Customer Reviews

The Innocents

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Imagine reading the news that seven graves of young children have been discovered at Saddleback Butte, in the California desert? Even reporters are horrified and refer to the deceased children as The Innocents.

The bones are old and cannot be identified except for a St. Christopher's medal with an inscription that mentions the name Benito.

Eventually, a man who learns of the inscription, believes that this may be the body of his six-year-old son. He contacts private investigator Wil Hardesty for help.

With heartacke showing through his words, Ignacio Reyes, explains how desperately poor his family was in Mexico. Then they heard about a border runner named Bolo Zavala. This man was contacted and saw how poor and nearly starving the family was. He informed them that if they gave him their son Benito. The child would have enough to eat and would be placed in a good home with a wealthy family in the United States. With the money Zavala would get from placing the child in adoption, he would take Reyes and his family across the border. Eventually, the father agreed and has lived with the sadness and loss since then.

Wil is assisted by his friend, Paul Rodriguez. The men were Vietnam buddies. As they talk, we learn that Wil has a particular reason for wanting to help with this case. Wil can relate to Reyes because Wil lost his ten-year-old son to a surfing accident. He still feels the acute sadness that grips the parent who has suffered the loss of a child.

As the search for Zavela continues, possible leads arrive and the reader learns that the title of the novel, "The Innocents" doesn't just represent the children who have been murdered in the desert. It describes the men searching for Zavala and his associates.

We come to wonder, how many people has Zavala killed and how did a certain businessman become so wealthy in the midst of the poverty that surrounds him.

The chronicle is filled with the grief of Benito's father, since the child's mother died not long after the parents gave their child away. We also see the sadness of Wil and his wife who discuss wanting another child. There is still one other character who has a baby that could be the next child murdered.

This drama gives the reader pause to think about what can exist and how fortunate they are that others take responsibility to find and stop criminals and killers such as are described in the novel.

THIS WRITER IS GOOD. Several times I'd picked this book up and put it down because of the synopses I'd read - surfer private investigator and such. This private eye has been very poorly misrepresented. Think of Wil Hardesty as a cross between early Spenser and Harry Bosch. Yes, he does surf but I won't get into that here because reading the book will put it into perspective for you. Mr. Barre's characters are tight and very original. Had to read the last 100 pages in one sitting as I couldn't put the book down. Highest recommendations for this book.

Richard Barre's novel THE INNOCENTS, introduces PI Wil Hardesty. Wil is a Viet Nam Vet, surfer-dude, who rides a Harley. Also, as the novel opens, he is a mourning father and troubled husband, trying to hash out the terms of his marriage after he and his wife, Lisa, have lost their 11year old son in a surfing accident.

The theme of children lost to tragedy permeates this novel as Wil investigates the apparent ritualistic murder of seven children, their skeletal remains found in the desert after a rainstorm has uncovered them. A medallion found with one of the skeletons and publicized on TV alerts Wil's client that it was his son that was murdered and recently found. However, this client is reluctant to come forward due to the fact that for all intents and purposes he sold his son in exchange for safe passage across the border into the US for him and the rest of his family.

Quickly Wil and his friend Paul Rodriguez quickly zero in on a strong suspect, the deadly Zavala Bolo who bought the child years earlier and gave Wil's client passage into the US. Just as quickly Bolo and his associates realize that Wil and Paul are after them and begin counter measures to evade capture, including plans to terminate the PI and his companion. The strength of the novel is its portray of Zavala and his associates as frightening threats. A few scenes give you the enemies' POV, in order to build tension by revealing how close the villain is to doing in the heroes.

The novel is adequately written in a third person point of view, which allows Barre to reveal the minds of the villains as well as those of the PI, his associates, and several of the vitcims. Barre has attempted an ambitious first outing, however, there are several spots where the novel falls short.

First, those PI fans that are used to getting a full-blown exposure to the PI's personality and mind through first person narration may feel distanced from Wil. It's as if Barre is holding everyone at arm's length from his main character. There are a few scenes in fact where we're given the interior world of minor characters better than the mind of Wil. I comprehended the tragedy of his lost son and the problems of his marriage but never felt them.

Second, the plot hinges too heavily on coincidences: the upper hand given to the enemies by slips of the tongue by Paul and Wil at various points, clues consist of scraps of paper and candy wrappers (flimsy), and Wil lucks out when it comes to finding an expert in art/social history.

Third, several characters are snuffed out or come close to death because of their association with Wil. In other words, it seems as if you're taking your life in your hands if are related to or otherwise in a relationship with Wil Hardesty. I'll spare you the list of causalities, suffice it to say, I had my doubts any characters would survive til the next installment.

Overall if you can stand a few stretchers in believability and don't mind a bit of distance from your main investigator, THE INNOCENTS is spare, frightening thriller.

This is the first of the Wil Hardesty series. It involves one of those 'flashback' stories of seven children murdered 20 years earlier. Hardesty, filled with debilitating remorse over the death of his own son, is, through a series of events and conversations, asked to help find their killer.

The only clue available is a religious medal given by the father of one of the boys, a few days before the boy was lost. Wil suffers through his own angst, an ability to irritate the local police, his alcoholism, and his failing marriage to come up with a chain of clues, some right, and some horribly wrong.

