny, attend an official function at the Taiwanese embassy. Claire and Danny are cousins so close in appearance they often are mistaken for one another. But there is an uninvited guest, a shooter, who guns down Claire and wounds Danny. Now, to save him and to find out who did the shooting the Agency has Danny become Claire. This is the beginning of Gypsey Teague's first novel, The Life and Deaths of Carter Falls.

But Danny's transformation to Claire is not all that is happening. Sent to her hometown of Carter Falls to recover from her injuries, Claire and fellow agent Rachel Jackson along with four male agents soon become involved in the town's mysteries as they set a trap for the shooter.

The town is as much a character as the humans in the story. Teague is a native of New Hampshire where the novel is set and draws on much personal knowledge of the area. The town comes complete with a dark past, colorful locals, a quaint library and a set of secret runnels. The runnels seem to connect every building in town, and, besides allowing people to move about unseen, contain a secret archive of metaphysical books. But the best writing is about the gadgets, the cars and the weapons used to catch the shooter and uproot those in the Agency responsible for creating the situation. Teague displays an abundant knowledge of these things and the detail adds rich texture to the novel.

It is the suspense and action and not the transgender plot which drives this novel. In fact, Claire's transition sometimes gets in the way. Early on there is confusion about whether Claire or Danny is speaking. Claire is confused, the other characters are confused, and even the narrator becomes confused. On one level, the confusion of names and pronouns works as a vehicle to show Danny's progress in becoming completely Claire. As the novel advances, there is more Claire and less Danny. The use of pronouns becomes regular. Also, Claire's personality development provides a reason for Rachel's presence. Rachel is a psychologist whose initial assignment is to keep track of and to report on Claire's performance. Rather than spying on Claire, however, Rachel becomes a good friend.

Male characters in the novel are less well developed. Claire affectionately refers to one pair of the four male agents accompanying her as Frick and Frack; they are about as interchangeable as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Tom Stoppard's play. Sometimes the men are left with the undesirable work of changing tires or digging a hole. But this novel is all about Claire; the males do the menial work like driving or monitoring surveillance equipment, but Claire definitely runs the show.

Teague's novel, like other novels fictionalizing a transsexual's transition, such as Chris Bohjalian's Trans-Sister Radio, exhibits some basic flaws: compressed transition time and unrealistic results. Most of the novel takes place six months after the initial shooting, a short time to acquire the skills of the opposite gender. Six months of electrolysis could not clear a face of its beard, nor could hormones reshape a body in such a short time. I wonder if writers miss some dramatic tension by making their transitioned characters too perfect. It seems strange to me that the townspeople who knew both Danny and Claire as they grew up fully accept Danny as Claire. Teague even has Claire sing before 500 people. No one suspects that the performer on stage has only been a female for six months.

Teague manages to tie up the loose ends of the plot by the novel's final pages. There is a sense of movement on Claire's transition. Claire and Rachel learn some of the town's mysteries, and yes, the shooter is caught. Teague, however, sets us up for a sequel. Claire and Rachel are returning in a book called Two's Company, Three You Die! due out this fall.

Reviewed by Nicole Pool

Nicole Pool is the librarian at the Phil Johnson Library, part of the John Thomas Gay and Lesbian Community Center, and the Resource Center of Dallas. She is a self-identified transdyke.

Copyright of Lambda Book Report is the property of Lambda Literary Foundation and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
Source: Lambda Book Report, Mar/Apr2004, Vol. 12 Issue 8/9, p30, 2p, 1bw.
Item Number: 13803443

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Scoot your Dean Koontz novels over and make room on your shelf for Gypsey Teague. The Life and Deaths of Carter Falls belongs on your keeper shelf. This novel will hold you riveted to the page.

Danny St. Clair and Claire Daniels both worked for the National Security Agency. They were cousins, but looked enough alike to be twins. They were both shot while on the same assignment. The question on everyone's mind was which cousin had been the actual target? Claire had been killed instantly, but Danny managed to survive.

Danny went into the hospital as Danny St. Clair, but emerged as Claire. Doctor Rachel Jackson was assigned to go with Danny/Claire to observe and report on the changes in Danny as they occurred. Claire and Rachel were sent to Claire's hometown to recover. The agency knew Steve Levesque was now a free agent and for an unknown reason wanted either Claire or Danny dead. Claire realized she was the bait to draw Levesque out in the open.

While in Carter Falls, Rachel and Claire become involved in the mystery that is Carter Falls. Claire wanted to delve into the mystery of her parents deaths. Carter Falls is a town where things are not always what they seem.

Gypsey Teague has written a thought-provoking novel. The whole concept was unique and interesting. I enjoyed the storyline and thought Danny's situation was very fresh and new. Gypsey Teague is a name that I will be adding to my list of to buy authors.

