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BLACK MOUNTAIN
by Les Standiford
Prime Crime, February 2001
283 pages
$5.99
ISBN: 0425178536


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

When this Les Standiford book arrived in the mail, I thought "good, I finally get to read this guy's pi series" and was mildly annoyed to learn that this was not part of Standiford's well-received Deal series. In fact, according to the flap copy was "an adrenaline rush...story of a Wyoming wilderness beset by men of dark intentions". Ich, I thought. I read Robert Parker's WildernessI> and sold it; I never saw Deliverance and I never will. 

So, okay, I opened it thinking "I'll give it the 50 page test" and sure enough, the next think I knew, darn, there I was, somewhere in the middle of the book. This novel, while hardly to what I think of as my taste, held my interest to the end. It was not unduly violent, was suspenseful without me necessarily worrying about adrenaline and while it is very action-packed, it is not without characterization. Well, you know not to trust flap copy by now, don't you?

In a political move, Richard Corrigan, a New York City transit cop, who just happened to be in the right pace at the right time, is chosen to accompany New York state governor Fielding Dawson and entourage on a wilderness outing. Dawson is aiming to become the next president, and is allegedly going on this outing with his wife and several friends to ponder the next step. Corrigan, a city dweller born and raised, is called a hero after he chases a man away from where Dawson is speaking. The man, who appeared to be armed and aiming for Dawson, in fact, is a homeless subway dweller who was merely holding an inhaler. In a total accident, the man is killed in the subway. Corrigan's fellow cop "helps" out with a throw-down gun to make Corrigan appear to be a hero. 

As the company gathers for the trip, Corrigan meets magazine reporter Dara Wylie, who is interested in his story, and is covering the governor's travels for USA Magazine. The two are clearly interested in each other. Corrigan is single; his mother died some time back and his father, a cop, unable to cope, committed suicide in front of his son. Corrigan's father was also responsible for an eye injury o his son which led Richard to become a transit cop rather than a "real" police officer. Corrigan knows he's being used as a p.r. tool, but knows the value of Dawson to the city and takes orders.

As the trip starts, disaster comes to the party almost immediately. As they are dropped off for the start of their trip, the plane that drop them off takes back off and explodes. And hour by hour, as the reader follows along in parallel stories with Dawson's party and with two apparently paid-to-kill mercenaries, a man called Bright and the very scary Nelia Esteban, members of the group are eliminated in ghastly "accidents"; a film crew is lost, rock slides and avalanches take two people including the tour guide's own son.

One reason I dislike thrillers is that I have an aversion to perfection, especially in protagonists and, all too often, the heroes in political thrillers are flawless, never flagging never wrong...and their hair is always in place. I can't buy that - I don't like the characters that Harlan Elllison referred to years ago as "Nick Jutjaw" (Think Robert Stack here - at least unless you've seen his wonderful self-parody in the "Airplane" movies.) Corrigan isn't Nick Jutjaw. He makes mistakes and manages to admit to them. He's not easily fooled, but you can't survive as a cop, any kind of cop, without a good measure of cynicism.

One problem I have with thrillers also is that I can often tell whodunit before I'm ready. As a reader, I do not tend to outguess the writer; I want to be intrigued until the last possible minute. Black Mountain couldn't hold up for me; I figured it out early on, in part, thanks to one clue. That was disappointing, but then again, the list of possible suspects tends to get shorter as folks keep getting knocked off. But it didn't hurt the suspense of the book, to be honest, and I suspect I just read too many mysteries for there to be too many surprises in the resolution any more. --

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Note: This review is based on the hardcover which was published in February, 2000.

Reviewed by Andi Shechter, April 2000

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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