Big Red Tequila (Chapters 19-33)

Mr. Riordan uses the “mystery plot-formula” as well as anyone.  Normally, as I’m reading I am not consciously aware of the plot as it unfolds.  I’m still not completely comfortable with that feeling and I am distracted by it when I read mysteries.  An English professor would, perhaps, look down his/her nose at me and claim that I’m missing out on half the value of reading fiction if I remain oblivious to the plot as I read a novel.  But I still like the idea of just immersing myself in the events as the story goes along and letting the author concern him/herself with such matters.  In a mystery, however, there is almost always a carefully constructed “schedule” of exposition in which clues materialize at various points in the plot, and it is usually too obvious to ignore. 

I also frequently get the feeling that the protagonist is even aware of the plot, thus knowing which character to talk to next, or which file cabinet or deserted building to poke into at each turn.  In the case of this book - as in many other mysteries I have read – the protagonist even seems to know that the plot is dependent on his not dying.  Even though he apparently doesn’t have a death wish, he seems to be fine with constantly putting himself in situation which might very well be his last.  Yes, his determination is exceptionally strong and perhaps admirable; but he seems to be unaware that he is mortal – after all, the success of his quest kind of depends on his continued involvement.  And yes, this is a work of fiction, so it’s best not to over –analyze these points.  But the author is so clearly striving for realism in so many other ways that this appears to be an oversight, although a not uncommon one, to be sure.

The characterization continues to be entertaining.  Officer Drapiewski is characterized as someone who is a little too in love with food.  “By the time I’d told Larry Drapiewski my tale of woe he had relieved me of my leftover lemon chicken, four Shiner Bocks, a couple of beef fajitas, and half a box of the former tenant’s Captain Crunch, dry…I’ll give him this, the deputy got my mind off my problems.  Now I was thinking about my empty refrigerator and my empty wallet.  I was hoping to God that Larry didn’t want something else to eat.” 

His encounter with the chauffeur/bodyguard is amusing as well.  “No matter how strong your grip is, it’s always unconnected where the thumb meets the fingertips…I was halfway up the side walk before he realized he didn’t have me anymore.  He came at me again, but he had a serious disadvantage.  He was on the job and I wasn’t…even the toughest employees are usually hesitant about cold-cocking somebody in front of their rich boss’s house…He tried to grab me with both arms.  I stepped underneath and flipped him into the gravel…You’d’ve thought he got flipped every day by the calm look on his face.  He just stood up and nodded.  ‘Aikido?’ he asked.  ‘Tai chi.’  ‘How about that.’  Then he cleared his throat and looked at the front door.  ‘You mind if I make the introduction, man?  I don’t feel like job-hunting today.’”

 

There is plenty here for testosterone-laden guys to revel in.  But the ladies are depicted with great realism as well, shaking their heads in disdain at the thick-headedness of the men, especially our hero, Tres.  My guess – and I’m just as often wrong about women’s responses as any other thick-headed guy – is that the female reader will identify very positively with the female characters here, especially Maia, Navarre’s ex-lover.  All the ladies, including his mother, are being very sensible about advising him to stop poking his nose into this dangerous situation.  But if he were to heed their advice, well … we wouldn’t have a story then, would we?





Next week:  Chapters 34-51