Review of Slow Burn by G.M. Ford (Pan, 1998)

Seattle P.I. Leo Waterman has been appointed by Le Cuisine Internationale to act as a security consultant for their first convention outside of Europe. However, two warring chains of steakhouses seem set to use the event to try and settle their differences. One is intending to open a new restaurant the week on the convention and is threatening to barbecue a prize Angus bull that used to belong to the other chain. Caught in the middle are a restaurant reviewer and the families of the two chain owners. Not long after taking the job, the reviewer is found murdered and, having been discovered in the suite, Waterman is the prime suspect. Using a motley crew of cleaned-up homeless people as his operatives Waterman tries to keep the lid on the antics of the two steakhouses and to track down the real killer.

Slow Burn by title and slow burn in terms of storytelling. Slow Burn is told in an easy going, relaxed style with an undercurrent of gentle humour. The story features a set of larger than life characters and has a good set up. The narrative is workmanlike, with a good flow between scenes. What the story lacks, however, is tension. The story does build towards a climax, but it is without a real sense of urgency. Whilst there is a nice twist with regards to the identity of the killers, the rest of the ending is fairly predictable. Overall, an enjoyable, gently humorous read that lacked a bit of bite.

Fury by G.M. Ford (Pan, 2001)

Walter Leroy Himes is due to be executed for the Trashman killings – eight young women slain over an eighty day period in Seattle, their bodies left in garbage dumpsters.  The crucial witness, Leanne Samples, a naïve, cloistered woman who claimed to have been attacked by the Trashman now says she lied at the trial.  The police don’t want to know; they’ve got their man and he’s going to pay the ultimate price.  Samples turns to investigative journalist, Frank Corso.  Once a high flying reporter, Corso has fallen from grace, now making a living writing true crime books and filing a column for the Seattle Sun.  Persuaded to follow-up on Samples story, Corso starts to reinvestigate the Trashman killings, and what he finds is deeply unsettling.  If Himes is innocent then he has six days to prove it and then the hunt for the real killer must begin.

Fury is a perfectly competent crime thriller, well written and structured, and it passes a pleasant few hours.  The plot is tight, the characters well drawn, and the dialogue and relationships realistic.  But there is little to make it stand out from the pack.  The story did carry a certain amount of tension, but is fairly predictable and the characters familiar.  And, for the most part, the investigative and police procedures seem credible, though there were a few points at which I had to suspend belief (I won’t give spoilers).  In a crowded market I guess it’s difficult to find a niche and produce something truly original (and I'm as guilty of that in my own writing as anyone).  That said, Corso is a fairly interesting lead character, as the tired, jaded, cynical former journalist who lives a loner life on a boat.  Overall, an enjoyable read that runs with the pack.