Review: Adequate: A little good, a little not so good! PLOT Discussion
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 8, 2012
There's a lot to like and a bit not to like in this mystery drama thriller set on the Mississippi river and surrounding towns.  The premise is interesting:  regular guy Jim Wilson has a special ring that allows him to turn invisible and levitate.  He's been using this ring to steal money (apparently only from drug dealers, not good folks) and build up his retirement fund.  He and his fiance are now looking to travel and enjoy life.  The interesting thing about this story is that the power of the ring doesn't really play into the story until the last half of the book and it's really not the dominant theme. Ultimately, Jim finds himself involved in a nefarious plot by a local banker to steal money and tries to stop it.  Along the way, he meets a semi-retired CIA official who has a ton of special tricks.  The good,the bad and the ugly about the story, highlighting why I couldn't give it more stars:1.  The Good.  It's an interesting plot and premise with good character development overall -- the dialogue is reasonable and you will be engaged in the story along the way.  The fact that Jim has this power is delibarately understated and I liked that he didn't use it every second.  The bank robbery plot is devious and well developed.2.  The Bad. Hans, the CIA official, can talk to the President by picking up a special phone, has contacts that can get any information or decode secret codes on the fly, keeps a ton of loaded weapons in his office and even has a dose of an LSD-like substance that comes in very handy at one point.  Convenient all around.  He even comes to know why the ring exists and figures out its special power...but doesn't want the government to jump in a take it.  Iris, Jim's fiance, hates the ring and wants him to get rid of it.  This is great for creating character tension, but why? What's so bad about the ring? It comes in handy when she is saved from the bad guys -- I would think most fiances would LOVE this idea...what's not to like?3.  The Ugly. Some dialogue -- Jim has a good friend who speaks with a heavy accent ("podna" instead of "partner") and reading the hacked English drove me nuts after a several lines (shut up already).  The ring allows Jim to become invisible and levitate, but it's not clear on what happens to the items he picks up or carries...there are momements where he is moving things around -- do these items become invisible as well as soon as they are touched?  How does the levitation work exactly?  These details are glossed over and slightly detract from the action.In essence, there are plot contrivances that are too convenient to ignore and they drag down the enjoyment.  Overall, it's a worthwhile read (especially if you pay nothing for it!) that balances out in the positive..but just.