Hello,
This is my review of James Bradberry's "The 32nd of December", it was released February 23rd, 2014. Thanks to my friends at NetGalley.com I was able to get a preview copy.
Essentially the main story is the crash of Liberty Air Flight 1558 and why it crashed. That plane crash happened a year before the events kick of this book begin. President Elect Sidwell, Marc Beck and Angelien Ris are the three main characters in this novel. The premise is that this civilian jet was brought down because there was a witness on board that was going to testify against Sidwell. That would have sidetracked Sidwell's Presidency before it started. Beck and Ris are looking to try and find out the exact truth and Sidwell is trying to stop them. It's pretty typical for a thriller until about the last 10% of the book.
Bradberry would probably say that the story is more about specifically about Beck and Ris. That's ex-FBI agent Mark Beck, who lost his wife in the crash of Flight 1558. He's also suffering severe and very convenient amnesia. He had to google his name to find out more about himself. His amnesia serves as a major impediment throughout the book. A lesser character is Anna, Beck's wife, who Beck remembers as the love of his life. Although is she really.
The other major character is crusading reporter Angelien Ris, Ris rhymes with geese. She's a reporter for news magazine The New Observer. She's been working in Washington D.C. for about 10 years and about 5 years at The New Observer. Beck and Ris were having a relationship before Beck suffered amnesia. Their romantic relationship is slowed by the amnesia.
Ris and Beck met at the six month anniversary of Flight 1558's crash. They think the crash is suspicious and want to get to the truth. Ris is working with Elbert Hawes, a former NTSB employee. Hawes creates a computer flight simulation of what they believe is the true cause of the crash. If their story is published that will directly implicate Sidwell. Trying to stop the President- Elect has put a bullseye on their back. How complicit is Sidwell in the actual bombing though?
Sidwell will stop at nothing to become President and he's pulled out all stops to stop Ris and Beck from discovering and reporting the full truth. But other than extreme ambition, what else is Sidwell truly guilty of. He's working with Eva Granholt, his sometime lover, who runs one of the major divisions of the FBI.
Beck and Ris have to escape the many men on their trail, find out the exact truth before being killed and clear their names. Will they be able to do this in time? Well duh it's not like this book is breaking a lot of new ground, this story has been told at least tens of thousands times before. There's only so many ways you can cook a thriller. For this book to really stand out, it has to be really successful in having something fantastic in the telling of the story. Although you can see the author really trying to not fall in the typical traps, I wouldn't say he's fully successful at that. Other than a slight bit of intrigue about the true nature of some of the characters, this novel doesn't have a stand out quality.
When I finished reading the book all I could say about the end is "what the hell"? This is one of the most convoluted endings ever, it's a M. Night Shyamalan twist nightmare. There are so many twists and turns going on that it's hard to tell what exactly has happened and is happening. Who exactly are the good guys and who are the bad guys? It seems clear that someone set off a bomb, but who and why? What exactly is Beck's role in this whole mess? Is he both the criminal and the hero?
This book was okay, honestly Ris and Beck aren't the sharpest people in the world. Beck's battle with amnesia in this book wasn't an effective story telling technique. It reminds me of dealing with teenagers, the answer to questions too much of the time is "I don't know". A lot of unknowns isn't a method that builds excitement in a novel, especially a novel that allegedly is a "thriller". Ris and Beck make a whole bunch of mistakes throughout the book. For one they have Anders, one of the henchmen, phone and they can't figure out how the men can track them? Really? It took two supposedly smart people way to long to figure out how they were being tracked. They have multiple people on their tail and they stop and eat? Didn't Ris just get shot in the stomach? Those are just a few of the huh moments.
Also the men chasing them couldn't hit Ris and Beck more than once, although they took dozens of shots. Other than one shot that grazed Ris they couldn't hit the fleeing pair. Sidwell's henchmen miss the pair so many times that it borders on being ridiculous. They literally could be the worst shots ever in a work of fiction. It seems the only way they'd hit their intended target is by accident.
I'd give this book a 4 on the scale of 1-10. This is the second book I've read via NetGalley.com and I haven't been overwhelmed by either. However Barry Eisler's "Graveyard of Memories" is considerably better novel than Bradberry's novel. It's highly likely I'll read another Eisler novel, especially since John Rain is a compelling anti-hero. However it's doubtful that I'd read another Bradberry novel unless he improves his writing skills considerably. The next book I'm reading via NetGalley.com is Tawni O'Dell's "One of Us". I've read about the first 10% of this book and it seems this will be the best of the three. I would love to write a glowing review.
themusicaddict
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