1 out of 4 stars
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What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive. Double Exit by Pat S. Clarke tells a tangled tale involving ancient rumors of stolen treasure, men going into hiding, secrets within secrets, double identities, kidnap, love, lust, and the mob.
CFO of Friedlander Insurance Group, Donald Rozzi, is a man with many secrets. His whole goal in life is to accumulate wealth and live to a peaceful old age with his family. However, his company is inextricably mixed with the local mob boss, Emile Vasquez. Rozzi convinces board members to pull the plug on Vasquez's involvement. However, before Vasquez could call their bluff, someone executed a hit on Vasquez. Neither local law enforcement nor the FBI can tell whether the hit was successful. Neither can they tell who ordered the hit.
About a year and half later, Rozzi learns that Emile Vasquez had survived the attempt on his life. Not only was Vasquez alive, he had vowed to kill Rozzi and three other men. All bets are now off concerning Rozzi's plush future. When two of the men died under mysterious circumstances, Rozzi flees. So quick and thorough was his flight, that he did not even alert his wife and son concerning his plans.
Meanwhile, a retired professor friend of Rozzi's has been actively seeking a rumored pirate treasure on Jamaica. Soon Rozzi, his brother Marcus, and the professor are searching in earnest for the chests of gold coins. Their search is held in utmost secrecy as both Rozzi and Marcus are in hiding. When the professor retires from the hunt, it is left to Rozzi and Marcus to carry on.
Back in America, Rozzi's wife dies of natural causes and his son, Alan, is hired by Argon, a company that had worked closely with Rozzi before he left the country. FBI agents who wish to take down the mob once and all begin working with Alan in an attempt to locate Rozzi, find the new mob leader, and shut down the mob's operations. This search leads them to Jamaica. Complicating matters, Jamaica is run by corrupt businessmen who protect their interests by paying local law enforcement.
This book has a fascinating base plot. However, there are so many story threads, I was often confused as to what was going on. The story moved along at a very rapid pace; however, I found the overall writing style to be pedantic and somewhat disconnected. In addition, the people in the book felt "flat" and sometimes unbelievable. I would have loved to see more actual character development. The author definitely has great ideas, but needs to work on better incorporating each of the sub plots so as to make it feel less disjointed.
To some degree, it felt as though this book were written more as a script with stage directions as opposed to a novel that stands alone. In book format, the writing lacked a sense of emotion or even forward movement. However, Double Exit may be just right on the big screen; it has all the elements necessary for an action-packed thriller. Many of the scenes that were confusing in print would be instantly understood in a single well-done video shot, not to mention video format allows for easier character identification.
Lastly, this book did not give the sense at all of being professionally edited. There are spurious quote marks throughout the entire book. Conversations were not consistently introduced, leaving a bit of confusion over who was speaking. Commas were used in strange ways, such as, "These structural artistic impressions, surrounded his own beach-style two-story home." I also found unclear pronouns and misplaced modifiers. Because of an overall flat writing style, lack of general character development, and inadequate editing, I need to give this book only 1 out of 4 stars.
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Double Exit
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