An Impressive Novel

Widower and war hero George McKlane rattles around his luxury canal-side home in the Palm Beach area of Florida. Rich, yet lonely, his son suggests it’s high time George sold up and downsized. Most folks he meets are deferential, apart from the mobsters, small-time crooks and other slippery customers who seem to inhabit the swamp of what is high end Florida realty.

Alas, something isn’t quite right in paradise when a too good to be true offer on George’s house comes with a few strings attached. And, as the synopsis states, ‘the only person who can save him is the person hired to kill him.’

The author immerses the reader into his story world, from the mountains of Appalachia to the Florida Everglades, with skill and professionalism. He’s an engaging storyteller and this is highly polished and well written.

The characterisation, particularly of Antony Silberg, the antagonist is superb. He’s a three-dimensional villain, right down to his nasty casual racism towards George’s employee Sharonda. She too is a wonderfully nuanced character, giving as good as she gets, batting Mr Silberg’s words straight back at him.

If you like your protagonist to be the all-American hero, you will enjoy the characterisation of George McKlane, but for this cynical reviewer’s taste, he was a little too perfect. I was itching to see him do something naughty, even if it was to take a medication he wasn’t supposed to, that he’d slipped past the controlling Sharonda, as the only bad thing he does is hide a few chocolate bars. I’d also like to see inside George’s head a little more, now that he is no longer obeying orders. All the characters though, including George, are further enhanced by their credible and realistic dialogue.