Finders keepers, losers weepers! That seems to be the premise of Catherine Steadman’s maiden novel. The above phrase tightens its noose around all the main characters in this gripping tale set in Great Britain. The novel’s protagonist and narrator is documentary filmmaker, Erin Locke, who will soon be married to the love of her life, “Mark works in banking. I Know, yes, boo, hiss. But all I can say is: he’s not an arsehole. You’ll have to trust me on that. He’s definitely no Eton, drinking-club, polo-team alumnus.” They both have money put aside, a beautiful home, and potentially exciting careers when the unforeseen happens. According to Mark, thanks to stodgy bank politics and economic hard times, he loses his job at the bank and waits to tell Erin on the cusp of their wedding/honeymoon arrangements to Bora Bora. Reluctantly, Erin agrees to trim off some of the expense of the wedding, including a week shorter in the honeymoon department. Mark, no longer the joyful future husband, agrees to keep his chin up and try to enjoy their once-in-a-lifetime adventure in Polynesia. Erin wonders why Mark didn’t tell her about the loss of his job and all the wedding cutbacks till now, “He canceled our honeymoon. No, he didn’t cancel it; he just rearranged some of it, that’s all. But without asking me?” Mark says, “Erin. Thanks for being, you know...I’ve got a lot on my plate right now...I tend to clam up when I’m stressed.” Liar liar, pants on fire!
The first part of Steadman’s novel seemed to take awhile to develop and then when it did, it seemed to come on too fast...go figure. I liked how she kept the main characters down to a minimum. The author also proved that characters could remain anonymous and still be vital to the story. I love that kind of creative writing. Whenever a bad guy (for the sake of another word) contacted Erin or Mark, it was in the form of a text; such as, “The screen flares to life. Text messages ping up on the phone. Two messages: The offer still stands Contact me.” Do you see how a writer can make a character remain important without knowing their name? When Erin picks up the pursuing bad guy’s lost phone and dials him up, he doesn’t answer with his name, instead he simply says, "Who is it?" All of this adds mystery to the story. You are probably asking yourself (based on the book’s title), what did Erin and Mark find in the water? And who are these nameless people that are trying to find them? Are they bad, or just desperate to get back what was theirs in the first place? Who are the real bad guys...Erin and Mark, or the nameless hunters?
Based on the research I did, If you recover a lost item and return it to a police station and they can’t find the owner after thirty days...it’s yours. But if author/actress Catherine Steadman followed that thought, she wouldn’t have a novel. Anyway, I was impressed with this young Downton Abbey actress’ (she plays Mabel Lane Fox in the series) ability to understand the basic rules of good literature and deploy them in her first novel. My only dislike was her mad dash to end the novel. I think she could have added another fifty pages, or so, to slow down the pace, although she does have a style that encourages the reader to rapidly turn the pages. Like I said in the second paragraph...go figure. By the way, I forgot to mention that the (eight page) first chapter titled The Grave was a splendid idea...the proverbial putting the cart before the horse. It hooked me right into the creel. The first line is, “Have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave? Wonder no longer. It takes an age. However long you think it takes, double that.” I dare you, I double dare you to buy this novel!
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
Comment: Steadman's novel is original in its concept. I looked through a list of novels involving items lost at sea and didn't come up with a similar story.
I have no reason why I used those three children's phrases other than they just seemed to fit the text of its paragraph and my mood writing this review tonight.
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