I have read all of Barre's Wil Hardesty novels. He is a beautiful wordsmith, and in previous reviews I have added that he reminds me of James Lee Burke and James Dickey. It's a wonderful canvas he places his characters upon. The whole series is excellent. I might add with Parker or perhaps DeMille, it is uneccessary to start at the beginning. With Barre it may be a little a little easier.

It's long been known both in the real and literary world that bad things do happen to good people. In Richard Barre's THE INNOCENTS, yes, depressing things do happen; it amazes me that some reviewers found the book such a downer. I found it a tense and credible look at a very different PI, Wil Hardesty, who finds himself investigating the most heinous of crimes. He doesn't deliberately endanger the lives of his friends, and yes, he does have a cross to bear in the tragic loss of his son. In this debut novel, Wil is up against a powerful tycoon who donates lots of money to a church; the charismatic priest who will do anything to get money for his mission and to further his own "saintliness", and some tragic events that lead to the deaths of some of Wil's friends. Hardboiled yet sensitive, painfully realistic and a darn good read.

Richard Barre is an incredible wordsmith. When reading about his California, I can almost hear the ocean, and feel the warm breezes. His main character, Wil Hardesty is man struggling with his own past, in particular, the death of his young son. This adds a depth to the charecter usually not found in books sbout PI's.

This book, the first in the series, starts with the discovery of seven bodies. Childrens bodies. Hardesty is hired to discover who they are and why they are there.

Barre writes with a passion, and it shows. The investigative technique is right on, and the book draws you in fast. This is a series any one who calls themself a fan of mysteries should read ...

Richard Barre's novel THE INNOCENTS, introduces PI Wil Hardesty. Wil is a Viet Nam Vet, surfer-dude, who rides a Harley. Also, as the novel opens, he is a mourning father and troubled husband, trying to hash out the terms of his marriage after he and his wife, Lisa, have lost their 11year old son in a surfing accident.

The theme of children lost to tragedy permeates this novel as Wil investigates the apparent ritualistic murder of seven children, their skeletal remains found in the desert after a rainstorm has uncovered them. A medallion found with one of the skeletons and publicized on TV alerts Wil's client that it was his son that was murdered and recently found. However, this client is reluctant to come forward due to the fact that for all intents and purposes he sold his son in exchange for safe passage across the border into the US for him and the rest of his family.

Quickly Wil and his friend Paul Rodriguez quickly zero in on a strong suspect, the deadly Zavala Bolo who bought the child years earlier and gave Wil's client passage into the US. Just as quickly Bolo and his associates realize that Wil and Paul are after them and begin counter measures to evade capture, including plans to terminate the PI and his companion. The strength of the novel is its portray of Zavala and his associates as frightening threats. A few scenes give you the enemies' POV, in order to build tension by revealing how close the villain is to doing in the heroes.

The novel is adequately written in a third person point of view, which allows Barre to reveal the minds of the villains as well as those of the PI, his associates, and several of the vitcims. Barre has attempted an ambitious first outing, however, there are several spots where the novel falls short.

First, those PI fans that are used to getting a full-blown exposure to the PI's personality and mind through first person narration may feel distanced from Wil. It's as if Barre is holding everyone at arm's length from his main character. There are a few scenes in fact where we're given the interior world of minor characters better than the mind of Wil. I comprehended the tragedy of his lost son and the problems of his marriage but never felt them.

Second, the plot hinges too heavily on coincidences: the upper hand given to the enemies by slips of the tongue by Paul and Wil at various points, clues consist of scraps of paper and candy wrappers (flimsy), and Wil lucks out when it comes to finding an expert in art/social history.

Third, several characters are snuffed out or come close to death because of their association with Wil. In other words, it seems as if you're taking your life in your hands if are related to or otherwise in a relationship with Wil Hardesty. I'll spare you the list of causalities, suffice it to say, I had my doubts any characters would survive til the next installment.

Overall if you can stand a few stretchers in believability and don't mind a bit of distance from your main investigator, THE INNOCENTS is spare, frightening thriller.

Richard Barre created a P.I. character that I liked a lot in this book, and in the Wil Hardesty series. Hardesty is driven by his demons but is an interesting man. The plot on this entry is complex and kept me fascinated. The bad guy is truly evil; the hero is deeply flawed. The topic, serial murder of children, is a downer, and I can understand some readers being turned off by the darkness of subject and mood. If you can cope with dark, however, this book is recommended.

Truth in reviewing statement: I'm a Californian, so I knew the places described and the general locale. That always predisposes me to like a book.

I was extremely disappointed with this book. I saw that it had won an award for best first novel and set my expectations on it. The book was extremely slow throughout, and dragged on more and more as the book went on. I honestly felt myself not caring how the book ended and put it down many times. The only reason I finished it was that my wife had bought it as a gift for me. Yes, the plot revolves around the morbid concept of young children being killed, but it isn't that in of itself that I consider the downfall of this book. The author has chosen to tell this story from both the hero and antagonist's side, but not to good effect. The suspense doesn't build as to how the two will meet. Rather it drags on as Wil Hardesty draws conclusions from the flimsiest items that he draws hunches on, so that you find yourself feeling the story isn't very credible. Furthermore, the interactions of characters, don't seem that realistic, as Hardesty easily puts his friends in peril throughout the book while clearly aware of the nature of the villains. Overall I feel that the concept of the book had great potential, but the characters and the story itself make the book undesirable. Don't give any credence to the fact that this won an award. I highly recommend that you move on to something else, rather than choose this book.

I found this book intriguing but a bit ghastly & improbable.