|
Index
•
|
|
Welcome • |
|
About Us • |
|
|
| Hacktreks Travel • |
| First Chapters • |
| Reviews • |
| Dreamscapes • |
| Lifestyles • |
REVIEWS:
FALLEN IDOLS
AUTHOR / J.F.FREEDMAN.
WARNER BOOKS. HARDCOVERS. / $29.95 CAN.
• REVIEW BY ALEX GRANT.An ambitious novel about intensely strained family ties between Walt Gaines, an eminent widowed archaeologist, and his three adult sons FALLEN IDOLS is incidentally a murder-mystery: who was responsible for the murder of Walt’s wife Jocelyn, gunned down ruthlessly in the rainforest of Central America? Despite it testing the limits of our patience with its long-windedness and its tendency to go over the same narrative ground repetitiously FALLEN IDOLS is unusually absorbing. Tom, the middle son – Clancy is the eldest of the Gaines’ boys; Will the youngest – gradually takes center-stage conquering his role as the family slacker, though he is very close to completing his PhD. in Theoretical Mathematics and assuming his father’s academic mantle and glory. But even the depiction of Tom’s obstinate intensity is marred by a couple of crudely written sex scenes. Inexpertly described couplings that damage the rising crescendo of the central father-son struggle for the truth orchestrated by a father deep in denial and hopelessly addicted to the macho-masculinist ethos.
All told the lengthy descriptions of modern American daily life are utterly banal compared with the crisp evocation of the fictional Central American country and its people caught by writer Freedman with flair and affection. One episode stands out for its suave writing and the build-up of tension – late in this lengthy novel (Why do almost all aspiring best-sellers have to run to 400 pages these days?) an arrogant Hispanic automotive executive is caught smuggling a valuable Mayan artifact and is given the third-degree by customs agents in San Diego. Those 14 pages have a zest and an insider view that is utterly convincing. Had Freedman capitalized less on his penchant for describing the elaborate cross-country travels of the brothers and had generated more suspense by penning a more condensed traditional mystery novel he would have entirely succeeded in reaching his admirable goal of blending a ‘family romance’ with a thriller.
© Alex Grant June 2003
alexgrantreviews@hotmail.com© Hackwriters 2000-2003
all rights reserved
