Book Review: It Might Have Been What He Said

Author: Eden Collinsworth
Publisher: Arcade Publishing
ISBN: 1-55970-812-3

Isabel tried to kill her husband, but she can’t remember why. With the help of her psychiatrist, Isabel slowly restores her memory of the events surrounding the attempted murder. They begin by examining Isabel’s childhood.

Isabel was born into a wealthy, dysfunctional family. Her father was emotionally distant. He refused to give his adult children any financial assistance for fear of instilling laziness. Her mother was mentally disturbed. She tried to kill herself and spent much of her life in an asylum. Her brother was socially dull. He depended on his younger sister to guide him through the maze of family interactions. It seems that Isabel, with her photographic memory, intellectual aptitude, interpersonal insight, acerbic wit and cool demeanor, is the only normal person in the lot.

Ambitious and conscientious, Isabel swiftly rises to the top of her profession as a publisher. She meets her opposite in James, a talented, debonair, indolent writer whose primary interest in life is being (carefully distinguished from getting, which requires effort) rich. Opposites attract and Isabel marries James. Their marriage starts happily enough, but cracks gradually appear beneath the veneer of their relationship. James is the source of all the cracks: he spends irresponsibly, works intermittently and drinks excessively. In contrast, Isabel’s determined efforts to hold together her marriage and family are almost saintly.

Isabel and James have an unusual son. Burgo is intellectually gifted, socially astute and the devoted son for which all mothers wish. An elementary school child who should still believe in Santa Claus (but does not), Burgo tells his mother, “you are fact, Papi [Daddy] is fiction” (p. 182). Despite his youth, Burgo realizes that his mother is the family bedrock, his father the quagmire. Surprisingly, this circumstance does not alarm him. Surely he is the most placid child ever to grace the face of the earth. After Isabel’s botched murder and her marriage’s dissolution, the story ends with James ensnared in a trap of his own making while Isabel and Burgo dash into a promising future.

The greatest weakness of this story is its characters. Burgo does not resemble any child in the known universe. Instead, he resembles Wesley Crusher, the nauseating boy wonder from Star Trek. James is so unremittingly boorish it’s impossible to conceive what, aside from his good looks, attracts Isabel to him. And Isabel’s solitary flaw seems to be her bad temper, which is displayed only once throughout the entire book. None of the characters have any depth or complexity; they are all neatly categorized as either heroes or villains.

The second weakness of this story is the anti-climactic nature of its climax. Building gradually to its apex, the actual culminating event is comically clumsy. Moreover, the event’s aftermath is hardly credible. James conspires with Isabel to pretend it never happened and they resume their ordinary lives. When the marriage eventually dissolves, it is James the would-be murder victim, rather than Isabel the failed murderess, who is to blame. This is not surprising. After all, the characters in this book either wear white hats or black ones. Gray hats don’t exist in their world.

It Might Have Been What He Said is Collinsworth’s first novel. She writes concisely and the story moves at a fairly good pace. Moreover, her initial premise forms an intriguing skeleton upon which to build a captivating story. Unfortunately, neither the characters nor the plot provide the flesh and bones required to make this book a full-blooded body. Overall, this is a decent, but not great, first novel. If Collinsworth learns from the experience gained with this book, she may prove to be a writer worth watching in the future.

MONSTER

Author: Walter Dean Myers
Publisher: Harper Tempest
ISBN: 978-0-06-440731-1

Steve Harmon is 16 years old, black, and on trial for murdering a Harlem shopkeeper during a robbery. The prosecuting attorney repeatedly refers to Steve and his co-defendant as “monsters.” Steve’s attorney says that a large part of her job will be simply getting the jury to see Steve as a human being.

Monster is Steve’s account of his imprisonment and trial. An avid student in his high school film class, he presents his story as a film script. Interspersed between the trial scenes are flashback scenes that reveal portions of Steve’s life up to the time of the trial. These film scenes alternate with excerpts from Steve’s prison journal, as depressing an account of life in jail as anyone will ever read. The film and the journal reveal Steve’s deep fears. He is afraid of other prisoners, afraid of spending twenty years in prison, afraid of the numerous quirks of the American judicial system and afraid of the effect his imprisonment and trial are having on his relations with his family. Through Steve’s film and journal, the reader is allowed to look deeply into the soul of a sensitive, troubled young man.

As the story progresses, the reader is not sure what role Steve played in the crime for which he is on trial. As the story closes, the author provides some hints regarding Steve’s guilt or innocence, but never explicitly answers the question. Instead, Myers allows the reader to come to his or own conclusion.

The book includes a Reader’s Guide for classroom discussions about the book. Like many of Myers’ other works, this one is written for adolescents. By casting his story in the form of a film script and journal, Myers employs two forms that should appeal to teenagers. After all, most teens enjoy movies and many of them may keep diaries. Moreover, these two formats allow Myers’ to keep his prose very informal and to communicate his tale efficiently. Myers never uses five words if three will suffice.

The Reader’s Guide is followed by a brief interview with the author. In this section, Myers explains how and why he wrote this story, and what he hopes it will accomplish in the lives of its audience.

Monster is a story that teens will carry with them long after they close the back cover. It is a stark story about the moral choices that teens face every day and about the long-term consequences of those choices. An absorbing tale, Monster should keep readers enthralled and give them important insights into the responsibilities that they bear for themselves, for their families and for society.

