What’s in a Name?
4 stars
Set at the turn of the 21st century, “Alison” follows the sleuthing adventures of Samuel Marksman of Baltimore, Maryland. A cross between Sonny Crockett (Miami Vice) and Thomas Magnum (Magnum P.I.), Sam’s deductive abilities make his a great investigator and thus have a very high rate of success in his cases.
***MY TAKE ON THE STORY with possible SPOILERS***
The books begins with Sam and Leona sailing in Sam’s Morgan which also happens to be his home. These few pages establishes Leona as Sam’s love interest and their courtship will go on the whole book. So, in a way this is a romance novel, but I would rather classify “Alison” as a police procedural with a love story thrown in.
Sam as the hero is actually unforgettable. Like what I said, his description reminds me of him being a cross between Sonny Crockett and Thomas Magnum, two iconoclastic heroes of police procedurals and the 1980s. I like Sam’s easy going character and the way he investigates his cases. In fact, if the author writes a series of books about Sam, I won’t be surprised. And if the author can sell it to a movie studio as a series, Sam will be the quintessential 21st century man who tries to understand his woman without losing his masculinity.
That said, I would also like to say that the title “Alison” is a misnomer. The case on “Alison” starts on the last quarter of the book. And though the mystery was solved beautifully, entitling the book based on it made me feel I was cheated out of the story of Alison. Now, if the title of the book is “Sam Marksman, P.I.” or something that will include all the three cases that Sam solved in the book, then I would not feel that the cases solve in Baltimore and Seattle were left out.
And that’s the reason why I took out one star from the otherwise FIVE stars that I would have given the book if the title was right. Hence, my question, “What’s in a name?”
