There is the saying, "The Power of a Review!". This is very true. This power of the reviewer's words can have a positive and encouraging effect on a potential reader or the opposite. For me, it had the latter. I started this novel with a pre-conceived idea of what I was going to experience based on those two reviews. I hate that! Would I have still read it if I was not asked by the author to read it? Good question. I can answer that I would have. I have the attitude that because a review is subjective, I might not find those issues as I read that novel. I have found this to be true many times before. What started out as a negative impression from a reviewer or from some other source that influenced my attitude before reading the novel has turned out to be not the case for me as I read it. I actually experienced the opposite! I can say also that there would be readers who would not agree with my reviews when I show positive, encouraging or not so positive content. Subjectivity wins the game every time!
For Suddoth's novel, I can say that I did not experience these negative issues from these two aforementioned reviewers. If there was telling and not showing, this writing breach did not have the effect that it is described as doing: not enabling the reader to be engaged with the characters and plot. I looked out for evidence of this breach but did not find them. Maybe the intrigue and suspense kept me distracted from this. Maybe I am not proficient at identifying when telling or showing exists (the latter being the standard in effective authorship)! However, I was still engaged with the characters and the plot. I was not just an observer but was as if I was there with Solomon and experienced what he did. I was not aware of the incorrect procedure followed by the Coast Guard as I (and most likely the majority of readers) would not be aware of this breach unless you knew how the CG operated or specifically what particular code was breached (the aforementioned reviewer quoted the actual Title and Section of the United States Code pertaining to Law Enforcement).
The author should have researched this latter issue. Absolutely. If he did but then deliberately used poetic licence on this CG procedure to advance the plotline involving one of the main characters, then that is a risk the author takes. If it comes back to bite him, then he has learnt a valuable lesson on doing this next time.
Yes, I picked up the personality clash between the two Police Officers and maybe again, Suddoth has deliberately used poetic licence here to show the tension between Officers when they are under pressure to solve an increasing murder rate from prolific serial killers (The Carbon Monoxide Killers). It did add suspense and showed that these clashes are normal and expected from human interaction and people just being people. This happens in all walks of life and in relationships. I have seen this depiction between officers in many TV shows and movies. That is not to say that it should be continually depicted like this, but it is. And yes, I do appreciate it when an author adheres to and depicts the reality of these things in their novels. There is an art to poetic licence in doing it well, readers do not want to go from the sublime to the ridiculous!
For a début novel, Suddoth has made a positive impression. He writes well, he has structured the novel to flow well, there are not many peaks or troughs that slow the pace and result in disengagement for the reader. You never knew what to expect next.
I loved the speculative theme,
What if your dreams of last night…
“Top story tonight,” read the senior news anchor. Solo held his breath, waiting to hear about the kidnapping or the death of the older couple. He had already had two of his dreams strangely come true with frightening detail, and he couldn’t help but wonder if it was some cosmic coincidence; a million to one chance that all his dreams actually occurred. Could this really be happening?
Became your reality for today?
This forms the basis for the suspense, action and plot developments throughout the novel. Suddoth has set this against a plotline involving serial killers and how his dream based premonitions contribute to ceasing the serial killings and exposing the killers. However, Suddoth has another major plotline running along this one. One of his premonitions affects him deeply where he acts alone in solving the crime committed in one of these dreams.
It is here and in other dreams sequences that I get concerned about this novel and the spiritual basis of it. This is not directed at the plotline at all or the characters. It directly relates to where the main character gets his ability to have premonitional dreams. Suddoth does not state directly that the ability to have these dreams is a gift from God. The only associations he includes are the following,
I didn't understand how it was her fault, but if getting these dreams saved my best friend's life, I will take them as a gift from God.
and
Once I say without a doubt that God cannot use signs or dreams, I am basically telling God that he can't do something. So, I have come to realize that in my arrogance, I was belittling God's mysterious ways. So, yes, I belive God can use these mystical dreams or signs. That God can speak through visions or revelations. That God can use mere men, who are but mists in a rainstorm, to give some insight on what He wants them to do. Once I say that God can't do that, I am as faithless as...... (referring to Jeremiah, one of his atheistic friends)
This attitude of not knowing that they are a gift from God is where I have my concern. The novel's description states that Solomon is a man of faith,
Solomon “Solo” Davis is a man of faith, but even for him not all things are believable. How quickly his life is turned upside when he comes face to face with one of his doubts. Can he believe in something that is so impossible?
As a believer, our faith reinforces that we serve a supernatural God. Plenty of examples in the Bible and in the testimony of others, Christian and non-Christian alike, of this supernaturalism in the circumstances people have found themselves in that defy science and physics. Plenty of examples of supernatural gifting that are described in the Bible is given to Christians in the early church and that continue to be given today. So based on this, why does the author not connect this ability/gifting of these premonitional dreams of being from God seeing he is a believer? And if this was so, would not then he be in prayer specifically asking how to act on these dreams, either just after receiving them or in the hours, days after? I would consider this to be part of walking in the Spirit as the Bible encourages us to do or seeking His guidance as to act as again, the Bible encourages us to do!