Beyond the Summit

Author: Linda LeBlanc
Publisher: Pilgrims Publishing
ISBN: 0-9785353-0-8

The year is 1968. Beth and Eric, a journalist and a photographer who are also romantically involved, are trekking in the mountains of Nepal to do a story about the Sherpas. Dorje - a Sherpa who aspires to climb Mt. Everest as his childhood hero, Norgay Tenzing, had done fifteen years earlier - serves as the chief guide for Beth and Eric’s party. Since Dorje is one of the few Sherpas who speak English, he becomes an important source of information for Beth. Although Beth and Eric become engaged during their trek, it does not take long for Beth and Dorje to develop a friendship that could, given the opportunity, bloom into a more intimate relationship. That opportunity arises when Eric leaves Nepal to undertake another photographic assignment while Beth remains in Nepal to finish her research. By the time Beth leaves Nepal, she and Dorje have become lovers.

Beth returns to the United States and Dorje remains in Nepal. As Beth prepares for her wedding, Dorje becomes betrothed to a Sherpani woman. Unable to shake the memory of Dorje from her mind, Beth returns to Nepal for a quick visit just before her wedding. She and Dorje resume their relationship and make plans for him to return to the United States with her. Before they can do this, however, Dorje must make one last journey high into the Himalayas. This journey, the most dangerous he has ever undertaken, will take him to Mt. Everest’s summit. The journey to the summit will fulfill the dreams of his childhood and, he hopes, free him to pursue the new dreams of his manhood.

Beyond the Summit’s plot is not particularly intricate, but that does not matter because the story’s momentum is derived from its characters and context. LeBlanc’s principal plot device is the exploitation of conflict and resolution. There is conflict between Beth and Eric, conflict between Eric and Dorje, conflict between Dorje and his traditionalistic father, conflict between various mountaineers, conflict between humankind and the unrelenting forces of nature. . . . The book does not need a complex plot; its characters and their context are more than adequately stimulating.

This book is filled with fascinating information about the Sherpas and mountaineering. The author has trekked in the Himalayas herself and has gained much of her knowledge through personal experience. She knows the extreme discomfort of sleeping in a tent at 18,000 feet above sea-level. She knows the stress of struggling to breathe, let alone engage in physical labor, at extremely high altitudes. She has deep respect for the Sherpas and understands the stresses they endure as their culture undergoes abrupt, startling transformations. Even though LeBlanc’s thorough knowledge of her subject is the greatest strength she brings to this project, the book never feels pedantic.

Readers looking for something to push their adrenaline into overdrive will not find it in this book. On the other hand, readers who like well paced accounts that realistically portray adventures will find this book compelling. Readers who enjoy romantic stories in exotic settings will find this story intriguing. Readers interested in non-Western cultures will enjoy LeBlanc’s warm portrayal of the rapidly disappearing Sherpa culture. And readers interested in extreme sports, particularly mountaineering, will enjoy LeBlanc’s vivid depiction of a trek to the highest mountain of them all.

The Darwin Conspiracy

Author: John Darnton
Publisher: Anchor Books
ISBN: 1-4000-3483-3

Emerging from a self-imposed exile in the Galapagos Islands, biologist Hugh Kellem scours British libraries in search of a research project that will reveal something new about the life and work of his hero, Charles Darwin. His goal is to establish his credentials as a significant Darwin scholar. Elizabeth Dulcimer, rumored to be one of Darwin’s descendants, is pursuing a similar project for personal, as well as professional, reasons. As Hugh and Elizabeth become better acquainted, and eventually fall in love, they decide to work together on their parallel projects. Hugh and Elizabeth’s story, which is completely fictional, provides the outer frame of this tripartite narrative.

The second storyline is an account of Darwin’s five-year voyage aboard the Beagle. As this narrative unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear that Darwin and some of his shipmates conspired to hide significant facts about certain events that transpired during the voyage. Revelation of these facts would cast a long shadow over Darwin’s subsequent life, work and reputation. Of course, this narrative slowly builds throughout the book and the precise nature of the conspiracy does not become clear until very late in the story. This storyline is a well-composed blend of fact and fiction. Darnton adroitly builds his fictional episodes upon solid historical foundations. Thus, he provides riveting, vivid glimpses of life aboard an early nineteenth century ship and encounters between English explorer/conquerors and indigenous peoples of South America and the Pacific Islands.

The third storyline is revealed through the diaries of Darwin’s daughter, Elizabeth. These diaries have lain undiscovered for just over a century when Hugh and his companion find them hidden amongst packets of discarded letters and documents in a musty archive. Elizabeth, who was quite young when she realized that her father was hiding an important secret, records her quest to uncover the truth in a set of diaries that she keeps intermittently over a number of years. When she uncovers the secret as her father lies near death, she notes it dutifully. As the book closes, Elizabeth Dulcimer and Hugh Kellem prepare to reveal the details of the Darwin Conspiracy to an unsuspecting public.

The historical Darwin actually did have a daughter named Elizabeth, but very little is known about her. Thus, she is the perfect character to provide Darnton’s view into Victorian culture and family life. These passages, similar to those that recount the Beagle’s adventures, offer an intriguing mix of fact and fiction.