Dawn Myers
Writers Unlimited Reviewer, www.writersunlimited.com

 

Lots of thrills and suspense..., June 29, 2003
Reviewer: Connie from New Ipswich, NH USA
I was thoroughly impressed with this book. It was recommended by a friend and I'm very glad I decided to read it. I couldn't put it down! Having grown up in New England and living in New Hampshire now, I really enjoyed reading about places that I know exist. It brought a lot of the story home to me. The thrills and suspense kept me glued to each page with anticipation of the next. Gypsey's plot twists rival those of the best suspense novelists. A great adventure ride! Kudos for a job well done! When can we get more???
www.amazon.com

Impressive first novel, June 4, 2003
Reviewer: A reader from Norman, Ok United States
"Wake up as one person go to bed as another, and a dead one at that." And with that, I was taken into the world of Danny who became Claire to catch a killer. The trap to catch the killer is set in the hometown of Danny, Claire, and the killer, a little town named Carter Falls, NH. People that can only be called fascinating populate the town, from Hester Carter, the 90ish year old librarian, to her dead brother, Daryl, who still 'lives' in the tunnels under the town. The Carter's know everything that goes on and under the town and the mansion on the hill. Then there are stories within the main story that I got to read out of "Unnatural Horror" magazine including the story about Billy whose skin was removed when he went swimming in the Falls. Kept reading the book until I was finished and looking forward to the next installment of Claire and Rachel's adventures.
www.amazon.com

 Transgender Novel Penned by Transgender Author
By Paula Sophia
OKLAHOMA CITY - Gypsey Teague opened a can of Moxie and poured a glass. The dark liquid fizzed and sparkled like Coca Cola, but it smelled a lot different, like figs. Gypsey laughed. You know, most people have no idea what Moxie is. Its a generational thing. Leaning forward, Gypsey brushed a strand of long red hair back before taking a sip of Moxie.

Claire Daniels, the main character in Gypsey Teagues novel, The Life and Deaths of Carter Falls, also drinks Moxie. In fact, Claire is mad about the stuff. As Gypsey Teague drank the can of Moxie it became obvious that the identities of Gypsey as a real person and of Claire as a murder mystery character somehow overlap.
A lot of me went into the writing of Carter Falls, Gypsey admitted. Im exactly like Claire in a lot of ways except that she has more money than she can ever spend and she has great teeth and hair, and shes beautiful and successful, and she sings like an angel. Gypsey grinned at the self-effacing humor and twisted a strand of long red hair. Well, I have the hair at least.

Like Claire Daniels though, Gypsey Teague doesnt think of herself in terms of gender. Both the character and author defy gender roles and expectations with the limitations that go along with them.

The Life and Deaths of Carter Falls has been nominated for the American Library Associations Stonewall Award in Fiction. The story begins with an assassination attempt at the Taiwanese embassy where National Security Agency operatives Daniel St. Claire and his cousin, Claire Daniels, are shot by a renegade operative named Steve (think Kevin Spacey). Claire Daniels was the real target, and since Daniel and Claire look so much alike, Daniel must go undercover and assume the identity of his slain cousin to lure Steve back into their grasp.

Although the novel has some amusing episodes depicting the awkward transition of a man becoming a woman as Daniel assumes the identity of Claire, it does not focus on the transgender theme. As a whole, The Life and Deaths of Carter Falls is a gripping murder mystery with its share of suspense and a little horror thrown into the mix.

Gypsey Teague has been a longtime resident of Oklahoma, but the setting of the book is in Carroll County, New Hampshire. Carter Falls is a lot like Effingham with chunks of Freedom and Madison, New Hampshire thrown in, Gypsey said. But there really is a Sweat Hill, and it really is that spooky up there.

Stephen King is from that part of the country himself, and he has managed to spook people out for decades. When asked if Gypsey is trying to do the horror thriller thing with a transgender twist, Gypsey smiled. No, I think of Claire Daniels as a kind of James Bond figure, but much more human. She has her own hang-ups, not to mention her biological anomalies.

Gypsey has another Claire Daniels book coming out later this month entitled Twos Company, Three You Die. In the second book, Claire falls in love. Also featured is a B & D party in the Tower of London. Its a mystery thriller like Carter Falls, and it has a diabolical plot device. German and Swiss industrialists want to open the portals and release the old gods. Gypsey smiled. For those who like H.P. Lovecraft this will be a good read.

Perhaps the most refreshing thing about Gypseys book is the straightforward portrayal of a transgender person as a capable lead. Gypsey doesnt fall back on the fetish themes found in most transgender fiction. There isnt much fiction out there in transgender, Gypsey lamented. Out of three million titles on Amazon.com, there are only 11 male-to-female transgender books, and only two of those do not focus on a sexual theme as a primary plot.

Well, Gypsey plans to remedy that with the Claire Daniels books. She is working on two more titles, The Arks of the Covenant and The Massabesic Murders. Armed with Claire Daniels, Gypsey Teague promises to be a regular Ian Fleming (the creator of James Bond).

Oh, if I could have such success, Gypsey said dreamily. When I make it, Im going to celebrate by giving myself a brand new pair of Manolo Blahniks, and Ill wear them when I am on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Thats another interesting thing about The Life and Deaths of Carter Falls, Claire Daniels has impeccable taste in clothing, well actually exquisite, and so does Gypsey. That should not be a surprise as she formerly owned All Things Medieval, a popular spot for sexy clothing in Norman for eighteen years. I miss the clothes, and I miss the people who came into the store to buy the clothing. We had a lot of fun, Gypsey admitted.

For those who read The Life and Deaths of Carter Falls, thats what they can expect, a lot of fun.