Hammond Innes
1980
Grade: C+
This is a story excellently told. It is crafted with great skill and care for the subjects with which it treats. Told from the perspective of its narrator and protagonist, Roy Slingsby, the tale follows him from quagmired estate agent and amateur stamp collector to the centerpiece of an island revolution on the far side of the world and his discovery of the mysteries of a cursed family. Unfortunately, owing to the proximity in genre, setting, and reading of Pacific Vortex some comparison is as inevitable and it is likely to be unfavorable to Cussler’s work. This comparison is most striking in the execution of character.
Many of the characters are very intricately drawn, not the least of which is the protagonist himself. There is a real sense of his detachment and dissatisfaction with his life in England that fuels much of his action in the novel. He is methodical, ambitious, and on occasion morally gray, particularly when it comes to the shifting powers in control of the situations in which he finds himself. The reader might be hoping for Roy to step up and do something heroic only to realize that quite often his desire to create his own prosperous future inevitably counteracts such heroic impulses. Roy is also drawn without some of the physical superiority that is common to hard-boiled protagonists. Similarly, the Holland clan is also very well crafted. Jona and Perenna are alternatively tortured and driven, and they are believable and consistent. Hans Holland deserves special mention as ostensibly the villain of the story. However, unlike his counterpart, Delphi, he has motivations that go beyond greed for its own sake. Hans is sympathetic in his own way, and his desire to climb out from under the dark cloud of familial dishonor tempts the reader to excuse some of his actions. It also makes Roy’s behavior toward Hans all the more understandable.
The Stamps: This is a difficult discussion to have as it is simultaneously a strength of the work and a weakness. As a catalyst for the mystery the stamps and their history are absolutely fascinating. Hammond clearly understands the mindset of a collector, and I would suspect that he speaks from experience when he lovingly describes the details of stamp evaluation and creation. However, in his efforts to make the value of the stamps understood he has a tendency to dive a little too deeply into their manufacture. He is extremely knowledgeable, and his love of the topic is evident, but these descriptions, while valuable to someone in the hobby, tend to become tedious and contribute little to the mystery they are intended to explore. From a plot perspective, they also disappear from the narrative for large swaths of the novel so that they lose their value as drivers of events.
What negatives there are are going to fall into the category of preference rather than skill. For my own taste, the invasion of Bougainville, which is told well, feels more tedious than exciting. This event is intricately involved with the overall plot, so it would be unfair to call it a narrative tangent, but the political situation on the islands is not really prefaced before it takes center stage, and as the protagonist does not seem to have a vested interest in the outcome, it becomes difficult to buy in. In a related way, the characters of Sapuru and Tagup, both of whom are pivotal in the resolution of the Bougainville conflict, are completely foreign to the reader. This is a byproduct of the first-person nature of the narrative as Roy has only passing interaction with Tagup and none whatsoever with Sapuru. It is not easy to divorce the Bougainville revolution from the greater flow of the text as it is vital in the plans of Hans Holland, but coupled with the narrator’s indifference to the outcome (save how he might benefit from its potential success), the longer sections focusing on this issue feel off topic even if they aren’t in fact.
Overall my experience with this book was extremely positive. Despite the over-detailed stamp discussions and the slow-moving island rebellion, learning the sordid history of the Holland family and the questions over the reality of their cursed fates are driving questions that continually keep the pages turning. Roy’s fascination with Perenna is grounded, if brisk, and his desire to create a new life for himself is a believable motivator for his decisions. For someone with a collector’s mindset, the mystery of the stamps is more than enough to capture the heart. Being rewarded with the auction to close out the novel also scratches that itch extremely well.
The death and rebirth of the Holland family is expertly unfurled over the course of the novel, and of all the intricate and engaging elements only the belated revelation that Red Holland and Carlos Holland are one and the same falls flat. The tension is well executed and maintained as the descriptions of the dangerous island cargo-cult and haunted men at the last of their resilience fill many of these well written moments with the ghosts of violence and desperation. This is a good example of a hard boiled novel with a unique and interesting plot, setting, and characters. Good for any thriller reader.
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