Since this is a work of fiction, tidy coincidences are allowed and even expected. Thus, the reader is not surprised to learn that the young scholar, Elizabeth Dulcimer, is Elizabeth Darwin’s great-granddaughter. Additionally, the correspondences between the family conflicts that drove Hugh to exile and those of the Darwin family are obvious. Still, Darnton has constructed a captivating mystery around a well-known historical figure. He has provided intriguing accounts of what life may have been like aboard the Beagle, and of how life may have been in the Darwin household. This fictional work is grounded firmly enough in history to provide clear insights into Victorian morality, British class distinctions and the cultural and religious controversies that Darwin set into motion with his theory of natural selection. Since these controversies persist today, nearly 150 years after Darwin’s publication of The Origin of Species, this book has a sense of timelessness that makes it a compelling read.

Of Blood and Blackwater

Author: T.C. Heffernan
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1-4259-3445-5

Ethnobotanist Gareth McKenna is troubled by terrifying nightmares. His terror mounts when he realizes that his nightmares are connected to the vicious murders of several young women in his hometown. Portland police detective Armando (Army) Padilla and FBI profiler Caroline Baxter’s investigation is stymied until a vital piece of evidence points toward Gareth as their prime suspect. Gareth’s journey to stay out of their reach and identify the killer leads him deep into the Amazonian jungle, to the place where, several years earlier, he completed the research that led to his life’s work. Gareth’s girlfriend, Karin, does not quite understand what he is experiencing. Nevertheless, she steadfastly assists him in his quest to clear his name. As the story ends, with a hint that Army and Caroline may one day become lovers, Gareth and Karin embark on a honeymoon journey along the Amazon River.

Of Blood and Blackwater is a very good book, particularly for a first novel. Heffernan uses a deft balance of action and dialog to develop his characters. All of them, even the murderer, capture and hold the reader’s attention and empathy. Gareth and Karin’s relationship survives a horrible test of love and trust. Army and Caroline have to deal with issues related to their past relationships and losses before their relationship can grow. Even the murderer, as thoroughly chilling as Hannibal Lecter, elicits sympathy as he desperately hopes to find love and companionship with one of his victims. My only disappointment with Heffernan’s character development concerns his use of Marvin Hayes, the sleazy reporter, á la paparazzo, who exposes Gareth to public humiliation and scrutiny. His appearances, while spectacular, are frustratingly stereotypical.

In addition to drawing good characters, Heffernan paces his story well. He provides enough description to draw the reader into the book’s locales yet avoids getting bogged down in minutiae. He uses dialog to reveal the minds and hearts of his characters and to provide information that moves the story forward. Even though the action never falters, the reader never feels as if the author is rushing ahead too quickly and omitting necessary details. Back story scenes are woven into the storyline skillfully, so that they do not strike the reader as filler material or tangents. Heffernan strikes the right balance between back story, action, dialog and description to keep the story moving forward at all times.

My only significant criticism of this book is that it has several typographical errors of the type that typically occur when drafting, refining and editing on a computer. Diligent attention to the fine points of proofreading and editing would raise the standard of Heffernan’s work, which is already quite high, considerably higher.

Heffernan acquired his knowledge of botany and geography through his many personal and professional experiences as a scientist and world traveler. This knowledge is displayed tastefully, never pedantically, throughout the book. The details of the narrative ring true and the drama engrosses the reader deeply. This certainly is a book that thriller lovers will not want to miss. I, for one, will be on the lookout for future books from this author.

The Expendability Doctrine

Author: Patrick Mackeown
Publisher: BookScape
ISBN: 978-0-9554328-0-4

Keith Connors, a wealthy oil industry consultant, was a nasty brute. It’s no wonder that his wife, Hilary, wanted him dead. Before investigators can interrogate her, however, she leaves Britain, gathers belongings from her French home and heads out to assume a new identity in Libya.

Upon arriving in Libya, Hilary quickly loses control of her life. She witnesses a murder, then is arrested and incarcerated in a horrific prison. In the midst of local unrest, Hilary and several other prisoners manage to escape from the prison, steal a truck and safely make their way to Algeria.

In the meantime, investigators in Great Britain uncover disturbing details about Keith’s business dealings. Their discoveries lead them to reconsider what role, if any, Hilary may have played in his murder. It is only in the book’s final pages that one learns whether Keith’s murder was a crime of passion or a matter of expediency.

Notwithstanding the fact that it contains several intriguing elements, The Expendability Doctrine is a rather dry story. For one thing, it’s difficult to identify who is supposed to be the main character. Is it Hilary? Is it Inspector Hawthorne? Is it Keith? Neither these nor any other characters are sufficiently developed to engage the reader’s empathy, though Hawthorne comes closest to doing so. Keith is too unlovable and Hilary is too unfathomable to be of much interest.

For another thing, the connections between the two storylines, Hilary’s Libyan escapades and Hawthorne’s British sleuthing are unclear. The main questions that drive the story, of course, are, “who killed Keith Connors?” and “why did he/she/they kill him?” Obviously, Hawthorne needs to solve his case, which he does. And equally obviously, Hilary needs, or believes she needs, to escape arrest and prosecution. Yet the story ends without clarifying what happens to Hilary. Does she return to Britain? If so, is she arrested and tried? If not, why not? Does she wander the globe for the rest of her days? All of these possibilities are still open when the book ends. This is a major omission, because the question of Hilary’s guilt is precisely where the two storylines meet! Clarifying this connection is essential to resolving both storylines in a satisfactory manner.

