When a new type of meth, called Mojo, begins to sway some of Juney’s regular customer, he gets suspicious. A drug deal is called off without any precedent. His brother, Chance, is nowhere to be found, and Juney’s cook, Garrett, is dead in the kitchen. Juney begins to wonder if the Mojo crew are responsible for more than just stealing his customers. Mojo Rising follows Juney as he tries to find the truth behind Garrett’s death, and the truth behind Mojo Rising.
The novella starts off with a bang and delivers throughout. It’s short and succinct and the perfect pace for what it is. Each chapter follows Juney’s entanglement in things that he can’t comprehend. The more he makes sense of things, the more overwhelmed he seems. The reader, alongside Juney, experiences this confusion. Pastorella introduces characters like the “crocodile girl,” described by Juney as “just another lost junkie.” However, the other characters’ fear of this “crocodile girl” suggests something a little more sinister at play, keeping readers on their toes.
One of the things I enjoyed most about Mojo Rising is Pastorella’s refusal to make things easy for the reader. Juney’s confusion is the reader’s confusion. Therefore, Juney’s descent into possible insanity and delusion, is also the reader going through the same things. There are parts towards the end where it’s difficult to decipher Juney’s delusions from reality and that’s where Pastorella’s brilliance lies; the ability to easily conflate the reader and his main character into one.
His writing, too, is a wonderful amalgamation that just works. Juney’s narrative is often casual and nonchalant in a way that makes it seem authentic. However, at times Pastorella launches into a descriptive prose that is grotesque, and certainly not for those who are a little squeamish. His description carries a certain outlandish quality about them, making them eerie and not grounded in reality. This often marks the difference between Juney’s unhindered state of mind at the beginning of the book, and his slow descent into the effects of Mojo towards the end of the book.
Despite all of this, the ending of the book left me slightly unsatisfied. There was a lot that felt unresolved. While sharing Juney’s confusion and attempt to understand the events of the novella is an interesting experience, it can feel like a resolution that leaves you with more questions than answers.
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