Three A.M.

Starred review from January 23, 2012
The opening of John’s compelling debut, set in an unnamed near-future U.S. city, could come straight out of a 1950s hard-boiled detective novel (“She was blond, of course. Eyes as gray as midnight fog and lips stained red”), but soon, the irony of the fog reference becomes clear. Fifteen years earlier, a horrific new illness devastated the entire country. Even worse, a fog settled in permanently over the world, making sunlight only a faded memory. Those living in quarantined cities must navigate by touch, aided by dimly lit orbs. In this hellish environment, ex-soldier Tom Vale survives by working as a PI who’s more than willing to strong-arm witnesses, crooks, and recalcitrant clients. The entry into his life of the blond bombshell, who wants him to exonerate a prisoner accused of murder, unsettles Vale’s grim routine and leads him to some disturbing secrets. John’s unsparing, hard-edged depiction of cynicism and immorality marks him as an author to watch. Agent: Russell Galen, Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency.

February 15, 2012
A bleak little fable about personal responsibility, set in an apparently post-apocalyptic, nameless American city. Sixteen years ago, millions of people died from a mysterious illness. Not long afterward, the fog drifted in and never left, blanketing the city and cutting it off from the rest of a presumably equally devastated world. Stumbling through the streets is private detective Thomas Vale, drowning his despair in booze and pills, waking every night at 3 a.m. and not knowing why. But when he concludes an investigation of a warehouse theft and accepts a new, dubious-seeming assignment from a gorgeous blonde, he learns the truth about both the illness and the fog. John does a marvelous job of painting the physical and emotional landscape of a corrupt, eternally obscured city, where hope has almost drained away and people cling desperately to (but are deeply wounded by) their mementoes of a brighter, happier world. Unfortunately, once the Big Conspiracy is revealed, the novel shifts from an introspective noir to a still thoughtful but somewhat cliched thriller where the perennially underestimated hero runs around trying to expose the plot and save his woman before he's killed. (Really, it's ridiculous: Vale amply demonstrates that he's vicious when he's cornered, and his enemies never take sufficient precautions.) Worse still, Rebecca, the femme fatale turned love interest, is sadly two-dimensional; she's a beautiful victim who primarily seems to be there to give Vale some focus. Vale's relationship with Heller, a young man who owes him money, is far more poignantly and complexly real. John does get props, though, for not forcing an inappropriately happy ending. A promising, if not entirely satisfying, debut.

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March 1, 2012

After a deadly epidemic and a seemingly unrelated, unrelenting, mysterious fog descended on the world, Tom Vale's life narrowed to the space just a few feet around him. Once a soldier, Tom now spends his days as a minor private investigator and shakedown man. Like so many others, he has found a way to survive if not thrive in the sunless, chilly, fog-ridden city--until the day a woman in a bright red dress commissions him to undertake a murder. In a sudden race against the clock, Tom finds himself caught up in a mystery far beyond one individual--a mystery that could explain the illness, the fog, and the future of Tom's city. If only he can stay alive long enough to solve it. VERDICT This fast-paced well-written debut dystopian thriller lures readers in with its noir feel and complicated hero and keeps them engaged with plot twists and turns and lively dialog. Reader are never more than a step ahead as our flawed protagonist bumbles toward his answers and a satisfying conclusion.--Jennifer Beach, Cumberland Cty. P.L., VA

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