Overall, The Expendability Doctrine is a moderately rewarding read. Mackeown has a good imagination and he handles the English language fairly well. With continued growth, he could be an author to watch in the future.

Marathon

Author: W. William Winokur
Publisher: Kissena Park Press
ISBN: 0-9768508-0-X


The Ice Woman. That’s what her partners at Schroeder, Wilkes and Barron call Marianna Gardner. It is an appropriate sobriquet for a woman who was too busy practicing law to attend her father’s funeral.

While sifting through her father’s belongings, Marianna comes across a reminder of a once cherished but long-forgotten family friend. Determined to re-establish some connection with her past, she finds “Uncle Ion” in a shabby nursing home. As they rekindle their relationship, Marianna examines her life and slowly realizes that she is not fond of the person she has become. Her journey of self-discovery accelerates when she and Uncle Ion travel to Greece so that he may conclude some personal business.

Marianna’s Grecian sojourn is far from peaceful. As her respect for the people around her grows, so does her disdain for her own life. Moreover, upon unearthing several old journals, Marianna uncovers startling truths about Uncle Ion’s life and her own origins. Shortly before he dies, Uncle Ion unravels the mysteries of the journals and his complicated connection to Marianna. The story concludes as, armed with new insights, Marianna gathers the courage to make peace with herself, break free from the chains that bind her and build a new life.

A recounting of Pheidippides’ mythic journeys frames the stories of Marianna and Ion. The parallel accounts of these varied journeys complement each other well. In order to remain free, Pheidippides and his countrymen must defeat the Persian invaders who threaten to enslave them. His journey shapes a nation. In order to die free, Ion must reveal his ties with Marianna. His journey shapes Marianna’s future. In order to become free, Marianna must relinquish the life that corrupts her. Her journey depicts the universal quest for meaning.

Readers who like epic tales of struggle and triumph will enjoy Marathon. This lengthy (nearly 500 pages), engrossing novel is a touching tribute to a teacher, Ion Theodore, who influenced the author’s life in an extraordinary way. W. William Winokur weaves fact, fiction, poetry, biography, history and mythology into a beautiful story that sensitively explores eternal questions about life’s meanings. A first-time novelist, Winokur has established a high standard for himself. His prose is graceful and poetic, his images are vivid and his characters are interesting. Imagine sitting at Ion’s feet as he teaches history, philosophy and art as a seamless whole. Feel Pheidippides’ exhaustion as he runs over mountains, his lips filled with messages that will determine the fate of a nation. Suffer Marianna’s grief as she examines a life filled with much regret and little honor. And most importantly, rejoice as Marianna travels from desolation through resurrection to redemption, for her triumph gives hope to all who are compelled to traverse the dark places of their souls.

Alone in Eden

Author: Stephen R. Pastore
Publisher: Cohort Press
ISBN: 0-9777196-0-X

Commencing in the pristine Garden of Eden, then moving quickly to the tragic event of Original Sin and its consequences for subsequent human history, Pastore’s tale explores cosmological, theological and anthropological questions that have puzzled humankind since the beginning of time.

The story is narrated by Traveler, the first-born son of Adam and Eve. Traveler’s idyllic life changes forever when he witnesses his parents eating fruit from the forbidden tree. Having run away from the horrific scene, Traveler awakens one day to find himself and his small dog, Zas, alone in a cave. An angel explains that his parents have been banished from the Garden and that Traveler and Zas will have to make their own way in a dramatically altered world.

Having once played freely with all sorts of creatures in the Garden, Traveler is disappointed to discover that many animals now fear him. Moreover, in the newly ordered world, many creatures must hunt and consume flesh in order to survive. These and countless other contrasts with his former life give Traveler many occasions for deliberation. Note, for example, what Traveler says about freedom and responsibility:

Where life in the Garden had no pattern and my parents and I could follow or not follow our whims and all things were provided . . . life in the Valley required a routine and tasks needed to be performed. . . . I realized that I had control over my own life but with that control came duty (p. 56).

When the adult Traveler falls in love, he gains this insight into relationships:

Earthly love must never supercede my devotion to God, not because God wanted to be loved above all others, but because God did not want me to lose my self, my soul, which was his greatest gift, for love of another. Such love is not love, but obsession. And in obsession we surrender our free will (p. 139).

Upon discovering ancient dinosaur bones, Traveler and his son reach this conclusion regarding evolution:

When the earth was created . . . [God] knew that the earth would be forever changing and that for life to continue as part of His plan, it must adapt to the world or be forever lost (pp. 160-161).

These few quotes provide just a small sample of the many philosophical and theological concepts that Pastore explores throughout his tale. Even though Pastore has clothed his ideas in the robe of fantasy, this book should not be regarded as mere entertainment. Pastore has packed more profound ideas into this story than many preachers pack into a year’s worth of sermons. While the reader probably will not agree with all of Pastore’s views, he or she should enjoy wrestling with them.

