This week I selected Mike McCrary’s “Table 13” without any idea what the book was about. It turned out to be both heartbreaking and terrifying.
Hank Quinn’s childhood was filled with his father’s drunken beatings. Eventually, Hank had enough and shot his father. He and his mother took the body to the woods and rigged it to look like a suicide. But the townsfolk soon called them killers.
Finally, Hank’s mother insisted that he leave to make a life of his own and “slay the dragon.” Young Hank went to New York. One of his wealthy cousins let him stay in his apartment while the cousin was “on tour.” Hank got a job as a waiter at one of the city’s finest restaurants and did his best to lose his Texas twang and avoid the wrath of the short-tempered chef.
He soon caught the eye of the attractive hostess, Mags. One evening, she tells Hank that his “favorite” couple was at table 13. Nathan and Gina were a beautiful couple. They always demanded that table and Hank as their server. Hank always felt uneasy around them, but they were very pleasant and left outrageous cash tips.
One night, the chef and Hank are in the bathroom. He is railing at Hank when Nathan steps out of a stall, breaks the man’s neck and makes it look like he has fallen and hit his head.
Suddenly Gina and Nathan are hustling Hank out of the building and into a waiting car. Thus begins a surreal story of cold-blooded murder and depravity. Apparently, Nathan and Gina make their living as paid killers and arsonists. Somehow, they know all about Hank’s early life and the death of his father, and they hint at exposing him.
To ensure Hank’s cooperation, they force him to save himself by shooting two paid killers. To his horror, Hanks sees that they have taped the whole thing. Over and over, Hank wakes to the aftermath of another killing.
One day, Hank wakes from the drugs to find himself in a nicely furnished bedroom. He is shackled to a long chain that allows him to move about the room. Nathan and Gina visit often, explaining that Nathan is dying and they need Hank to write a book about their lives. With no options or avenue of escape, Hank writes as they dictate. The details of their crimes sicken him and made him even more determined to escape.
One stormy night, Nathan and Gina announce that the book is finished and invite Hank out of his room. He must sit at the table as Nathan and Gina take pills containing lethal poison. But at the last second, Gina spits out her pill. Hank uses the moment of chaos to escape. He takes a car but doesn’t get far before he crashes. Gina finds him, tends to his injuries and taunts him with all she did while he was drugged. It seems the nightmare continues.
AT A GLANCE
Book: Table 13
Author: Mike McCrary
Publisher: Bad Words Inc.
Year published: 2023
Number of pages: 280
McCrary novel is terrifying, heartbreaking
