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A hapless policeman, a seaside tourist town, crooked politicians, and a shark attack that is terrorizing a town, and perhaps more importantly, its tax base of tourists, is a wonderful set up for a fun summer escape. Aside from the fact that our unfortunate, but well-meaning narrator, Jim Hawkins, is a temporary parking warden rather than a cop, this is more or less the promising set-up of Ross Gresham's WHITE SHARK, which draws heavily on the plot of Jaws for its initial set-up.
Jim Hawkins is a twenty-something, recently (perhaps dishonorably) discharged military veteran, who finds himself in the Northeastern beach town of Nausset working the summer in the miserable job of being a parking warden for the town, as he battles the incompetence and corruption of his police department in a town run by the business interests that make up the tax base. Jim has difficulty keeping himself out of trouble and he manages an on-again off-again affair with a local teacher in an attempt to make the summer come to a quick close. When he witnesses the apparent suicide of a prominent developer, Jim finds himself plunged into a more tawdry and dangerous situation than meddling in local politics ever could. Later, a young environmentalist turns up dead from a shark attack, Jim starts to put together the pieces of a conspiracy bigger than he ever imagined.
Like many recent crime fiction series, WHITE SHARK relies heavily on the sharp wit of its protagonist in order to keep its momentum. This is a tricky approach and Hawkins' isn't quite dynamic enough a character to carry it, but at least when the book is going that route, it knows what it is for better or worse. However, when it tries to be a political thriller, a paranoid conspiracy thriller, and a satire all at the same time, Gresham finds his debut novel getting pretty bogged down. Some series - Timothy Hallinan's Junior Bender series comes to mind - have thrived on relying at least in part of the wit of its author and protagonist; but these titles also have a stronger plot-based hook to complement their character-driven narrative.
WHITE SHARK may occasionally confound or confuse its readers, but Hawkins is a fun enough character to be on a journey with even if the novel does not quite know what it wants to be. Considering the promise of the set-up, this could have been an ideal summer breezy read. One cannot finding this one a bit of a disappointment, even if there are hints of a more promising series sprinkled throughout.
§ Ben Neal is a librarian who likes to fancy himself an amateur writer, humorist, detective, and coffee connoisseur in his spare time. He can be reached at beneneal@indiana.edu.
Reviewed by Ben Neal, June 2016
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