CATHARSIS

The author sent me a copy of her novel to read and review:

Is Aurora Fox the female equivalent of Dirty Harry? Maybe. Okay, I know Harry was constantly under pressure from his superiors for his illegal police actions and Aurora isn’t, but who cares? Not all novels have to be sensible or clear-sighted, do they? Do you think Marvel Comic characters, such as Hulk, Spider-Man, Iron Man, or Wolverine are realistic? Of course not. Didn’t Mickey Spillane’s hero, Mike Hammer (see my review of I, the Jury on 9/18/2013) kill without any police interference? Doesn’t this novel (the way it is written) remind you a little bit of the movie Dick Tracy? So, what I’m trying to say is just enjoy the story. Yes, the writing is somewhat choppy (and with editing problems) but so what...just be entertained. Not all books are vying for the Pulitzer Prize. I think the author has some crumbs on her plate but to her credit didn’t write a rubber stamped novel. I don’t know if the author intended her novel to be of my persuasion or not, but this is how I see it, period. Enough already! What’s the story about?   

Noorilhuda has written a psychological thriller that some of the other reviewers don’t seem to like. Instead they are concerned that Detective Aurora didn’t go to counselling after shooting one of the kidnappers, or the author’s prose is bad, or her characters are not realistic. Does anybody know what’s really in the mind of a pedophile or serial killer? Whatever. Anyway the novel is cleverly broken down into four days...and a few days later. And what about the characters? We have Maxwell Caine, a wacko who is both the father and son, Detective Aurora Fox who is every bit as nasty as Dirty Harry and just as focused, DA John Smith who has severe hangups, and Daniel Logan’s parents, Josh and Helena, who have a very severe love-hatred relationship (heavy on the hate). I got carried away again and forgot to tell you what the story is about. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I thought the novel wasn’t treated fairly by a some of the reviewers. Okay, once again, what’s the story about?

Daniel Logan has been kidnapped and missing for over a week. Puppet maker, sixty-seven year old Maxwell Caine, tells Detective Aurora Fox that he knows who the kidnappers are. Based on his information, she burst into the home of Will Rogers and has a shootout with a Mr. Gonzalez (aka Charlie Coco) and Juno Babosa (a local waiter at a Chinese restaurant). Gonzalez is shot dead, Detective Fox is wounded. The boy, Daniel Logan (ten years old), has been sexually abused. It turns out that Gonzalez worked for Helena Logan (Daniel’s mom) and had an affair with her (so did most of the characters in this novel). The main perpetrator of the kidnapping is still at large...he who had the boy locked up and blindfolded while he did his thing with Daniel. Has this pedophile done this before? Detective Fox thinks so. The mysterious Maxwell Caine also thinks so (does he have a multiple personality disorder, or is he just a crazy person?). The story gets even more discombobulated.

Josh and Helena have a hateful argument over what happened to their son Daniel. Later, a car is pulled out of a canal and...it’s Helena. She is still alive and rushed to a hospital, Josh is picked up by the police and questioned about his wife’s accident. The boy is temporarily turned over to friends of the Logans, DA John Smith and his wife. The DA wants the case closed quickly (why?) and objects to Detective Fox and Maxwell Caine (why is he involved?) pursuing the case. Detective Fox says to the DA that she thinks the suspect is still seeking Daniel because of the letters the pedophile has sent to her. Is he sending a message that he still wants Daniel? The DA on page 135 says, “The message being?” Detective Fox says, “That it isn’t over. That the boy is precious to them, him, whoever he is...and that the pedophile, the one who abused him, has old-fashioned taste.”

This is where I’m going to stop the review so you can buy your own copy of this brainteaser. I liked Noorilhuda’s novel and dismissed most of the flaws, but the only one that bothered me was in the chapter named Friday. Clearly Josh Logan was talking with Maxwell Caine, yet the character quoted was Ethan Maxwell (I know that they are the same person but throughout the book the two people were separated in their individual dialogues). But with all the twists and turns in this novel, maybe I'm getting confused (not!)...go figure. This has to be the first novel that I ever read where every character had some sort of emotional disorder or schizophrenia. Do I recommend this novel? Does a bear poop in the woods?

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

Comment: I’m sure that my review will be heavily attacked on Amazon because I recommended the novel for what it was...a good story. Not every book has to be on the Bestseller List, does it? There were some items to criticize in Noorilhuda’s novel which I brought up, but overall I thought she was a good storyteller. And that is my main concern when reading and reviewing a novel. The prose and edit parts take a backseat to good old storytelling.

I’m only bringing this up because when I gave A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin’s last review five stars for A Dance with Dragons (see my review of 8/01/2011) and loved it...well the Amazon reviewers destroyed my review because they generally hated the novel. Even the idiots that gave one liner reviews like, “Great read” chimed in. Oh well.

By the way, the dictionary defines Catharsis as the process of releasing strong or repressed emotions. Touche Noorilhuda!