Philippine Fever: A Sam Haine Mystery

Bruce Cook
Capital Crime Press (2006)
ISBN 0977627675
Reviewed by Thomas Gabrielli for Reader Views (3/07)

ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) agent Sam Haine is called to Manila on a homicide investigation, where he teams up with a Philippine detective known as “Bogie.” Together, they slowly – ever so slowly – unravel the clues to solve how a Harvey Tucker was murdered and who killed him.

First, the good: Cook is a talented writer whose sentence structure, use of metaphors and descriptions are nothing short of outstanding. He uses his well-established vocabulary to create – at times – an impressive read.

I also like the structure of the book. As a preamble to each chapter, Cook gives a little-known factoid into the Philippine culture. These short introductions were interesting as well as educational.

However, the book itself suffers -- at times from the very things I liked about it. Cook uses Philippine words and phrases interspersed and sparingly throughout, without any clue to their meanings. I couldn’t even guess what some of these words mean. It was frustrating having to reread passages thinking you may have missed a dropped but forgotten clue to their meaning.

The plot is also a factor here -- grass growing in the dead of winter moves faster than this plot. It also didn’t make much sense initially; why would an ATF agent be called in to Manila to investigate a murder on foreign soil? Is this standard procedure? Not until halfway through the book is it revealed who Tucker, the victim, is and what connections he may have had.

The characters are very stilted; they are all of cardboard construction, without anything to hook the reader into wanting to care about any of them. Apparently, Cook is planning on making his ATF agent, Sam Haine, a recurring character, but he is so one-dimensional and unemotional that we’ll need more history and involvement to make us want to read more of him.

And finally, the subtitle: “A Sam Haine Mystery.” There is no mystery in this novel. Mystery involves suspense, inquisitiveness, perhaps even a game of trying to solve a crime before the novel’s characters do. There is none of this here. This is simply straight-forward storytelling.

While I am apprehensive to give negative reviews, particularly to a first-time author, I am reluctant to report that this read, “Philippine Fever,” was boring. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to get this read over with, but, alas, the page turning, like the novel, never got up to speed.

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