Douglas Kennedy has published 13 novels, and the vast majority focus on themes such as troubled relationships, the human condition, our life's journey and the vagaries of existence. In The Heat of Betrayal (2015) also published under the title The Blue Hour, we find all of these themes contained in this single novel.
Our protagonist and narrator is a thirty-something woman in the midst of a deeply felt love for her second husband, twenty years her senior. A grey-streaked long-haired sketch artist who has achieved a level of notoriety and success. Only married for a few years, Robin desires to have children because her first marriage was such a disaster. According to Robin, their love-making is superb, so really, in her mind, there is no reason why they cannot have a child. This becomes the catalyst, setting off a bizarre set of events and circumstances taking place in the Sahara's heated sands and the strange marketplaces of Morocco, including the tribes of the local Bedouin.
As many critics have repeatedly stated, including me, Kennedy has an uncanny gift in understanding a woman's point of view. He has written from a woman's perspective in many of his novels, and The Heat of Betrayal is no different and a great example of this particular skill. As a man, this comment could sound dubious, but many of my female friends who have read Kennedy has remarked on this skill as well.
Robin discovers that her husband Paul has been keeping a secret throughout their apparent perfect marriage. She attempts to confront him, but he mysteriously disappears from their hotel, leaving blood and chaos in their room. The authorities move her to another room while they investigate. And the local police immediately accuse her of foul play, Robin's artist husband Paul has seemingly vanished.
The novel really picks-up momentum at this point, as Robin must navigate through the dangers of a foreign land in the pursuit of her husband.
Kennedy is an excellent storyteller. He directly places the reader in action, mind, and the central character's thoughts, bringing us along with the tale.
However, this reader found Robin to have a strong will, though the choices she makes on her rampaging quest to find her “loser” husband was irritating at best. The barriers in her search are multiple, and in one case, a single choice comes close to ending her life, only to be saved by the kindness of strangers.
The endings resolutions came close to tying up all the loose ends. But that pathological obsessiveness of the central protagonist remained.
Or was this simply love?
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment