New Book Alert: Thunder Road by Colin Holmes; Hard Boiled Detective Novel Begins In Noir But Takes A Detour Into Science Fiction

 

New Book Alert: Thunder Road by Colin Holmes; Hard Boiled Detective Novel Begins In Noir But Takes A Detour Into Science Fiction

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Colin Holmes' Thunder Road is one of those detective novels that has fun playing on real events or possibly real events. 

Set in the late 1940's, it borrows heavily from the hard boiled noir detective genre with the loner detective hired to solve a case that takes him right into a den of gangsters, prostitutes, corrupt officials, and many secrets yet to be exposed. But then it takes a very strange and bizarre detour into Science Fiction which either can become the highlight or the worst thing about this book.

Jefferson Sharp has been removed from his position as a cattle thief investigator with a Ft. Worth investigation company as well as his position as husband when his wife, Evelyn, files for divorce.

Divorced and unemployed, Sharp goes gambling in Ft. Worth's Thunder Road. There he is spotted by Doyle Denniker, casino owner and gangster. Denniker wants to hire Sharp to keep watch on Myron Williamson, an associate of his rival, Bobby Caples. It's a simple tail-and-report job.

The assignment ends up being anything but simple when Sharp finds himself surrounded by dead bodies, feuding gangsters, mysterious aircraft, suspicious military personnel, and a piece of what appears to be tinfoil that is out of this world.

Thunder Road is one of those types of historical detective novels that marries its fictional world with the real world and events, well allegedly real events anyway. While Sharp faces fictional gangsters and criminals he discovers that they are connected to real life gangsters, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel and Meyer Lansky.

 Through  Sharp's investigation we learn about the creation of Las Vegas from a backwater forgettable desert town to the gambling and entertainment venue that we know today. We also see how the creation of the city played into the decline of Lansky and Siegel's one time friendship. 

Siegel wanted Vegas to be a glitzy success. Cost was no object. He even personally oversaw the construction of the first casino hotel, The Flamingo, later known as the Flamingo Hilton (named for the womanizing Siegel's then girlfriend, Virginia "Flamingo" Hill).

 Lansky however was concerned about the cost and felt that the showboat Siegel was getting too full of himself and drawing too much attention to the illegal dealings. Unlike most friendships which end with a fight or a Twitter battle, Siegel and Lansky's friendship ended with a bullet in Siegel's head. (Fun Fact: Siegel and Lansky were the inspiration for the characters, Moe Greene and Hyman Roth respectively in The Godfather franchise.)

It's brilliant how Holmes weaves Sharp's investigation with real life people like Siegel and Lansky. It gives a sense of history to this noir novel. Thunder Road seems to be a descendant of works like James Ellway's L.A. Quartet series (which The Black Dahlia and L.A. Confidential are a part) which uses a fictional case to comment on the very real and salacious past of certain American cities. This connection shows that in fact and fiction, there is a dark history that leads to the problems that are still prevalent to this day.

So far not bad, but then things get weird. Because Thunder Road then references another event from the late 1940's one that you would not expect to find in the genre: the alleged U.F.O. crash in Roswell, New Mexico (that's where the tinfoil comes in). 

For those that don't know: In 1947, a mysterious aircraft crashed outside Roswell, New Mexico. Eyewitnesses even saw bodies near the craft that didn't look human. Authorities insist that it was a weather balloon and the supposed bodies were merely crash test dummies. However most people believe that the craft was a U.F.O., the bodies were the alien occupants, and that the United States government covered up the crash and the results.

 Some also think that the Roswell crash was also tied to the mysterious section of Nellis Air Force Base, called Area 51, in Nevada (strange how Nevada appears a lot in Thunder Road isn't it?). Many people have seen strange lights and aircraft flying in and out of Area 51. Conspiracy theorists have been obsessed with it, even to the point of planning a raid on it three years ago.

 That's when Thunder Road steps away from detective noir and jumps right into science fiction conspiracy theory. It makes Thunder Road stand out from other neo noir books. The plot then makes the stakes higher than just a simple gang war. However, the book takes Sharp's investigation to a level that is distracting and only has a tangible connection at best to his initial case. 

Perhaps this is a case of Holmes doing too many things in one book. Maybe he should have split the ideas into two different books. He could have kept the noir detective book in this one and put the Area 51 stuff into a separate book. Maybe he could even have saved it for another Sharp book.

Besides the separate subplots that Thunder Road takes, there are some really great things to recommend. Among them is the development of the relationship between Sharp and his female friend, Roni Arquette. Longtime friends, they have been unlucky in love with Sharp's recent divorce and the death of Roni's husband.

 Roni and Sharp often taunt and tease each other but also are one another's confidant and partner. Roni even assists Sharp in his investigation by tailing and spying on potential targets. 

Throughout the book, Sharp and Roni are put in danger and have some very heated arguments to disguise their developing attraction towards each other. It would be interesting if a sequel to Thunder Road comes about and not only do Roni and Sharp become romantically involved but Roni becomes his partner. She is smart and observant enough to help him out. Their barbs and wit will keep one another on their toes for the rest of their lives.

Thunder Road has some aspects that work well, maybe not necessarily together. However, Holmes' book definitely makes a thunderous addition to the detective noir genre.