Identity theft where the victim is a deaf woman who won't let it go and move on. She goes off with her boyfriend to find the thief and bring him to justice. ( )

Loved it, couldn't get enough, then lost steam. It happens a lot with me and TC Boyle. ( )

I don't love all of T.C Boyle's book, but I always like them. A novelist of great range, Boyle keeps me engaged. ( )

A compelling enough read but one that never really transcends the genre in the way you can feel the author trying to. The protagonists are frustrating in ways that I imagine were meant to feel realistic, but instead seemed jarring. The idea of exploring the ways in which deaf people experience the world within a thriller was a promising one, but in the end Boyle falls a bit short on both counts. A shame, because it has the kernel of something wonderful in it. ( )

I had to chuckle when I read the review below (sent to me by a friend when I was trying to decide whether to post these comments - I didn't finish - so this is not a full review). It is reassuring that I am not the only one to find TC Boyle unpredictable!

I've pondering what to do about my latest fiction read, Talk Talk by TC Boyle - My 'regular' fiction (mostly contemp novels) reading has been very sketchy lately, that is, I haven't been very engaged by most of the novels I pick up. They feel either contrived or overly detailed or I find I could care less about the protagonist - and sometimes all three at once - what this means I cannot say, although I suspect it has more to do with me than most of the books. On the other hand, this is an experience I've had with Boyle again and again - most of his books engage me from start to finish, and one, Drop City is in my 'top ten' novel list, but about 1/3 of them become so tedious (the Frank Lloyd Wright being the most recent case) I just have to quit. Some are in a sort of grey zone, and these I sometimes furtively quit and others I plodge on dutifully since he is an author I like and respect so much. In this story a deaf woman (pretty and smart - a Marlee Matlin, for sure) has her identity stolen and her life goes to pieces. The narrative shifts between her, her boyfriend (my favorite character, easily) and the man who has taken her identity (her first name, Dana, is gender neutral.) The thing that is interesting about Boyle is that such diverse things that grabs his interest - from the health craze of the early 20th century, to Wright, to Ted Kinsey, to an artist colony, to climate change.... however the inspiration hits him, he researches intensely and then he writes, blending the story with facts - bringing to life, in this case, how it feels to have your identity taken over by someone else. I think where I began to lose interest was with the entry of the thief - he's meant to be, I think, an equally complex character, someone you may not like, but you might come to see is a lost soul.... so that his actions make a kind of sense. Well, I just find him tedious and shallow, so I don't care. I actively don't want to read about him! So if I skip all the parts with him in it, what is the point? ( No stars since I did not finish.)