John D. MacDonald was one of the best post-war cellulose authors. He confused crime with psychology and social commentary and told stories in a pure style that still rings true.
The Area of Suspicion is one of many novels that he beat in numbers, until he reached the bestseller level with the Travis McGee series and missed Mayer and me, combing rabbits from hair.
It begins with his hero Gevan Dean, who pulled out of the outer paradise of financial independence for a party, swimming and fishing with the elite in sunny south Florida - and the inner hell of emotional torment and emptiness that he feels.
His brother Ken has just been killed, and like it or not, he is obliged to return to his hometown and family business, which is now a growing corporation of Dean Products.
And Niki is a former fiancé whom he found one night in the arms of his brother.
Almost against his will, he begins to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of his brother, and finding Dean Products has changed a lot since he left four years ago - for the worse.
Nevertheless, he was still attracted to Nicky. Uncharacteristically for the hero MacDonald, he takes a widow and even half believes that she is still in love with him.
It is surprising that even after four years of emotional pain a person can repeat the same mistake.
MacDonald is one of the few writers who seem to understand the worlds of both business and technology. Negotiations and details inside the plant regarding products and government contracts are realistic and reliable.
In the end, Gevan was saved by his sense of professional responsibility and love for a good woman — repetitive topics through Macdonald’s books. MacDonald obviously appreciated the professionalism and the woman who are passionate but selective in the men they love.
Gevan wants to believe that the criminal arrested by the police, like the killer of his brother, is to blame ... but he cannot but believe that the girl gives the alibi.
And he cannot but believe that the company's employees and former employees who tell him that the new man hired to start the plant is bad for the company, regardless of how obviously it is qualified.
This makes him discover the truth, connected not only with the murder of his brother, but also heal the pain of the ancient “treachery” of Nika. She was manipulated both by him and his brother, and they did not have protection because they could not know her actual identity or agenda.
The final transformation of the book from a simple crime novel into a spy thriller seems a bit unfortunate, but explains everything that happened. And, taking into account the “cold war”, it is quite plausible, although too many liberals will have fluff-down, like McCarthyism - if they had not read such trash from cellulose.
The Area of Suspicion is one of the best novels by John D. Macdonald and so recommended.
