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It's a pleasure to be able to read a new Faye Kellerman novel after a hiatus of four years. Apparently, from the age teenager Hannah has now attained, time has passed in the Decker universe, too. A flickering light then a power failure in the Decker household is a still, small voice that announces the crash of Flight 1324 from Burbank Airport to San Jose. The Deckers are called into action since Hannah's school is close to the crash site but soon Peter is caught up in the events from a different angle when an off-duty flight attendant, assumed to have been on the flight, is unaccounted for in the recovery of the bodies. Farley Lodestone, stepfather of the missing woman, speaks to Peter and insists that the husband of Roseanne Dresden, Ivan, has been plotting to murder Roseanne and now has somehow managed to accomplish his aim. Decker, Dunn and Oliver investigate but of course they have more than a single case to follow. During the recovery, a woman's skeleton has been uncovered, but this one is very fragile – and very old. Damage to the head indicates the woman was a victim of homicide so now the detectives must make use of all the modern marvels of science to advance their investigations. In this outing, there is far less emphasis on Decker's home life than there has been in earlier books. While Decker is obviously still an observant Jew, there is not a great deal of reference to religion other than the occasional mention of Shabbos and so on. Rina's sons do not appear in the action and even Hannah scarcely rates more than the occasional word. Dunn's daughter only appears via telephone and Scott Oliver has no life outside the investigation. Quite obviously, because the search is the thing, and because the reader is presumed to be familiar with the investigators, not much character development is seen. We do tend to learn a bit more about Roseanne Dresden's husband and her paramour than either gentleman would like but at no time do we get inside their heads. Despite my happiness at seeing Faye Kellerman in print once more, I was not blinded to some of the faults of the book. At times (oh horror) I felt that the action dragged a little. Perhaps the author just needs to get back into her stride again. Perhaps, too, a little extra editing could have been applied to tighten the action. Four years is a long time to wait between matzos so perhaps the author might take pity on her appreciative audience and turn out her next opus in far less time.
Reviewed by Denise Pickles, July 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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