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Book: Heart of darkness

Mr Clarinet

Author: Nick Stone

Publisher: Penguin/Michael Joseph, 560 pages

THE main reason I picked up Mr Clarinet is because it deals with the subject of voodoo. The synopsis indicates that this book would not be a run-of-the-mill crime thriller, although it employs probably one of the most clichéd of plots ? an anti-hero (in this case, an ex-cop turned private eye turned convict) seemingly at the end of his tether and given one final chance for redemption.

Max Mingus is a man who has lost everything. A former policeman and once one of the best private investigators in Miami, Mingus?s life is alarmingly derailed when, in anger, he executed three people who murdered one of the missing children he was contracted to find. While in jail, his wife dies in a tragic road accident.

He initially refused a job offer by a mysterious Haitian billionaire but soon realises that the US$10mil (RM38mil) reward would set him up for life and the job ? locating the billionaire?s son, who has been missing for three years ? would give him a purpose in life, which he lacks.

The tale is set in the island of Haiti ? impoverished and squalid, yet mysterious and compelling, with its dark and disturbing practice of voodoo and black magic. As Mingus manoeuvres his way through alien territory, he has to ensure that he not only solve the case, but lives to tell the tale. A shadow is cast upon his investigation by the enigmatic Mr Clarinet, a bogeyman said to lure children from their families.

Nick Stone?s debut novel is about as good as they come. In Max Mingus, Stone gives us a P.I. in the vein of the legendary Sam Spade. Ably supporting him is a suitably film noir-ish cast, including love interest Chantale, described as having a ?dirty laugh?, ice-queen Francesca Carver, who is the mother of the missing boy, and the curmudgeon patriarch of the Carver clan, Gustav.

What clinches the deal is the grim and gritty setting of Haiti. Once a luscious paradise but raped over the years by its inhabitants, the Haiti in Mr Clarinet is a barren, nightmarish landscape where death and desperation lurk at every corner.

Stone?s main triumph lies in the way he weaves various themes into the main story, thereby making the novel work on many different levels. While the centre stage belongs to the investigation, it is impossible for the reader to ignore sub-plots like the drug baron Vincent Paul, the politics of Haiti, and not the deplorable conditions of Haitian life.

Stone does something not often found in thrillers ? he forces the reader to confront uncomfortable issues like the blurred lines between right and wrong, and whether the end sometimes justifies the means.

Stone appears confident that the Max Mingus franchise will be a successful one the front cover of Mr Clarinet declares it as the first Mingus thriller. On the strength of this book, I would say it is not an idle boast.