Another concern I have is that by Suddoth having Sol say that God can use these "signs or dreams, these mystical dreams or signs, visions or revelations", this does not attribute them as being from God. If not, where do they come from? They are not common to the majority of the population or part of our physical and mental function. If we believe God is the Creator, then all things have been created by Him and for Him. Not attributing the occurrence of these premonitional dreams to God, weakens Suddoth's depiction of the supernatural elements of this novel as being from God or that Sol needed to act on them solely based on how God would encourage him to act, rather than his actions on them being in his own strength and in his judgement or sometimes on an emotional whim, impulsively.
Yes, constructing the novel in this way, i.e lack of definite divine attribution (of Sol's ability to have premonitional dreams) and seeking divine guidance does contribute to the suspense and action of the plot. Yes, it does draw the reader in further, yes, it does make you think what would I do in Sol's place? Would I react the same? But, if as a believer, in a relationship with God, then any ability and talent they have originated from God and due to this relationship, they would be wanting to use this ability His way by seeking His guidance and acting on it in the aftermath of receiving the premonitional dream.
However, there would have been just as much or more suspense, action if this novel had been crafted as outlined above. I could see it is not just entertaining but strengthening of the Christian's faith, uplifting as well, educating in spiritual warfare, a positive witness of who God is; His Sovereignty, Omniscience, Omnipotent, Omnipresence. It would also show the importance of living and acting in accordance with His Will, being obedient and surrendered to Him as part of this process and not acting in one's own strength but in God's. Again, this is what His Word (Bible) instructs us to do.
To help Sol understand where his dreams are coming from, Suddoth introduces another character with the same ability and experience as Sol, but this character has had them for years while Sol has only had his for a short time. This is effective in seeing how someone else deals with this phenomenon but it only helps Sol to a point as he realises that he cannot deal with them the way that the other character has. It even ends up with this character developing a better understanding of this phenomenon by assisting Sol in how he is understanding his experiences. However, it is here that the difference faith made between them both. While this other character took a more passive attitude towards these dreams and in doing so did not risk her physical and emotional safety, Sol took the opposite, his was one of action, impulsiveness and believing that he needed to exact a positive outcome as doing nothing invalidates the reason for having them in the first place. He felt it was the right thing to do. What a team they did make when they worked together in acting on the dreams they both had!
I kept thinking throughout this novel that because Suddoth has constructed this novel with no direct and confirmed connection of Sol's ability to have these dreams being God-given and his follow through based on God's direction, then why depict Sol as a man of faith, a Christian? It would have still been a suspenseful, action-packed and fast-paced if Sol was not depicted as a Christian. It just would have lacked some of the depth of the why and the who on their occurrence and less of a supernatural thriller.
However, this would have meant that Suddoth would not have included the other Christian/Biblical themes of forgiveness and the theological debate about whether God exists as he has in the narratives between himself and Jeremiah.
Suddoth has handled these well, I loved the theme of forgiveness here. Sol's testimony to another character as to why he forgave the murderer of his wife is a powerful narrative and shows the power of forgiveness and what it does for the person forgiving the other. This Biblical principle is depicted as it should be based on its origin (Jesus and the Bible) and does encourage and strengthen one's faith and challenges all of us, especially Christians, why we need to forgive and how this will not hinder our relationship with others but especially with God. And what a great witness this is to the unbeliever or those seeking Him. This latter was depicted as realistically as possible and as I have typically seen in others as depicted in the reactions of Isaac and Amanda Fiddlestein when Sol suggested they forgive the perpetrator and the positive effects it has on their lives and enables them to move on positively in their lives free from the bitterness and anger that unforgiveness imprisons them in. Sol bases this on his faith and his own experience from when he forgave his wife's killer.
Suddoth has also depicted well how to have a friendship with an atheist and have a healthy debate about whether God exists or not, without coming across as being judgemental, critical or pompous, which unfortunately is a true criticism against Christians. I applaud Suddoth for depicting Sol like this to represent an effective witness of Christianity and Christ towards those who do not believe.
I must confess, I do not like novels where the author depicts many instances of how the victims are murdered. I was hoping that Suddoth would show this only in the first instance so the reader would then know how the next victims are murdered This would not deter how they obtained their murderous moniker, The Carbon Monoxide Killers. Multiple instances and details of how someone is murdered produces too much anxiety and tension in me while reading this. I hate these descriptions but understand that they are necessary to a point in the creation of a novel that involves a serial killer or to add suspense, mystery and the curiosity of a "whodunnit?".
Suddoth has definitely mastered this side of being a novelist. He set up the method of killing, the influences and reasons why the two engaged in this destructive and evil behaviour without providing too much of these from their past that encouraged this way of life without it bordering on being an exposé of A Criminal Mind TV episode! This plotline was a major one that dominated the novel while surfacing in all its suspense and thriller-ness between the subplots of Sol investigating his dreams and deciding what to do with them, coping with the loss of his wife, developing a friendship with Elizabeth and Jeremiah and a potential romance with Jennifer. My anxiety lessened when I read of these subplots and heightened when Suddoth returned me to the chapters about The Carbon Monoxide Killers.
As with any suspenseful and thriller mystery, the author had all the plotlines converge together to create one deepening and heart racing conclusion. So it was with this one. It is edge of your seat reading and the icing on the cake was the twist at the end that I did not perceive. And just when you get over that one, Suddoth adds one more!
All in all, this is one satisfying novel. This author shows a lot of potential for mastering this craft of novel-writing. This is an encouraging start. I do look forward to more from him. I pray he develops the Christian/Biblical aspects better in subsequent novels.
Strongly Recommended.
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