Review: The Storm Glass: an engaging suspense/crime novel
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 9, 2012
After an exceptionally promising start, and with a willingness to suspend disbelief over a `what if' premise, I settled in, expecting another well-crafted tale of suspense similar to Ferris' Bluff. Close, but not quite.The absolute best part of the story took on travelogue qualities: the descriptions of negotiating the locks, the dangers of pleasure craft travel on a river dominated by behemoths with right-of-way, snippets and glances at the passing landscape, homages to small town life still clinging to Mark Twain sensibilities. The authenticity, the sheer power of the river, was first and foremost the most compelling aspect of the story. I really, really wished it had remained the primary focus. Alas, it was not to be. Unfortunately, The Storm Glass hit that unenviable fizzled middle where not much happened, the characters and situations seemed contrived, and the dialog/patois assumed irritating proportions.One could nit-pick that a magic ring with the ability to suspend gravity and render the wearer invisible might be stretching things--and leaving oodles of nerdy questions about how that works but the ring's not really a central focus. It's an enabler: it provides conflict between the MC, Jim Wilson, and his SO, Iris; it gives Wilson the edge he needs to take on drug dealers with a Robin Hoodish fervor; it provides the MC and the reader with a bird's eye view to the heinous crime taking place; and it has an interesting, if not entirely believable, provenance.Be that as it may, my primary hesitation in embracing this tale rested in an unwillingness to accept Hans as a viable, shared MC. Supposedly retired from active duty, and still called `Admiral', Hans is extraordinarily spry for being 80 years old, has a weapons locker anyone with a hard-on for ordnance would love, and a direct line to ... the Prez? Hmm, yes well. Add to that a less than realistic portrayal of grief and questionable motivations (and physical characteristics)...The other issue I had was with the Jim Wilson character. From the outset he's shown as a take charge, action-figure who brooks no trespass on his boat yet devolves into a man more interested in placating Iris and tippy-toeing around the bad guys when the crime actually goes down. He assumes a place-holder, narrator role while the plot moves on.There are several contrivances: Jim's two sons and the Admiral's ability to do what five years of PIs could not, an annoying sidekick mercifully in the background for much of the story (here's where the patois really grated), archetypical bad guys (and far too many to realistically keep track of them all), an enigmatic smile made much of but with no follow through.The Storm Glass is a tale told in two (alternating) parts: the story of a man coming to terms with the future while still clinging, by necessity and by choice, to his past ... and a bank heist (with the run-up ala Ocean's 11 but without the humor) engineered by a pervert and a gaggle of miscreants running the gamut of really clever to too-dumb-to-live.Now, it might seem, given all the criticism, that I didn't enjoy the story. The truth is, I rather liked it despite all its flaws, especially the first part, the bit on the Big Muddy. If you ignore the contrivances and plot holes, it's still an engrossing story with a heinous villain and enough suspense and twisty turns to keep you clicking through the pages.The author has an engaging writing style, there were few if any typos (hooray!) and just because he didn't hit on all cylinders for *this* novel, doesn't mean I won't go prowling for more of his work. Let's give it 3.5 stars (bumped to 4 because it's an average+ read).