Bush pilot and family man Tom Stokes is about to face the worst day of his life. On a clear winter morning he sets out in his Cessna 180 to do some repairs on a remote hunt camp, leaving his five year old son and very pregnant wife snug in their beds.
On the return trip, a squall forces him into an emergency landing and he winds up—quite literally—in the lap of petty criminal Dale Knight. Dale, now a fugitive from the law—and worse, from a merciless drug lord who just happens to be his brother—draws Tom into a web of mayhem and treachery that puts not only his life at risk, but the lives of his wife, son…and unborn child.
SQUALL is a fast-paced, darkly-comic tale of murder and gang-style retribution that grabs the reader on page one and simply does not let go.
If the Coen brothers ever want to film a Fargo-style story set in Canada, Sean Costello’s Squall would be a great choice. Mixing tongue-in-cheek dark humour (and sometimes laugh-out loud funny lines and situations) with a believable and original plot, Costello pulls the reader along for a suspenseful ride.
Tom Stokes is a bush pilot who enjoys a quiet life with his wife and son. On a cold, January morning, Tom takes his Cessna to a remote cabin to do some repairs; on his way back he is surprised by a squall that forces him to do an emergency landing.
Tom finds himself in an awkward situation that involves a drug addict, his crazy girlfriend, two seriously creepy hired killers, and a few other shady characters. Tom soon realises that he might never get out of this alive, so he turns his focus on protecting his family.
One of Costello’s strengths is that he makes us care for the bad guys at the centre of the action, even though we never stop cheering for the good guys. Squall will entertain everyone looking for a suspenseful, crime novel filled with dark humour.
Costello has written a few good horror novels, plus a couple other books that were not easily categorised, but I definitely hope he’ll continue in this present vein. Crime fiction suits him well.
