THE REQUEST by David Bell
David Bell’s last novel THE LAYOVER came to me for review and I basically ignored it. At least until a friend of mine convinced me it had merit. Once I started the book I was easily caught up in the twists and turns of the plot. When I finished it I felt it had been worth my time. Having just read Bell’s latest novel THE REQUEST I feel the same way about it. It was worth my time. That sounds like lukewarm praise for a book and I guess it is.
The novel does have an endless map of unexpected happenings but somehow the twists and turns are one too many. You get caught up in the whole mystery of the plot but you also get tired of the ability of the main character to always do the one foolish thing he shouldn’t.
Ryan Francis is a successful man. He has two jobs that he enjoys as well as a loving wife and adorable baby son. But Ryan also has a past and it rears its ugly head in the form of college pal Blake Norton. Blake comes to Ryan with the request for him to do a favor. The catch is that if Ryan refuses Blake will expose an ugly secret from Ryan’s past. Once Ryan gives into Blake’s demands and does the deed things go downhill fast.
The result of doing Blake’s bidding impacts the lives of Ryan, Blake, Ryan’s wife and son, as well as Blake’s fiancée. They all get enmeshed in circumstances that bring them into danger. Ryan tries his best to protect his wife and son but there are evil forces at large that see them as his weak spot. He will do almost anything to keep them protected.
Bell knows how to keep a reader reading by amping up the plot in circuitous ways. Sometimes you feel you are right back where you started and you have been circling the drain of suspense for several chapters. These periods of suspenseful happenings and non-happenings would have been enhanced by the introduction of better characters. All of the main characters have weaknesses that are never overcome.
Ryan is a particularly weak leading man. He knows his faults and what he should do to correct them but he never gets around to it. He is obsessed with his phone and particularly with social media. Every moment of his life appears on his Facebook page and he counts the clicks that these pictures and facts generate. This, along with other descriptions of his behavior, create an image of a man who is shallow to the extreme and lucky to have had the success he has thus far acquired.
In total THE REQUEST is a suspenseful book about basically unlikeable characters. You enjoy reading their story but you hope you don’t ever run into any of them again.
THE REQUEST is published by Berkley Books. It contains 416 pages and sells for $27.00.
Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com
