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Four Kinds of Rain

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I just finished reading Robert Ward's new novel, "Four Kinds of Rain." The thing about Mr. Ward and his writing, and the reason I bought this new book of his, is that he's a true story teller. Anyone who read "Red Baker" knows this. He sticks firmly to the plot. There is "no fat" in his work. What he consistently gives us is a fully-realized novel, devoid of self-indulgent prose.
"Four Kinds of Rain" confirms this. And then some. Here is a story of one Bob Wells, a Baltimore psychiatrist (and by the way, no contemporary writer I know of writes about the great city of Baltimore better than Mr. Ward) who is, shall I say, down on his luck. All his life Bob's been a good liberal guy serving the poor. Until temptation shows up in the name of one his paranoid patients, Emile Bardan.
Emile is an art dealer. And he's owns a priceless work of art - the lengendary Mask of Utu - worth millions.
You may think you know what happens next but this story has more twists than a pretzel. I, for one, really enjoyed the ride.

Until now, Robert Ward was best known as the author of the classic working man's novel "Red Baker" (1985), and for his work on such television dramas as "Hill Street Blues" and "Miami Vice." For a new group of readers, however, he will be known as the writer of "Four Kinds of Rain," an intriguingly dark and delightful noir novel.

Bob Wells is a psychologist in Baltimore, serving the poor and downtrodden. His patients include a lot of single moms on welfare and homeless vets. He seldom makes a dime, but for this grizzled old activist, that's OK. As he sees it, Bob is the last man in town who never sold out.

Still, even a committed radical like Bob has bills to pay. Such is his desperation that when a paying client -- a wealthy art dealer with paranoid delusions -- finally comes along, the doctor loses his head a little, and starts to forget his instincts.

Bob's greed only magnifies when he meets a woman, the new lead singer of his classic rock band. She's a great gal and they really hit it off. The only problem is, she refuses to have anything to do with a man who's broke.

Clearly Bob needs money. And his new patient has a fortune in rare art. This lucky convergence inevitably leads Bob down a very dark path to larceny, betrayal and, ultimately, murder.

"Four Kinds of Rain" is as black as a chain smoker's lungs, but it's also deviously funny, as Ward takes us into the mind of this very human, but very messed-up man. The plot is twisted and suspenseful, but it's the wonderfully original characters that really bring it all to life. Welcome back, Mr. Ward. We missed you.

Bobby Wells, journeyman pyschologist, is grasping for the brass ring. He has realized that his college-age mission to help the little people has failed him. His wife gone to marry a sell-out rival. No money, no children, stuck in decaying Baltimore. And suddenly he goes completely sociopathic and plans to betray his most interesting patient and get rich quick.
His transition from do-gooder to serial killer is somewhat rough, but his antiestablishment leanings certainly assert themselves with a vengence. Like many mysteries today this has a screenplay feel to it. But it has enough Chandler-Sayers in it to be a good read.

Baltimore psychiatrist Dr. Bob Wells knows his life is spinning out of control due to a gambling addiction and a need to imbibe to numb the pain of his work and the loss of his wife after twenty-two of marriage when she finally gave up on him. In his fifties his once thriving practice lies dormant if not dead. He makes some chump change as a freelance (nice term for fill-in) psychiatric social worker.

Bob's only pleasure comes when he plays with his oldies band, the Rockaholics, which is once a week as everyone else has real day jobs. To spice up the act the group hires blonde Jesse Reardon as a singer. To his shock Bob falls in love at first sight with the beautiful blond bombshell. He ignores his desire until she tells him she loves him. Though they share heaven, Jesse informs her beloved Bob that they will not stay together because she refuses to be with a man with no money. Bob decides his only avenue top obtain some cash to keep Jesse is to rob his last wealthy client, neurotic antiquities dealer Emile Bardan. The unhinged Emile thinks that his nemesis Colin Edwards will try to steal a priceless Sumerian sun-god mask from him and will kill him if he tries stopping him; Emile believes Colin has murdered a friend. Bob sees an opportunity to steal the mask and sell it to Colin.

FOUR KINDS OF RAIN is for the most part an amusing crime caper in which the bungling cast make mistake after mistake. The story line is fast-paced though a bit over the edge as Emile is paranoid; Colin is dangerous; and Bob is desperate. Fans who enjoy wacky tales starring ultra-flawed characters will want to accompany these escapees from the Robert Ward as this novel is filled with humorous blunders and misguided escapades.

Harriet Klausner

Bob Wells was a radical community activist from his college days at Johns Hopkins. Now in his fifties he is a psychologist with a dying unprofitable practice. On the side he is a guitarist with a Rock group that plays weekly at a local club. He has gambled away most of his money and lost his wife. An attractive singer comes into the club and offers to sing with the group. The interaction is excellent musically and Bob sees romance with her. But she doesn't want to hook up with a broke loser. Bob loses his idealism as he figures a way to exploit one of his patients and come up with $5,000,000. The bodies pile up left and right in gory fashion. Bob ends up as an ultimate loser. But, Jesse, the vocalist has a happier ending.

"Four Kinds of Rain" is for four kinds of readers: those who have fallen in love, fallen from grace, sung the bllues, or been to Baltimore. If you've done all four, get this one. The devilishly devious pen of Robt Ward slowly pulls this fish-head out of the Chesapeake with his left hand (me blithely nibbling away) while his right hand cradles the crab-net. By page 60 I realized my goose was cooked. What a hoot! A touch of O. Henry, dash of Hitchcock, and just for good measure, a slash of King. I read it in Key West during Fantasy Fest_it fit right in.

I couldn't put it down. First it was like, this is sooo cheesy. Then heard the William Burroughs chuckling darkly in the background. It was faint, soft, almost a cough. This book is so wonderfully dark and strange. To follow Bob Wells' descent from middle-aged idealist to the hopelessly lost serial killer whose victims are, finally, his closest friends is to witness sixties American political and social idealism coming unstuck under great pressure. The terrible thing is that even at the end, when he has betrayed everything he ever stood for and everybody he ever loved, I still found myself caring about Robert Wells. Noboby but Robert Ward could write like this.

MY EYES ARE ON STALKS FROM BEING UP HALF THE NIGHT FINISHING FOUR KINDS OF RAIIN! I STARTED IT YESTERDAY AND COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN! IT IS GREAT!

FOUR KINDS OF RAIN IS UNIQUE. A MUST READ FOR MYSTERY FANS, SUSPENSE ADDICTS AND ANY ONE INTERESTED IN THE HUMAN DILEMMA. THIS IS MASTERFUL WRITING THAT IS FILLED WITH WIT AND DEPTH. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT BOOK BY ROBERT WARD.

Ward is also a television writer and producer (Hill Street Blues and Miami Vice), and that is evident in his fast-paced writing, plot twists, and explosive violence.

Over-the-hill Baltimore psychologist Bob Wells is living an empty life when he meets Jesse Reardon, younger, also divorced. They begin singing together with a rock band for fun at various clubs.

Jesse does not want to get involved with a loser who is broke, and she puts him off. At this point Bob becomes tempted by a patient's strange fantasies about a Babylonian mask he owns. The patient claims it is worth millions, and that it is coveted by a mad collector who is stalking him.

A little research proves to Bob that all this is true, and he contacts some shady friends, and a heist is hatched. The rest of the book is a series of exploding bodies (from both a bomb and bullets) from which Bob manages to escape relatively unscathed. The plot twists will keep you guessing to the very, very dark ending.

Armchair Interviews says: This reviewer was put off by "too much violence"--so be forewarned.