King of Methlehem - A Novel
Why is there a fictional book about the underbelly of Pierce County’s meth world on Exit133? To put it simply, it’s a hyperlocal book for anybody that lives in Tacoma. Mark Lindquist’s fourth book, The King of Methlehem, is set entirely in Pierce County with significant references to the ever-changing downtown Tacoma.
Detective Wyatt James is a veteran police officer with the Meth Lab team in Pierce County, Washington — an epicenter of methamphetamine production. At the core of the local meth problem is the elusive, self-proclaimed “King of Meth-lehem.” The king moves from one shelter to another, relying on the kindness and desperation of a variety of women. He’s the top meth cook in the region, a dangerously successful identity thief, and he travels under a number of famous aliases, among them Lars Ulrich, Peter Farrelly, Ted Nugent, and most recently Howard Schultz.
Wyatt has been chasing Howard relentlessly, but the pursuit has become a fixation that threatens to destroy Wyatt’s personal life and disrupt the lives of his bookish girlfriend, Suki, who just moved into his loft, and his best friend, Mike, a prosecutor — and perhaps involve them all in a dangerously volatile situation. Neither Suki nor Mike nor Wyatt’s supervisor seems able to deter him from his obsessive hunt.
The main protagonist, Detective James Wyatt, lives in a loft apartment on Pacific Avenue. He describes walking from his office at the County-City Building to his apartment. He describes Syrens, the 11th Street Bridge, and UWT. His girlfriend works at Cutters Point. And, most interestingly, on page 33 we discover that they read Exit133 to “track what’s happening in Tacoma and prove, she likes to tell Wyatt, that there are noncriminal activities.” Wild.
Is it a good read? Sure. It’s a fast paced romp that provides a glimpse into a world that I simply do not know – meth dealers, their girlfriends, customers, and the police that search for them. The language is quite raw and doesn’t embellish the subject at the heart of the story. To me, however, it wasn’t so much the story as it was the setting.
It’s strange to read a book with so much local information. The little details leap off the page. Wyatt has been watching more movies, so he’s a regular a Stadium Video. They considered going to the Parkway, but wanted some hard liquor options.
Wyatt asked her to meet him at Kickstand Cafe not just because it is close to the Alliance buildings, but because it is next door to his favorite movie house, the Grand Cinema. The Grand, A Tacoma icon, shows independent films in cozy and intimate spaces that put Wyatt in mind of a private screen room, though he has never been in one.
The details are so current and now, I wonder about the story’s longevity. Then, I consider, that as these details fade from the real landscape, they become closer to what it would be like if we didn’t live here at all. Syrens, Cutters Point, the Grand Cinema, or Exit133 move from local pop culture references to literary furniture. I believe that this story is very different for those of us that live here. This may not be our story, but the characters could very well be our neighbors or the people we pass in the street. It’s quite the ride.
The official release date is May 15th. Published by Simon & Schuster (May 2007)
Be cool. Shop local. Support King’s Bookstore. Seriously.
Or, if you aren’t in the area…
Buy The King of Methlehem: A Novel via Amazon.com
The author – writer, prosecutor, and Tacoma resident – can be found at MarkLindquist.net