The US (left) and British (right) covers of the latest novel by Simon Toyne.
The US (left) and British (right) covers of the latest novel by Simon Toyne.
If you are looking for a quick beach read this summer, you could certainly do a lot worse than this recently released thriller from British writer Simon Toyne. It has been a long time since I picked up what is essentially the type of action adventure novel that stock airportbookshelves worldwide, however the rights for this one were recently snapped up Leonardo DiCaprio's production company with an eye to developing it for a television series, so I was curious to see the attraction. (Interestingly, the book is titled The Searcher for the US market, so check under both titles if you are looking for the e-book.)
The main premise will have many people groaning right from the start. Our titular hero. Solomon Creed, emerges from the desert near the Mexican border, with no memory, but seems to be an expert in combat, weapons, etc etc. So far so familiar - in fact, in the wake of Jason Bourne, and so many Bourne clones, it almost seems ballsy to try and pull this off again. Then it turns out the plane was on a drug run from Mexico and the cartel swiftly moves into the area to find what happened to its delivery. But the crash also sets fire to the desert brush, threatening the nearby town of Redemption, which has its own problems of corrupt local officials, mysterious deaths and even - dare I say it - stories of buried treasure.
Some of this may sound far fetched, and of course it is, but there is also a lot in this novel that is just outright silly. For example, one character buries her much-loved husband in the morning, and by the afternoon has already shared a brief romantic interlude with Creed. And I don't mean she just attended the funeral, she literally piles the dirt on top of her recently deceased husband -whom she adored.
The US (left) and British (right) covers of the latest novel by Simon Toyne.
What else is silly? Well, there is a supernatural element to the plot as well, which in my mind is entirely superfluous. However, as this is the first in a series of books, I'm guessing our hero's affinity with ghosts will probably come more into play in later novels. He also looks a bit like one it seems - being described as having pale skin, nearly white, with white hair - so maybe that gets explained sometime too. Even sillier is Creed's remarkable olfactory skills. Several times he walks into a room and can immediately tell who was there before him using his sense of smell. Once, he could not only tell someone had been crushing pills in a room, but - by sense of smell alone - could tell the type drug as well - which seems to me to be totally ridiculous.
None of this is really remotely original, but it kinda works - even as you traverse the story and plot developments at breakneck pace. The 400+ page novel takes place in less than 24 hours. To call this novel 'pacey' is not really doing justice to the speed in which everything moves. You will certainly have to suspend your disbelief when thinking about how all the characters cover such large distances in such short periods of time, but hey - when you consider this novel is about a barefoot, amnesiac, albino genius who can see ghosts - well, it just kinda puts things in perspective.
So, a great work of literary fiction? Not even close. A fun summer page turner with short chapters and lots of cliffhangers? You betcha. It would probably even make a good television series, so I can't fault DiCaprio on that one.
Solomon Creed by Simon Toyne is published in NZ by Harper Collins (RRP 32.99)
