Book review ~ Rogue Island ~ Bruce DeSilva

Rogue Island

I picked this up because it's set in Providence, and I thought it would be interesting to read a mystery set in our new hometown.

The plot was pretty standard, and DeSilva definitely worked the hard-boiled investigative reporter for all it was worth. You could practically hear Bogart's laconic drawl in the dialog, and Spillane's world-weary gumshoe in the narrative. It was a little hokey, but not too bad once you settle into the rhythm, although that rhythm is often broken by DeSilva's too-frequent use of the word 'said.'

The story centers around a reporter trying to find a connection between a series of housefires in the Mount Hope neighborhood of Providence. At the same time, he's dealing with a mentally unstable ex-wife (aren't all ex-wives crazy?), a new girlfriend, an old family friend who may be a suspect, and animosity in the fire department. Liam Mulligan, the reporter in question, is well acquainted with Providence, having grown up there, and seems to have a love/hate relationship with it. His Providence is gritty, corrupt and sliding into oblivion.

I listened to the audiobook, and it was unintentionally hilarious. The reader spoke unnaturally slowly with maddeningly long pauses between lines. This is a man who takes his commas seriously.

"Who is it?"

{pause}

I said.

{pause}

"Never mind,"

{pause}

she said.

Also absurd was the reader's obvious unfamiliarity with local names and places. Perhaps Providence's most famous (or infamous) political figure is former Mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci. It's pronounced "See-ANN-see." Buddy's name shows up several times in the book, and he managed to mispronounce it in a different way every time. "Kee-AHN-kee," "Kee-ANN-kee," "SEE-ahn-kee," and so on.

I'm not likely to be asked to read a book for audio publication, but if I ever am - or if you ever are - please take the time to familiarize yourself with any words you haven't seen before. Note that local place names and proper names may have pronunciations that vary from the apparent.