Alone in Eden is beautifully written. Traveler’s voice and tone are perfectly suited for his character and Pastore’s lush descriptions pull the reader fully into the scene. The story is well-paced and it never loses momentum. My one criticism is that Traveler is too far removed from much of the action. He witnesses much evil, yet always manages to avoid engaging in conflict himself. Traveler is wise, patient and sympathetic, yet somehow aloof. Nevertheless, he does successfully draw and hold the reader in the story.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys spiritual fantasy. If you like the works of C.S. Lewis, you’ll probably enjoy Alone in Eden.

Behind the Yellow Filter

Author: Stuart Held
Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc.
ISBN: 1-59800-290-2


When Robby Schein accepts a job with The Allied Group (TAG), Inc., he expects to spend his life selling cameras. After six months of successful employment, he learns that the company’s mission of selling cameras is a cover for its real task: to use photography as a tool for gathering intelligence for the American government. Eighteen months later, Robby is promoted and trained for his first field mission. The CIA needs him to travel to Japan, where several companies are building extraordinary photographic equipment that shows great promise for use in amateur, professional and military applications.

Robby travels to Japan and meets with the top representatives of Nikon, Fuji, Mamiya and Tamron, with whom he conducts legitimate business for TAG. Robby also meets with members of the Japanese navy to learn about lenses they have developed for taking photos through submarine periscopes. He quickly discovers that several other countries (China, the Soviet Union and East Germany) are also interested in the new photographic technologies. A bidding war erupts and events turn violent when the Yakuza (a Japanese crime syndicate) gets involved. The story ends with Robby’s successful completion of his mission and his promotion to vice president of TAG, Inc.

Much of Robby’s story is taken from the author’s own experiences as a marketer of photographic equipment. Held has traveled extensively in Japan and his knowledge of Japanese culture is delightfully evident throughout the story. The book also includes many tidbits of information about the photographic industry. Held has a wealth of intriguing information to share about Japan and its rise to prominence in the international photographic industry.

Generally speaking, Held has successfully put together some basic nuts and bolts in this book. Robby Schein is an appealing character, the story’s plot holds together fairly well and Held has interesting material with which to work. Unfortunately, the book suffers from serious editorial flaws. Held’s writing style is unpolished and the book is hampered by numerous grammatical and syntactical errors. Since Outskirts Press is a venue for self-publication, I do not know what sort of editorial assistance, if any, they provided for this book. If his editor is employed by Outskirts Press, Held should consider finding another publisher for his future works. If his editor was acquired through some other avenue, Held needs to find another one.

One final observation I will make is that the book’s title makes me uneasy. Notwithstanding the fact that an actual yellow photographic filter plays a small role in the story, I can’t disregard the historically racist connotations of the word “yellow” when discussing east Asians, particularly the Japanese. I am perplexed as to how and why Held selected this particular title, which strikes me as a poorly chosen one.

Readers who enjoy espionage stories, and who can tolerate its rough edges, may find Behind the Yellow Filter an intriguing read.

The Cellini Masterpiece

Author: Raymond John
Publisher: North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.
ISBN: 0-87839-233-5


Of the thousands of books I’ve read, this is the only one set in Malta. Enticingly located in the Mediterranean, the island of Malta clearly is an appealing backdrop for a romance novel. Alternatively, a story rich in history is plausible. But I never envisioned Malta as the stage for an adventure involving twenty-first century terrorism. It takes a writer with Raymond John’s fertile imagination to artfully blend all of these ingredients – a generous helping of romance, a dash of history, a drop of terrorism, and a sprig of mystery – into a pleasing story.

Rick Olsen, a thirty-two year old prairie restorer (can you imagine a more innocuous profession?), travels to Malta to help his brother, Stef, unravel a mystery involving a precious gold sculpture. Rick’s troubles begin as soon as he steps off the plane. First, he is mugged at the airport. Then, he discovers that Stef has disappeared. Fortunately, Rick meets Caterina, an attractive cab driver whom he hires to be his chauffeur while he searches for his brother.

As Rick and Caterina search for Stef, they soon realize that Stef’s discovery is the key to a perilous mystery. Since Rick has some military experience and Caterina knows a few wily tricks, they cope surprisingly well with a variety of life-threatening situations. The fact that Rick knows a talented computer nerd who feeds them vital information doesn’t hurt either. The search for Stef takes Rick and Caterina all over the island, a circumstance that allows John to sprinkle the story with intriguing historical and geographical tidbits. As they trek and search – and fall in love – Rick and Caterina uncover a terrorist plot that endangers the entire Mediterranean region. By the story’s end, the farmer and the cabbie (surely the most unlikely pair of action heroes ever conceived) recover Stef, solve the mystery of the sculpture and foil the terrorists.

The Cellini Masterpiece, Raymond John’s first novel, is a captivating story. The two principal characters are enchanting and John’s portrayal of Rick and Caterina’s romance is exceptionally well done. He skillfully evokes intense passion without descending into prurience. Unfortunately, the book’s secondary characters are not nearly as alluring as the principals. The villains are particularly dull and stereotypical.

