The fundamental premise of this novel, that a believable narrative can be anchored in the reminiscences of a dead person, works surprisingly well in this author's hands. While there are ever-present elements of foreboding--other suicides and deaths, the unpredictable behavior of Janey and of Maureen's lover, Ned -- David Long has a light touch and successfully keeps the reader interested in and sympathetic to the foibles of his protagonist. The writing is self-assured, leisurely yet with no excess of words, often lyric, and never maudlin. The fog and rain of the Pacific Northwest is almost another character in the book.

Although Evan's relationship with his father was rather distant and Evan perceived him as someone whose standards were difficult to live up to, and although the mother whom he was close to eventually left her family and died prematurely, there's not much in Evan's background that would predict suicide. Rather, the novel depicts an ordinary individual with ordinary insecurities who makes occasional poor choices (most notably, carrying on an affair with a coworker) and finds himself in the grip of an anxiety and depression that he cannot shake. Part of his symptomatology is that at the crucial time, he cannot bring himself to reach out to friends and family for support, although he does make a few phone calls that don't reach anyone. It does not help that the medical attention he receives is probably inadequate to the task at hand, and yet we know that professional help in such situations can be ineffective. Hence even though this is a ghost story, the story told is true to life in all of its unpredictability, contingency, and mystery.