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"One of the most creative writers I've run across in years"
Murder She Wrote & Coffee, Tea, or Me author ... Don
Bain
"Mustang Blue"
by Mike Corrigan
Staff Writer Bridgton News May 29, 2003
Standing out above the usual self-published work, the novel is
well-paced, well-plotted, with dashes of spice; “Mustang Blue” is an
adult mainstream novel awash in the mystery of connection (of several
types). The central villain, as it happens, is a man without normal
connections, and it is Jeremy Collins’s cold remove from normal human
emotion that set into motion a macabre series of events, culminating
30 years after the first violent incident with a fiery and most
appropriate reunion of man and machine.
While coincidence often plays a greater role in good fiction
than it does in somewhat more mundane ordinary life, my credulity was
stretched a bit by “Mustang Blue”. But suspending disbelief was no
real strain, in the spell of such a well-paced book, undertaken by
such good writers. (Several typographical errors, apparently a
product of the self-publishing effort, were only mildly distracting;
they would have been more distracting were not the writing so
well-crafted. The next Bethany book—and there should be one!—could
use at least one more thorough proofreading than this one received.)
The book spans 30 years, with key events set in Colorado, Ohio,
and Texas. The main characters’ lives intertwine, with a retired cop
sharing center stage with the songwriter and nurse. Friendships are
well-drawn, and the major characters all have distinctive
personalities and voices. Additionally, all the small character
sketches are well-drawn. Scene setters, describing rooms and outdoor
scenes, are also various, apt and “accurate,” in the sense that the
reader gets a solid feel for each new place, with a hint of the
owner’s persona within the sensory details of each description.
Sample this first glimpse of “good cop” Vince Barnett:
A car door slammed and an
immense man blustered through the open doorway. He was at least
six-foot-six and three hundred pounds, with not an ounce of fat. He
wore a gray University of Colorado sweatshirt and sweatpants along
with Nike shoes with a red swoosh on the sides…His face looked like it
was sculpted from chunks of clay by an artist who gave up before he
had finished. All topped by a shaved head that glistened in the
bright light…
A novel breathes life into characters, and the differences
observed in these book people are real and convincing. A wide array
of humanity is set before us, but so many of those limned are, at
heart, good people that the book delights, on several levels. Since
the villain is as frozen-hearted as a Popsicle, the average good
people of the world are made to look even more wonderful. Jeremy
Collins, the villain, is frightening, almost emotionless, and yet he’s
believable, too. His actions and fate in this novel can be read as
object lessons on the hazards and pain of self-absorption.
Anyway, if you ever have the chance to buy a vintage,
silver-blue Mustang, something inside you may hesitate. And if a
pretty girl in a yellow sundress is hanging around, well, I recommend
that you pass up the opportunity, no matter how persuasive the
salesman is!
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