John’s flair for descriptive detail embeds the reader in Maltese culture, architecture and history. Thanks to John, Malta is now on my list of places I must visit before I die. I want to explore the island as Rick and Caterina did. I want to taste the cuisine they savored. I want to see the sunsets, smell the salty air and feel the breezes as they did. In short, I want to sample Rick and Caterina’s experience, minus the intrigue and danger, of course.

Overall, The Cellini Masterpiece is a rather good first novel. I hope to see more work by Raymond John in the future. Readers who like adventures set in exotic locales will enjoy this book.

Elizabeth George: American Mistress of the English Cottage Mystery

Elizabeth George’s Thomas Lynley/Barbara Havers series is one of my favorites. Her most recent entry into the series, What Came Before He Shot Her, takes an interesting departure from the previous books, as most of the primary characters that she has developed throughout the series do not appear at all in this one. Well, Helen appears long enough to get shot. And Deborah hangs around long enough to park the car while Helen gets shot. The only other regulars who appear, Havers and Nkata, make their brief, low-key entrance in the book’s final scene. Nevertheless, George’s fans, knowing how this book’s main character is connected to the overall series, will not be able to resist this one. For the main character of this book, Joel Campbell, is implicated in the heartbreaking event that marked the climax of the previous one: the brutal murder of Helen Lynley.

Elizabeth George has a tremendous following around the world. Her reputation is well earned, for she writes exquisitely, though not quite as well as P.D. James, the unmatched mistress of this genre. She researches each book thoroughly; consequently, every story provides substantial food for thought. What Came Before He Shot Her clearly demonstrates George’s sensitivity to the sociological and psychological dynamics that, all too often, reach tragic climaxes on busy city streets and in seemingly quiet rural villages.

So, what do I like about the series? And what improvements would I like to see in future books?

First, the primary characters in the series, Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers, are fascinating. Lynley, an inspector at New Scotland Yard, is Lord Asherton, a member of the British nobility. He is handsome, well educated, articulate and socially polished. He is a good man who continually wrestles to control his inbred elitist tendencies. He has largely outgrown the selfishness of his youth, but he is far from perfect. He is likeable, yet, at times, infuriatingly arrogant. His partner, Barbara Havers, is his opposite in every way. Havers grew up in a working class home in a family scarred by tragedy. She is not physically attractive, and is neither well educated nor socially polished. She is, in fact, socially inept, a circumstance that often lands her in personal and professional difficulties. She is shrewd and intelligent, however, a keen observer of the people and events around her. She struggles, without success, to overcome feelings of inferiority and sees herself as the eternal outsider whose earnest efforts are never quite good enough to win either approval or respect from those around her.

This seemingly ill-matched pair is an intriguing combination. Their relationship ebbs and flows as they struggle to overlook class differences and work together. Havers respects Lynley tremendously and longs to be his friend as well as his colleague. Lynley, at times impatient with Havers’s intransigence and at other times awestruck by her unerring police instincts, is oblivious to her need. He maintains a professionally cordial relationship with her (most of the time), but is unaware of his unconscious reinforcement of embedded class distinctions that, apparently, will never disappear. Other members of Lynley’s intimate circle are much more sensitive to Barbara than he is and they try to welcome her into their circle.

One of Lynley’s oldest friends, a former lover who eventually tossed him aside and married his best friend, is Deborah St. James. Deborah is a character whom George needs to flesh out more fully. In the first few books of the series, Deborah agonized, ad nauseam, over her inability to have a child. This storyline got tedious after awhile, and I was grateful when George finally resolved it. Deborah, a member of the privileged class, nevertheless struggles with feelings of inadequacy. This struggle is common to most of George’s female characters, regardless of their social standing. Presumably, George is making the point that gender issues often transcend those of class.

Deborah’s husband, Simon St. James, is inexplicably boring. As a young man, he was crippled in a car accident in which a drunken Lynley was at fault. Simon is unflappable. The reader never witnesses him expressing frustration over his significant disability. Moreover, in one scene in which Lynley is inappropriately and unconscionably rude to his wife, St. James barely raises his voice in her defense. St. James, a forensics expert, has the potential to be a fascinating character, as he could provide significant insight into the struggles of the disabled as they fight for acceptance and respect in a world that often patronizes and pities them. George needs to work with him a lot more.

Lynley’s recently murdered wife, Helen, began as a bland, spoiled spendthrift, jetsetter and airhead. Early in the series, Helen embodied all of the worst qualities of the British elite. In more recent books, however, Helen’s moments of introspection were priceless. Moreover, she was the member of Lynley’s circle who most warmly welcomed Havers into their midst. It’s a shame that she got killed off just when she was becoming interesting.

Two other significant characters are Azhar, Barbara's landlord, and Hadiyyah, his young daughter. They are east Asian immigrants who provide a social context for Barbara outside of her workplace. Azhar offers interesting insights to the conflicts that arise when immigrants raise children in new cultures. Azhar is very traditional and "old country," and Hadiyyah* is becoming very much a child of Britain.

The final character I will mention is Winston Nkata, a black policeman of Caribbean descent who works with Lynley and Havers. Nkata is a fellow from a rough background who has made a success of his life. He and Havers respect each other, but, occasionally, their career interests conflict. This creates some interesting social and professional dynamics for them.

