This was my first
introduction to Michael Kenyon’s character of Inspector Peckover. The initial
greeting had me politely grimacing and concluded with a handshake of
questionable resolution; unsure if our paths will ever meet again. THE MAN AT
THE WHEEL was an enjoyable road trip of a read that weaved onto the occasional turn
and jug handle before landing back on the narrative straightaway, yet once
arrived at the destination, the fast wrap-up and unsatisfying ending resulted
in the journey quickly fading back into the distance of the rearview mirror.
THE MAN AT THE WHEEL
had an interesting format presenting two dual narratives, each own a separate
chapter and insight containing their relevance to the plot - the aforementioned
Henry Peckover, and hack writer of the Post,
Michael Ramsden, each covering the shady dealings, for their own personal
reasons, of American televangelist Jody James. Kenyon does a good job at
maintaining their separate voices, although both contain a heathy amount of
British irony and one-liners suitable for Blackadder
dialogue as well as some deep slang that American readers could find indecipherable,
even for those hip on Anglo pop-culture.
To note, I was reading
a digital advance copy presented by NetGalley and Endeavour Press; THE MAN AT
THE WHEEL was initially published in 1982. What makes the read interesting with
all the hindsight that 2016 affords, is the topic itself – a murder
mystery/crime drama involving a criminal American televangelist, which in 1982
would have been a clever novelty as opposed to the very tread-over topic such
has become.
Fans of both Kenyon and
Peckover will no doubt be entertained. Audiences of neither will probably find
this in line with Peckover’s humor: amusing, insubstantial, and ultimately forgettable.
As Always,
theJOE
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