Gauntlet

Review

Richard Aaron’s international thriller Gauntlet is an okay book that is one or two drafts away from being a good read. It’s certainly an acceptable freshman effort, especially considering Aaron never formally trained as a writer, but there are still some rookie mistakes in the prose that detract from the story as a whole. He has a tendency towards repetition and redundancy that don’t really add any sense of drama or suspense, and the book as a whole could use some serious streamlining to make for a much tighter, better flowing story.

Characterization is actually Gauntlet’s greatest strength – an unexpected but not unwelcome surprise for an almost fully plot-driven action story. Aaron puts as much, if not more, detail into the people behind the events as the events themselves. Though they occasionally come off as somewhat over-the-top, most of the main foci remain believable enough. Hamilton Turbee, an autistic computer genius, stands as the strongest, most complex, and most interesting character, and Aaron portrays his condition with humanistic compassion and empathy rather than condescending pity.

The plot revolves around a cell of drug suppliers transporting stolen explosives from continent to continent with the sole intent of eclipsing the terrorist attacks on September 11th. While Aaron does not portray all practitioners of Islam as terrorists or supportive of terrorist efforts – Turbee’s kindhearted, supportive coworker Khasha deftly negates this  – I personally have a tendency to cringe at most of these depictions. But that isn’t necessarily the fault of the writer. Gauntlet certainly grounds itself in its time, much like how media during the Cold War had a tendency to feature Russian or East German antagonists. Considering Aaron made an effort to ensure that Muslims as a whole did not come off as demonized, blood-crazed radicals, it would be wrong for me to blame him for my discomfort. Anyone who remembers the rabidly blanket anti-Islamic backlash following 9/11 with frustration and shock may squirm somewhat as well. Keep in mind that the book doesn’t intend to read as propaganda. Just a straightforward, escapist thriller that draws its inspiration from current events.

Bibliographic Information

Aaron, Richard. Gauntlet. San Diego: Glass House Press, 2009.

Further Reading

Hmmm. In spite of my love for politics, I actually don’t read too many political thrillers. Can’t really give much of a reason for it, either, but there isn’t really a book that just screams out at me right now. What about you, readers? Got any good thrillers you can recommend?

~Riot