The American Dream: a safe and healthy family, a fulfilling job, and a home of one’s own. What happens when that dream turns into a nightmare? What if, instead of health and happiness, a family has only fear, doubt and dysfunction? Joe McGinniss Jr. explores these questions and others in his latest novel, CAROUSEL COURT, a bleak and critical examination of ambition, family and the particularly American version of success.

Nick and Phoebe Maguire were just 24 years old, creative and with clear career goals when they met at a party. Their courtship was physically passionate but also driven by their beliefs in their own future successes. Phoebe was a rising star in business consultancy, and Nick was ready to make his mark in the world of documentaries and photojournalism. Their life together in Boston was one of parties, hard work and vision. Phoebe, though, struggled and faltered when she faced the temptations of infidelity and then addiction, having taken a job as a drug rep. She began a years-long affair with JW, a rich, powerful and manipulative man for whom she worked after college. The habit of allowing her sexuality to be used for professional gain begins with him, but does not end with him, and the Klonopin habit is even harder for her to break.

"Told in an unflinchingly realistic and sometimes slick style, and with insight into the minds of both Nick and Phoebe, this is a particular kind of dystopia and a powerful --- and sorrowful --- novel."

A terrible car accident, with their young son in the vehicle, is the catalyst for the Maguires’ move to a California suburb. There they hope to move their careers forward, flip the house they buy, and give Phoebe a rest from the stress of work and her increasing drug use.

What they find in California is far from the easy paradise they imagined. Even before they leave Boston, Nick is out of the west coast job he was counting on. He instead takes a job clearing out the belongings in repossessed houses, working late at night with axes and crowbars and a seedy crew of co-workers. Phoebe’s new accounts falter, and she goes from rising star to floundering disappointment in California, but still spends her days on the congested freeways driving from one appointment to the next. The McMansion they buy is nice, yet it is situated in a gothic landscape of abandoned streets, empty houses, frightening neighbors, aggressive coyotes and urban blight. They leave the lights on far into the night for fear of being caught in the dark.

From drug-induced blackouts to feverish affairs, with one bad decision after another, Nick and Phoebe’s marriage falls apart, and their son, Jackson, become a pawn in their hostilities. Page by page the tension rises, there is violence and abuse, and McGinniss’ plotting is relentless as he pushes his characters closer and closer to total ruination.

CAROUSEL COURT is dark and harrowing. The repetition of mistake after mistake, sarcastic confrontation and vitriolic accusation is a bit emotionally numbing and totally terrifying as the Maguires damage themselves and each other in hellacious ways. There is little hope or optimism to be found here, as McGinniss succeeds in capturing the claustrophobic nightmare of a sick marriage, the heartwrenching pains of addiction, and the destruction of dreams. Told in an unflinchingly realistic and sometimes slick style, and with insight into the minds of both Nick and Phoebe, this is a particular kind of dystopia and a powerful --- and sorrowful --- novel.