RELATIVE DANGER

Relative Danger
by Charles Benoit
268 pages
ISBN: 1-59058-091-5
Poisoned Pen Press
February 2004
$24.95

Douglas Pearce had a very ordinary and boring life. He had worked at a brewery in Pottsville, Pennsylvania when he was laid off and given one thousand dollars as severance pay. Supposedly foreign investors were eliminating his position. Something though just didn’t make sense and the compensation pay really didn’t make sense since the family never paid anyone more than they deserved.

Then the letter arrives. A woman, Edna Bowers, who knew about his uncle, Russ, had written to Douglas to ask if he would like a box of his uncle’s possessions. Since he had no job and was curious about the “black sheep” uncle, he drove to visit her in Toronto. She told him of many stories of his uncle and showed him pictures. What she really wanted was to have him investigate his uncle’s death in Singapore, fifty years ago. Also, Uncle Russ had in his possession at the time a red diamond that disappeared when he died. Edna would pay for all the expenses. Douglas agreed since he had no job prospects and nothing more exciting in his life than lounging while watching television daily.

Traveling to Morocco, Cairo, and Singapore, Douglas meets a variety of characters who his benefactor, have suggested he meet and question. Finding out the people aren’t always who they seem to be and that someone doesn’t want him to find the diamond or the murderer, Douglas has adventures the parallel an Indiana Jones. With a comic collection of characters and realism, this turns out to be an adventure of self-discovery for Douglas.

Douglas really had no sense of adventure before this escapade. While is Morocco, Douglas is in a café and is questioning an older man when the man starts to question Douglas.

“Have you been to New York City?” the old man said, sipping his boiling tea.

“Ah, no,” and now he was apologizing, “I haven’t.”

“You come all the way to Morocco to sit at my café and yet you don’t go to New York City? I would rather go to New York City than Morocco, and I’m an old man.”

“I’ll get there someday, but right now…”

“Somedays don’t always come.”…

“You seem quite unprepared for life outside of Pottsville,” Mr. Ahmed laughed. “But her you are!”

From being in a prison in Cairo, to brothels, to beautiful companions, to sly old men, this book is an action adventure as well as an adventure in self discovery for Douglas.

This is Charles Benoit’s debut novel. This is fun reading in that the author obviously has a story to tell. I wonder if any of this is unintentional autobiographical.