These are the principal characters in the series. While George’s development of these characters has been uneven, she has created an interesting cast from a range of class and ethnic backgrounds. Thus, they provide her with a solid foundation for exploring a rich array of class, ethnic and gender issues. I look forward to seeing what George will do with these riches.

Another thing I like about the series is that George’s plots are generally well-constructed. Each book is complete and does not require familiarity with the others. One can pick up any one of them and immediately become immersed in a coherent story with a satisfying resolution. Moreover, she sets scenes as well as anyone. This is testimony to a) the depth of her research and b) her eye for detail. When one reads George’s books, one clearly visualizes the characters and clearly sees the action unfold. This is unquestionably an area of strength for George.

Perhaps the thing I appreciate most about George’s writing is her ability to plumb the depths of human emotion and relationships. She has a wonderful command of the English language and she uses it to artfully convey powerful scenes, images and feelings. One scene that stands out, from relatively early in the series, is the discussion in which Deborah and Simon finally put to rest the issue of childbearing. Simon’s description of how he can’t bear to try for another child, because every time they lose a child, he loses a piece of her, is spellbinding. Incidentally, this is Simon at his best too.

Another scene that stands out is the one in which Lynley finally gets over his fury for what he perceived as Havers’s insubordination. In the previous book (Deception on His Mind), Havers had shot at a superior officer in order to save a child from drowning. But Lynley just could not comprehend Havers’s account of her actions – he just saw her as unwilling to abide by essential rules. As it happens, in this book (In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner), Lynley bent the rules to help out an old friend. The information Lynley provided eventually compelled the friend to commit suicide. At the end of the book, Lynley says to Havers that, when she bent the rules, a life was saved. In contrast, when he bent the rules, a life was lost. On the whole, he says, he’d rather have her record than his. This was a moving resolution to a conflict that festered throughout the entire book. It was a powerful moment of introspection for Lynley and a beautiful moment of reconciliation between the estranged partners.

Perhaps George’s most powerful scene to date occurred in With No One as Witness, when Helen Lynley was on her deathbed. Lynley’s anguish throughout this impeccably detailed ordeal is palpable. Anyone who can read this passage without breaking into tears has a heart of stone. Moments like these, when she exposes the human heart, are when George is at her best. Moments like these are what keep her fans coming back for more.

It’s been fun watching George's talents develop throughout this series. In my view, her weakest effort was A Traitor to Memory (which, ironically, followed two of her best books). Her latest entry in the series is not quite as good as its predecessor (With No One as Witness), but it is, nonetheless, engaging. I hope that George’s next volume will return to the characters to whom readers have grown attached, for they are her bread and butter. Sometimes variations in diet are welcome diversions, but, eventually, consumers like to return to the staples that have proven to be tried and true.

* An astute commenter (see below) pointed out that Hadiyyah is not an immigrant. I stand corrected on that point.

Noble's Gold

Author: W.C. Craddock
Publisher: Inkwater Press
ISBN: 1-59299-219-6

Sam Noble, a low-level government employee approaching retirement, has started writing the novel he always dreamed about. Unsure what he should write about, Sam takes a friend’s advice and begins writing random passages that he intends to stitch together later (p. 29). Drawing from sources in science, history, religious studies, economics, and various other disciplines, he contemplates the role of gold as a treasured substance and as the basis of monetary systems. Over a period of several months, Sam cranks out his book and emails chapters to an old wartime buddy, blissfully unaware that their correspondence has drawn the attention of American intelligence agencies. In an eerie coincidence, Sam’s book contains parallels to the clandestine work of a government committee. Their mission: to assess the feasibility of mining an extraterrestrial source of gold that will expand and stabilize the American economy. These agents must establish whether Sam is a terrorist, a spy, an average citizen or a harmless kook. To protect the government’s interests and ensure that Sam’s book will never be printed, they covertly buy from him all publishing rights. Shortly afterwards, a nuclear explosion in Jerusalem sets off an international crisis. This compels the American government to discard secrecy and immediately pursue its extraordinary economic plan. As the story closes, the world embarks on an international, interplanetary race for gold and Sam takes his book money and retires to a quiet life in Brazil.

Throughout Noble’s Gold, Craddock utilizes the technique of embedding one story within another. Unfortunately, he does not employ this device effectively. In order for the method to succeed, both storylines must engage the reader. Moreover, the reader must be able to discern clearly which of the two is the principal storyline. Since neither characteristic is present in Noble’s Gold, the book – totaling 801 pages – suffers from a serious lack of coherence. I will discuss these points in turn.

First, Sam’s novel, the embedded story-within-a-story, is a rambling mess. Early on, it appears that his main character, Duke Mitchum, will be engaged in an interesting scheme to avenge himself against the corporate employers who made him the scapegoat for their failures. Unfortunately, this storyline is abandoned. Instead, Duke’s quest for the information he needs to carry out his plan is merely a ploy that allows Craddock to fill hundreds of pages with essays on a wide range of topics: history, religion, geology – almost anything goes. The problem with this is that readers generally do not expect novels to be comprised almost entirely of essays. Rather, they expect characters to act and interact. They expect a plot to move forward to a conclusion. And they expect conflict, climax and resolution. Action, interaction, plot, conflict and resolution are woefully absent in this storyline. While the essays in this book may be interesting (more on this later), their form is poorly suited to be the primary substance of a novel. Thus, this storyline is an abysmal failure.

