There’s a lot that can be said about novels that are filled with sharp wit, cheeky dialogue, and relatable storylines to maintain key connections to the material. Zaq Baker has recently released his debut novel, called Unspectacular, that takes a look at a character named Mae Strand who is somewhat pursuing a career as a vocalist. One particular line in the middle section of the novel states, “Some people say water maintains memory, holds it inside, safeguards it, can transport it across places and peoples. This is how I feel about music – recorded music especially. Albums, after all, live forever.” This nice quip is easily relatable for me, personally, but I feel a lot of music fans would also identify in quotes like this. Baker’s ability to mix just the right amount of believability and characters similar to many in the music industry may have come across makes for a memorable reading experience.
It becomes later evident that a lot of this career “choice” for Mae Strand is at the direction of her mother, Ingrid, who also attempted a career as a musician, but came up short in her pursuit. Along the long month of February, we get a few twists into the story as more characters are revealed. Like Robert Koenid, an entertainment lawyer who makes his presence felt in more ways than one in this novel, and veteran producer Havi Havsstrom who oozes with an odd cockiness to him that makes him feel unsettling to the reader.
As the book progresses, Baker weaves a complex web of dated entries, much like a diary (of sorts) and cuts to the core of each of these characters in a rich and detailed manner. The novel has some pretty cool stylistic choices in it too, cosmetically, from the font changes to appear like a movie script at one point to the look/feel of reading over someone’s laptop full of sensitive emails. Zaq Baker also has interwoven several key “Author Notes” to bring more clarity to the fictional characters and setting, almost like a handy Wikipedia guide, of sorts for the world he has created.
Towards the end of the book, Baker mentions a part, from Mae’s perspective, when she learns more about her mother’s music career and how negative reviews from music critics played a major part in derailing her path. This struck a chord with me, since I feel that many music critics have their own “agenda” and seem to want to make headlines rather than offer constructive criticism. Personally, I try to avoid writing scathing reviews, as I would much rather “build someone up than break them down.” Zaq Baker is worthy of plenty of praise on Unspectacular, and he has certainly showcased his chops as a confident writer in this thrilling body of work.