MR. CLARINET
Nick Stone
Publisher: Penguin (Paperback)
ISBN: 014102108X
28th September, 2006
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MR.
CLARINET
Written by
NICK STONE
On the face of it – at 576 pages in length – Nick
Stone’s debut novel, Mr Clarinet,
is some piece of work. It is also something of a challenge.
It was a job Miami private investigator Max Mingus found hard to refuse:
$10 million to locate billionaire's son Charlie Carver missing now for
over three years. Young Charlie disappeared on the island of Haiti, where
over the decades scores of children have vanished. In a country dominated
by voodoo, rumours abound of black magic and a mythical figure called
“Mr Clarinet”, who for years has been tempting children away
from their families.
But could the truth be even more shocking than the legend? To find out,
Max will have to succeed where previous detectives have not only failed
but where some have died. And suddenly, this job isn't all about finding
Charlie or his killers for the money it's just about staying alive.
Mr. Clarinet
is, without doubt, a novel packed with multi-dimensional characters
that are at once potentially “real” and intriguing. On occasions
it is their portrayal – and their actions – that live longest
in the memory and gives the story its over-riding darkness. The plot,
too, is multi-layered with a primary storyline pace capable of outstripping
a Ferrari at a standing start.
However, where the novel falls down
is in the dialogue and the, at times, burdensome over description of
scene.
First the dialogue that on far too many
occasions is trite and contrived, with clichéd responses grating
against what could be compelling situations in which the characters
– especially Mingus – find themselves.
For example, the initial dinner party
Mingus becomes embroiled in with his employers, the secretive Carver
family, would surely have seen anybody excuse themselves within ten
minutes, rather than recount their life story over Parma ham and cantaloupe
melon hors d’ouvres. There is also Mingus’s reaction to
his wife’s death with regards to the women he meets so soon after
which, at best, could be described as shallow and at worst, misogynistic.
Secondly, the description. Although
admirable in its efforts to illustrate the poverty of Haiti, the plot’s
pace of the aforementioned Ferrari frequently gets bogged down to that
of a Skoda and detracts the reader from the point of the novel all too
often. The time invested in underlining the fact that Haiti is an island
of dual monetary status with little in the way of “middle-ground”
is sadly, given the way of the world, hardly a unique selling point
and, therefore, could have been cut accordingly.
These points aside, however, Mr.
Clarinet still stands as a fine debut and shows Nick Stone
certainly has the capability to tell a story, once he remains focussed
and leaves the lecturing to others.
7/10
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