Friday, August 28, 2015

Eastward in Eden by Terence Faherty

First Sentence: I took a walk to clear my head after the long flight and found that it wouldn’t clear.

Contemplating ending his life, former seminarian Own Keane, now a detective, comes to Kenya in response to the plea of a friend. In the process, he is staying with a local priest, befriended by a young local boy, and becomes involved in the investigation of the murder of a man claiming to be the reincarnation of a long-dead warrior hero.

Faherty does a very good job of introducing us to the protagonist, but we are still left with many questions unfilled, which may be due to this being the 8th books of the series. That does make it challenging for those new to the series, however. Still, Keane is an intriguing protagonist and one can appreciate his references to “Magnum PI” as well as an appropriate quote from Andrew Greeley. In some ways, the supporting characters are even more interesting; young Basil is a delight, and the mystic Mogu particularly stand out.

The dialogue is very well done, with just the right among of humor with references to “Magnum, P.I.” and an exchange relating to Sherlock Holmes…”And then I could have said, ‘But the dog didn’t bark in the night.’ To which you could have replied, ‘That was the curious behavior.’” “There’d have been copyright issues,” I said. One can also appreciate a very interesting conversation of a struggle between those of faith and those without. It is one of those valued elements of a story that makes you pause and consider.

Faherty is better at introducing readers into this new and unfamiliar setting, providing both geographic and political information. Although the story gets off to a rather slow start, he does have a wonderful author’s voice…”A man of my curiosity and spiritual bent. Or curiously bent spirituality.”… and with each page, the story then become more compelling.

Eastward in Eden” is a short book with slightly inconsistent pacing. However, it does have fascinating characters, excellent twists and is well worth reading.

EASTWARD IN EDEN (Myst-Owen Keane-Kenya-Contemp) – G+
Faherty, Terence – 8th in series
The Mystery Company – Oct 2013

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