Echo Bay: A Novel of Suspense [Hardcover]

Richard Barre (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2004

In Echo Bay, the past is on a collision course with the present. August 1940: In driving rain, in darkness, Lake Tahoe’s fabled steamship, Constance, slips beneath the surface of Echo Bay. Present: Sean Rainey, ex-PR fixer, failed husband, once-hot Olympic ski prospect, is delivered an ultimatum. Sell the dream of raising Constance to the town he once fled ù a suspect in his popular brother’s drowning deathùor lose his children. Because making no choice is his choice, Sean’s return comes under an ever-darkening cloud of murder and deceit, hate and betrayal, big money and bad blood. To survive -- and to claim his children -- Sean must confront not only his own violent past, but an adversary hell-bent on destroying him and those he loves.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Constance was once the pride of Lake Tahoe's Echo Bay, but the Depression sunk it, figuratively and literally. Now, in 1940, investors have a plan to resurrect the steamship as part of a casino resort complex. Shawn Rainey, whose dream of a gold medal in downhill skiing went the way of a horrific spill, is hired as the PR front man for the resurrection of the ship. Like Constance, Shawn could use a little resurrecting of his own, after decades of pill and alcohol abuse in the wake of his accident. As the community's opposition to the resurrection project mounts, Shawn struggles to control his addictions even as the controversy turns violent, and he questions his role in the whole sordid mess. Barre, author of the Wil Hardesty series, continues his thematic obsession with the past as an involuntarily assimilated entity from which there can be no escape, only accommodation. This lyrically written novel is filled with complex characters for whom tragedy is a daily burden. Thoroughly engaging if a bit depressing. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Richard Barre was born in Los Angeles and raised in California. One of his books, The Innocents, is a winner of the Shamus Award for best first P.I. novel; another, Burning Moon, made the LA Times best-seller list. Prior to writing crime fiction and short stories, he was a copywriter and creative director at his own advertising agency and wrote and edited travel publications. Currently, he is also the associate publisher at the newly- revitalized Capra Press in Santa Barbara, where he lives with his wife, Susan. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Capra Pr (May 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592660444
• ISBN-13: 978-1592660445
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,712,504 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Master of Hard-boiled Dialogue, July 15, 2004

By 

S. Harris (Spotsylvania, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Echo Bay (Hardcover)

Master of Hard-boiled Dialogue

Shawn Rainey, ex-Olympic hopeful skier, is now a gimp-legged fixer who combines the skills of a slick-talker working the cameras, a paralegal who knows how to research opposition dirt and, when necessary, a thug that can drop you with a punch. He's been given one last chance (read: Redemption) to regain partial custody of his children, by assisting in a shady deal being pushed by sleazy ex "business" associate, Terry Dahl, who now lives with Shawn's former wife. The deal involves the raising of the "Constance," which has been lying at the bottom of Lake Tahoe since 1940. The media (and money) frenzy surrounding this possible event has the allure of an inland "Titanic." But the "Constance" has secrets buried with her, and the 70-something year old daughter of the owner that scuttled the ship wants to keep it that way.

At its best, "Echo Bay" deals with the sins of the past and the need to let them go - or risk drowning in the bad mix of new sins and haunted memories. Thus, as a metaphor, "Echo Bay's" ship works as a fine McGuffin for all the intrigues to cluster around. But turning away from the past doesn't mean you can avoid confronting the truth - no matter how old, no matter how deeply buried. Rainey's diggings and conflicts reveal many a hidden skeleton, including a few from his own closet. Barre's use of dialogue is really what drives this story. It's tough and spare, often funny, but not in a smart-aleck Carl Hiasson way. The players here are all playing for keeps. For the most part it works. Up until the last 100 pages or so I thought I was reading something special, given the plot and the tough talk, "Echo Bay" seemed to have struck a balance, and was moving beyond genre, providing the kind of contemporary snapshot that penetrates, through its insights, the culture of a time and place. But for some reason "Echo Bay" never really establishes the tragic vision of, for example, Lehane's "Shutter Island," or Robert Stone's "Dog Soldiers."
By novel's end things get nicely arranged, loose ends are tied up, intriguing characters flatten out into types, and you're already thinking of what next to read. I can't help but feel this novel opened with higher stakes on the table. That said, Rainey is a great character and I would definitely read Barre again. His dialogue is every bit as good as Leonard at his best, and that in itself is reason enough to read on.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MOODY, BUT EXCELLENT NOIRISH CRIME FICTION, January 11, 2006

By 

carl brookins "Carl Brookins" (St. Paul, Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Echo Bay (Hardcover)

After he blew out his knee on the mountain, Shawn Rainey's life and family circumstances descended nearly as fast as he'd been going in that fall. Years later he reluctantly returns to his family home near Echo Bay on Lake Tahoe. It's the scene of an escalating controversy between civic and business interests who want to raise a famous sixty-year old ship from the bottom in order to boost tourism, and the daughter of the owner who sank the ship in the first place.

Shawn's boss, a mean, mean-spirited public relations CEO puts the arm on his ex-partner who would rather be almost anywhere than back in his home town. There are still highschool buddies, or acquaintances who have varied feelings about Shawn. They include his old girlfriend, his father and the woman who is the principal resistance to the ship-raising project.

This is crime fiction at its best, multi-layered with plot circles within plots. It touches on family and community relations, past and present, prejudice, racism and greed. In spite of its complexities, author Richard Barre continues the high standards he established with the Wil Hardesty PI series, and maintains a clarity of purpose, a sense of where his characters are at all times. Piece by piece he lays out the actions Shawn and his supporters take to build the success of their project. Piece by piece he supplies more and more of the background that fuels the animosities and rising tension and violence. He reveals, as a magician might in drawing back a curtain, the stunning reasons why some people in the community are unalterably opposed to the project.

In the end, the final resolution of the puzzle is logical, sympathetic and honest. It does not shrink from shining a spotlight on past injustices and present-day dishonesty. Like all good fiction Echo Bay holds up a mirror to every reader and asks fundamental questions.

This is a powerful, cracking good read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He's Done it Again!, May 3, 2004

By 

Cyndia Depre "Cyndia" (Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Echo Bay (Hardcover)

Richard Barre's snappy dialogue and fractured sentences are reminiscent of noir classics. His novels captivate the reader from the first page. Barre brings a unique talent to all his work, and Echo Bay is no exception.

Once a championship skier, an accident cut Shawn Rainey's career short. Now he's down on his luck, and more or less coasting through life. A threat to take his children away is used against him as blackmail. With no other choice, he joins a scheme to raise a sunken ship. He sets off, determined to accomplish his mission and recover his two kids. But the past keeps leaping up, thwarting his efforts.

In Shawn's typical fashion, he simply rolls with the punches. Until he's had enough. When Shawn Rainey becomes proactive, watch out! He goes after the truth with unwavering persistence. If someone gets in his way, their choice is go along with him or pay a high price. With the cooperation of new and old friends, Shawn follows the clues through twists and turns.

Echo Bay is the story of people facing their pasts, warts and all, and looking for their futures. It is a page-turning novel of redemption.