Cape Disappointment: A Novel

by: Earl Emerson

Published by: Ballantine

Reviewed by Patricia E. Reid

When Thomas Black goes to work for one Senate hopeful, and his wife Kathy goes to work for the opposite side, the two are plunged into a nightmare of corruption that leaves them both scarred for life.

Kathy is reported to be the victim of a plane crash. Her husband Thomas had witnessed the crash from Cape Disappointment and was talking to Kathy on her cell just before the plane crashed. Thomas and Kathy were taking a few days off, and Kathy was not scheduled for a plane trip with Jane Sheffield, her employer. At the last minute Kalpesh Gupta, a worker on the campaign with Kathy, announces he is ill and insisted that Kathy take the flight.

Thomas Black is caught in a bombing that leaves him badly injured and a number of people dead– although Maddox, the candidate Black works for, escapes unharmed. Black fights to recover from his injuries and cannot come to grips with the thought that Kathy may be lost to him forever.

Black suspects a cover-up regarding the plane crash and his friend Elmer “Snake” Slezak sticks by his side even though Snake thinks Thomas is imagining things. On the other hand, Bert, Snake’s brother, believes that there are enemies around every corner and feeds Thomas’ suspicions. Thomas feels that Deborah Driscoll, a worker in the Maddox campaign that employed Black, knows more than she is willing to tell him. He also feels that Kalpesh Gupta, who worked with Kathy, is holding back information.

The story switches back and forth between Thomas’ hospital room while he recovers from the bombing–and memories of the past and thoughts from the present. I found the back and forth to be confusing at first but it all finally fell in place to create an interesting and intriguing story.

Armchair Interviews says: This is the twelfth book in the Thomas Black series but can be read as a stand-alone. It is also the first Thomas Black in ten years.

Author’s Web site: http://www.EarlEmerson.com