Review: Half of this book is almost a very good thriller
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 17, 2012
The beginning of this book reads like a parody of bad thrillers. It consists of long passages allegedly recounting the mental processes of violent people, but actually explaining the set up for the story instead of telling the story. Of course, the mental conversations are full of mysterious references to things like "the firm," "Chief Scientist," and "Research Directorate," tired clichés that are supposed to be tantalizing clues. Everything is a metaphor, usually mixed ("history had a way of coming back to bite you") and often bewildering, "they mocked him like the razor wire on a prison wall." That's obviously included for its tough sound, the character must have spent time in prison and been obsessed with violent escape. But razor wire might intimidate, challenge or dispirit you, it doesn't mock unless perhaps you invented razor wire or were in prison for stealing it. A billboard visible from your cell window saying, "Escape to Bermuda," with laughing people on a beach would mock you. Instead of communicating some nuance of how the character felt mocked, the metaphor gets in the way of understanding.Other clichés abound. No one gets annoyed, their "jaw muscles bunch as" they grind their "teeth in frustration." Blood rushes to faces, breath is released explosively and people's legs turn to jelly. No one drives a car, they "swerve" in a "Series III short-wheelbase Land Rover." They don't write, they "scribble" with a "Parker Duofold fountain pen." Every scene and character seems a clumsy copy of a well-known thriller book or movie. A major character disappears without a trace, as does a major injury to the main character.However, things get better as the book progresses. Characters gain some depth, and the plot begins to evolve naturally rather than being forced. Good, crisp dialog begins to carry the story, showing you what's going on instead of telling you. The plot that seemed tiredly predictable at the beginning grows some fresh elements and twists. Telling details that feel real replace recycled jargon from generic thrillers. In fact, the book has the feel of having been written over many years. It's not just the style changes, or the fact that the author learned to write during the process. News events and technological details seem drawn from years between 1995 and 2012. For example, in half the book no one seems to have heard of a mobile phone, in the other half, characters use them naturally and assume everyone has one. Some pages seem as if they were rewritten so many times the original energy was lost, other pages seem hurriedly inserted to meet a deadline.Despite the improvements, the book is only average overall. Even at its best, it lacks the mastery that brings everything together into a cohesive work. But it's far better than a bad book, and it shows a tremendous amount of promise. I would eagerly read another book by this author.The plot is a mixture of Matthew Lynn'sWatchmenand Ira Levin'sThe Boys from Brazil, a combination I wouldn't have thought of, but it works. And to be fair to the author, it's not a pastiche but an original juxtaposition of classic thriller elements. If you don't give up on this book, you will be rewarded. Not richly, perhaps, but adequately.