New lawyer Storm Kamaya is just setting up her practice
and needs all the clients she can get. When an attractive
woman asks for representation in a divorce case, Storm can’t
afford to turn her down, although Storm’s instincts
tell her the woman is holding things back from her.
Little does she know, the divorce case will put her on an
intersect course with family she hasn’t seen in years
and, ultimately, and a killer. Set in Hawaii, The Green
Room seeks to introduce the reader to a new locale and culture.
Reading The Green Room, there was no doubt in my mind that
the author knew her stuff about the setting. The use of
Hawaiian language, folklore and surfing terms were wielded
convincingly, but sometimes it was too much. This is not
something I wanted to criticize, for I do appreciate works
that ring with authenticity, even if not all the terms are
familiar to me, but in the end I couldn’t be certain
that this wasn’t the root cause of some of my other
issues with the book.
There is a two-page glossary in the back of the book, which
was fortunate, but there were enough terms used in the novel
to fill three or four times that number of pages. The frequent
use of the lingo did have me confused at some points, and
I flipped back and forth. First to the glossary, only to
find the term not listed, then back to see if I could find
it used elsewhere. Eventually I accepted that, short of
writing down every term used in the book so I could find
it again, there were things I was going to have to guess
at. Bear in mind, in the two pages of definitions provided,
the words only start with eight different letters – a,
h, k, l, m, n, p and u. It’s easy for the words to
blur in your mind when you haven’t grasped the definition
to begin with, and it’s another h, k or p word. I
hate to say they start to all look the same, but when you
don’t know how to say them or what they mean, it can
happen.
Unfortunately, once something like this is pulling you out
of the story a bit, it’s hard to know how much of
the rest of your reading experience has been affected by
it. In the flipping back and forth, it’s possible
I missed some of the answers to some things, but I was perplexed
by what seemed to me to be a contradiction with the main
character. My understanding in the beginning was that, after
almost drowning as a child in an incident which claimed
the life of a family member, Storm had a fear of the water.
There was reference made to physical tension her boyfriend
sensed when her cousin insisted on her coming out onto the
water to surf with him in the beginning. Within a few chapters
we learn she owns a surf board and she goes out on the water
alone.
Maybe I over-read Storm’s alleged fear, but judging
from events later in the book I don’t think I did.
And this is where my own personal experiences gave me a
hard time with this aspect of the book. I almost drowned
when I was ten. Nobody with me did drown, it was uniquely
my experience. And to this day I will not swim in open waters
alone.
There were a few other points about Storm that I had trouble
with. After a few murders, a serious attempt on her own
life that involved physical injuries and watching someone
be shot, she was surprised when the killer slapped her?
Ultimately, I felt this was a book that had a solid foundation
with a lot of promise as an action-adventure book with a
mystery element thrown in, but I think that another edit
on the book should have focused more attention to the readability
of the story and some of the inconsistencies I’ve
mentioned, as well as a few others I won’t, because
they would involve spoilers.
I still think The Green Room would appeal to those who like
adventure stories. Atkinson did a fantastic job of making
me homesick for the pacific…
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Sandra Ruttan’s debut suspense novel, Suspicious Circumstances,
will be released in January 2007.
Praise for Suspicious Circumstances:
“A gripping adventure, a large cast of marvelous characters, and twists
that follow turns. Read it. You’ll love it too.””
Robert Fate, author of Baby Shark
“Sandra Ruttan has graced the world of psychological thrillers
with this fast-paced, absorbing tale, fraught with corruption, murder,
mistrust, a number of unconscionable villains and two exceptionally
likable protagonists, all craftily entangled in a delightfully twisted
plot. Sit back and be prepared to get lost in this riveting story,
because you won’t want to put it down until you’ve turned
the very last page.”
JB Thompson, author of The Mozart Murders
"Suspicious Circumstances is a plot with endless twists and turns,
lots of unexpected heroes and villains, and enough unanswered questions
to keep you reading to the very end!"
Julia Buckley, author of
The Dark Backward
“Suspicious Circumstances twists and turns and twists again,
leaving the reader breathless and unsure which end is up. And that's
just
the beginning. Ruttan's deft touch intrigues and satisfies, making
her a powerful new force in the mystery field.”
JT Ellison, author of All The Pretty Girls, MIRA 2007
“A well executed procedural with a spark between our protagonists,
an excellent feel for political machinations on a small town scale
and a plot that twists and turns like a bad tempered rattlesnake.”
Russel
D. McLean, Crime Scene Scotland
Return to Fall 2006 Table of Contents
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