Customer Reviews

Continental Drift (California Fiction)

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James D. Houston's Continental Drift chronicles the Doyle family's reactions to a series of brutal murders that suspiciously coincides with the return of their youngest son from the Vietnam War. Unlike a typical mystery novel, Continental Drift concentrates on the physical and psychological landscapes of the murders--the ranching community of Monterey, California--instead of the murders themselves.

The narrative's tension revolves around the characters' relationships with the land, themselves, and the history of the Golden State. Instead of actions, artistic descriptions are used to hook readers: "Perhaps inheritance isn't the right word. This could be something absorbed, or ingested, or inhaled with the lifelong blending of apple scent and crumbling adobe and exhaust fumes and molecules of rubber dust that hang forever in the air above the freeways. He inherited a state of mind that goes right back to the Spaniards, where everything out west begins." Odd, spooky situations also capture the reader's attention, but the amount of description far outweighs the number of scenes. Thus, suspense as it pertains to the killings never really takes off until halfway through the book. But by that time, every character is a suspect.

Continental Drift is a language rather than plot driven mystery. James D. Houston centers his story around California, which almost becomes a character itself. Readers interested in a classic who-done-it may want to look elsewhere. Those interested in the West and a gifted writer's poetic expression to a land he loves, should not hesitate buying this book.

I admit I expected more from this author, especially after reading his excellent book about the Donner party, _The Snow Mountain Passage_.

The story unfolds around Monterey Bay, California on a ranch inland on the San Andreas faultline. The owner of the ranch, Monty, lives quiely with his wife in a nice home with large acreage, renting out another home to an artist. The story opens with the return of their youngest son from the Vietnam war. Not sure what to expect, they anticipate his arrival with a house party and even welcome the unexpected girlfriend on his arm when they pick him up at the airport.

It becomes blatantly obvious that the son has changed. His behavior is bizarre and unpredictable. Not only do his parents fret about the returning Vietnam vet, but his older brother does as well.

His return coincides with a series of shocking murdurs in the area, and with some analysis it appears the murdurer is closely in the vicinity of the ranch and is actually burying his victims on the fault line.

In panic, the parents fear the worse when the girlfriend turns up murdered and they are unable to locate their son. Monty especially feels the chill of this heinous crime as he was freshly intimate with this woman in the field the evening prior to her death.

Unfortunately, the relationship of Monty and his wife is contaminated by Monty himself as he falls victim to his sexual urges and violates himself and the vows of his marriage. The murder investigation takes a fevered pitch and Monty plots out on a map that they are at risk as the murderer is apparantly following a clear path along the fault line and they are right on it.

The mystery is fairly predictable, but since the author is of high standing in his other books, I would recommend this one, although it is clearly not one of his best.