Second, Sam’s story gets scant attention. This story, summarized in the opening paragraph of this review, forms, at most, 30% of the book’s content. Moreover, since most of this material also takes the form of essays rather than character action and interaction, the reader may be excused for being uncertain whether Sam’s story is, indeed, the primary storyline.

Several hundred pages into the book, the government agents who have been investigating Sam conclude that he is merely a badly educated hayseed, with limited writing skills, who happened to come dangerously close to uncovering the truth that they themselves are researching. This device, in conjunction with the previously noted advice from Sam’s friend, allows Craddock to disingenuously acknowledge and justify his book’s weakness. This is astonishing! Surely Craddock, if he were truly interested in writing a novel, did not require several hundred disjointed pages to make the point that Sam is an untalented wannabe! It seems that Craddock’s novel is not intended to be a story at all; it is, rather, a cloak in which to garb the essays he wants to publish.

Since Sam Noble hardly ever appears in this book, and hardly ever acts, and hardly ever speaks, it is difficult to develop any interest in him. Considering the book’s excessive length, surprisingly little attention is given to developing his, or any other, character. In fact, this book has stunningly few characters. To say that all of them are bland is a gross understatement. Like Sam, they say little and do less. Consequently, the book is bereft of either dialog or action. It is peopled with a handful of characters who rarely interact and even more rarely do anything. Furthermore, on those few occasions when they do speak, they don’t have conversations. Instead, they usually speak in lengthy paragraphs and lecture each other.

In addition to the unrelenting dullness of the characters and the ghastly dialog, the story does not engage the reader because there is no action. Note, for example, this insipid account of the American government’s surveillance of Sam’s home:

“On a couple of occasions, federal agents were almost caught inside Noble’s Vienna small townhouse where they had entered under ‘sneak and peak’ to poke around, by Noble and his wife, but had managed to duck out the back door in the nick of time” (p. 736).

Are you kidding me? Where’s the confrontation between the irate citizen and the government agents who have violated his home and his civil rights? This scene (a term I am using loosely here) is ripe with potential for both plot and character development. Sadly, neither occurs at any point in this book. The entire tome is written in the same dry, quasi-academic style as this sample passage.

Finally, I must note that few of the ideas contained in Noble’s Gold are uniquely Craddock’s. For example, his discussion of early Christianity is remarkably similar to Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code account. It is not plagiarized, but the correspondence is undeniable. If you’ve already read Brown’s book, you needn’t bother with Craddock’s. Brown did it first and he did it better. And he did it within the context of a novel that actually works as a novel. Unfortunately, Craddock’s work does not succeed as either a collection of original essays or as a novel. My advice: keep your money in your purse and leave this one on the bookstore shelf.

Chameleon

Author: Richard Haines
Publisher: Beaufort Books
ISBN: 978-0-8253-0510-8

Jon Phillips is a smart, handsome, successful Wall Street trader with a plan to get rich quickly and retire before the age of 40. The plan is bold, risky and illegal. When it fails in a spectacular manner, Jon is publicly disgraced, unemployed and racing around the world to stay alive. It turns out that a sizeable chunk of the money Jon lost belonged to the Russian mob. They want their money returned, or, in lieu of cash, Jon's life. Jon's race for survival takes him from New York, to England and Australia. As he runs, he encounters friends and enemies and confronts disturbing truths about the man he has become. Can he outwit his pursuers and survive? And if survives, can he salvage anything worthwhile from the shambles of his life? These two questions lie at the heart of Jon's story.

Chameleon is a fast-paced adventure that grips the reader's attention quickly and never lets go. Hains draws on his inside knowledge of high finance to create his main character and set the scene for that character's downfall. He describes the physical, social and psychological atmosphere of the trading floor exceptionally well and his descriptions of the social and geographical features of New York, England and Australia are similarly well done. He has a nice knack for setting his scenes and helping the reader see what he sees.

The book's main character, Jon Phillips, is charming and egotistical, engaging and infuriating, affectionate and selfish. He is a full-bodied, complex character who elicits both the reader's sympathy and distrust. Jon may be a good drinking buddy, but he's not the guy you'd want your sister to marry. The principal secondary characters, Victoria and Penny, are less intriguing but still likeable. Unfortunately, however, the villains are relentlessly evil and boring.

Chameleon's plot is fairly believable, but there are some significant difficulties. Given Jon's life of ease and affluence, his abilities to facilely change identities and readily disappear are inexplicable. His uncanny aptitudes for repeatedly outwitting and outfighting tough, hardcore criminals are similarly suspicious. And his remorseless brutality in dispatching his enemies is disconcerting. At points, Jon seems to be Wall Street's James Bond: running and hiding where he wishes, maiming and killing as needed, and bedding beautiful women at will. And, like Bond, he always emerges victorious and, usually, unscathed.

Hains expounds on Jon's adventures much more successfully than his introspection. Jon's moments of self-examination are rare, brief and superficial. One can't help wondering why Hains bothered developing this aspect of his character at all. Perhaps he should have just written a straightforward adventure story with a larger-than-life hero and left it at that. Nevertheless, Chameleon is a fairly good first novel. Readers who like thrillers probably will enjoy Chameleon.