Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child write what they know, which is no doubt why “Crooked River” (February, hardcover) is their second-straight book set in Florida, where Child now resides. However, Florida – or New York, or New Mexico, or Massachusetts, or Maine – probably wouldn’t hire the authors in public relations.
“Crooked River” starts with the mystery of more than 100 severed feet washed ashore on the otherwise beautiful shell-laden beaches of Sanibel Island, off the coast of Fort Myers. It’s such an off-the-wall happening that it remains compelling for hundreds of pages even as answers are slow to come.
Fascinating Florida
Having lived in Florida and vacationed in the areas P&C explore, I can say they do a good job of capturing the state’s geography and weather, even if they give the usual disclaimer of alterations for dramatic purposes. In addition to Sanibel and Captiva Islands, our protagonists head north to the titular river near Carrabelle.
I find the inner Gulf Coast of Florida to be fascinating, as you would think it would be all built up, but it is sparsely inhabited between Panama City and Tampa-St. Petersburg. The authors take advantage of this for our heroes’ trek up the Crooked River into a part of the state Google Maps has little to say about.
I enjoy the recent riff wherein Pendergast – with his ageless ward Constance Greene – wants to relax on his family island near the Keys but his FBI boss, Pickett, keeps hooking him with juicy cases.
Pendergast then does the same to his partner, Coldmoon; the younger agent’s talk of reporting to his FBI assignment in Colorado is becoming like Han’s talk of going to Tokyo in the “Fast & Furious” series. And Constance prefers to watch Aloysius’ back rather than sitting at home. So they all get involved, along with the requisite mix of helpful new allies and nasty bureaucrats.
A Constance presence
Constance isn’t a universally loved character among fans, but for those who do like her, “Crooked River” is one of her finest shows. She reminds me a little of “Firefly’s” River – or maybe I just have rivers on my mind – in the way she looks unassuming but can be deadly.
As Facebook users continue to have fun casting Pendergast for a theoretical film, P&C come right out and tell us that Constance looks like the silent-film actress Olive Thomas.
Romance is on the back burner in “Crooked River,” but I couldn’t help but note that Coldmoon describes Constance as “smoking hot” and that Constance will do anything when Aloysius’ life is on the line. She even says that if he dies, she might as well be dead too.
A love triangle of sorts (Pendergast previously stated that a romance with his ward would not be appropriate) is brewing, but I think we can trust the authors to downplay it or stretch it out.
I was gripped by the buildup of multiple mystery threads in this novel, primarily the riff on “Jurassic Park’s” butterfly effect as Pendergast recruits two scientists to backtrack where the feet came from using computer modeling of Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea currents.
Roger Smithback gets a B-plot
Meanwhile, the Miami Herald’s Roger Smithback – the brother of late fellow reporter Bill – gets in hot water with a Fort Myers gang. And Constance, to kill time, works on the Poe-like mystery of the haunted house she’s renting on Sanibel Island.
“Crooked River” finds room for surprising moments of relief through Smithback’s gang guard who longs to be a graphic novelist; I felt pity for the street-tough man who is naïve about the publishing industry. And the thread with the Coast Guard’s Baugh – a new version of Pendergast’s old bureaucratically climbing rival Coffey – is delicious, and a tense standoff in Cuban waters ends with a zinger of a punchline.
But my overall impression of “Crooked River” is what P&C intend it to be: that even Pendergast, who has seemingly seen it all, may be in over his head on this one. Also leading to Guatemala, Mexico and the Arizona border, the novel nicely builds up a secret enemy with far-reaching power. It taps into the political issue of immigration, but it’s careful to not offend anyone.
Indeed, the book tries to have it both ways when describing a group that has “black funding” from the government but at the same time is not the responsibility of the government. So maybe P&C do have some PR skills to offer after all. But it’s their mystery-writing skills that are most prominent in “Crooked River.”