The Stone Gallows -- C. David Ingram

Mr Ingram seems to have had a rather colourful working life -- a debt collector, a hospital nurse -- before settling down to the unpredictable life of a novelist.  The Stone Gallows is his debut novel.  I had picked it up from the table display of the British Library where newly bought titles had been put up. 

The story is in the first person POV, that of Cameron Stone, a former cop.  A tragedy one night, which we witness at the beginning of the book, during a stakeout has left him scarred for life.  A high-speed chase ensues on the city roads, with him trying to follow a high-profile criminal, but he loses control at the wheel and kills a teenage mother and her infant.  He spends the next several weeks in intensive care, first in a coma, then trying to recover from his multiple fractures and memory loss.  When he is finally out, he has to live with the fact that he killed two innocent bystanders.  He is out of a job, his wife has left him, and she has carried away his beloved son, whom he is reduced to visiting whenever her whims and fancies dictate.

We watch as he recovers over the slow painful months, gets a job as a sidekick at Joe Banks' surveillance agency.  Joe Banks is the only friend he has who has cared enough about his well being following the tragic incident, and now has become Stone's mentor.  One particular case looms in prominence in this book -- that of a runaway teenager whom he tracks for her distraught parents.  While he is busy with this case, and with another few under-the-table deals that he takes up with the local police who refuse to dirty their own hands, his own son gets kidnapped.  Needless to say, he goes after the kidnapper single-handedly and emerges the victor.

The theme of a scarred issues-ridden hero, trying to face off the bad underworld is not really original; too many books, too many movies, too many TV serials have dealt with it in myriad ways.  But in my opinion, this author makes up for this by creating a rather larger-than-life protagonist.  We can see Stone struggle with his issues.  He is this really tall persona, standing at 6.5 feet, who knows how to throw his weight about.  He has a rather uncontrolled propensity for violence that can sicken you (especially that scene when he needlessly breaks Jason Campbell's bones in the dark forest like so many twigs).  And he has enough arrogance to assume the reader thinks this is justified!  He is rather like an elephant that can't comprehend what the ant beneath his feet must be feeling when he is about to trample over it.  He comes across as callous, selfish and brusque at times.  I don't think I really liked him, to tell you the truth.

There is nothing particular that stands out in the story.  It makes a good read though, fast-paced and furious; the author does not give you too much time to think.  Events unfold rapidly.  He sequences the events rather skillfully.  I did manage to guess the identity of the kidnapper early on (though the motive ran a lot deeper than I thought), more because the author had been very careful about not revealing the gender when putting the narrative across; his carefulness gave his villain away.  But that's just me; I've read too many books over the years, so I don't count.  The average reader could easily be surprised.  The story has sufficient punch.

There were some inconsistencies that jumped out glaringly.  One relates to the minor characters -- two terrible deliquent twins that need to be handled; he mispells the name of one of them in a few places, calling them Derek and Jerry/Gerry/Gary.  The editor too didn't seem to pick it up, unless the misspelling is meant to evoke defects in Stone's memory?  I hardly think so.  The other inconsistency (without revealing too much) is with regards to Stone's neighbor who admits later on to painting his bedroom; as anyone knows, fresh paint can be smelled for some distance away.  Why didn't this alert Stone?

But these are minor things (though it is often the small things that rankle the most) and do not really detract from the merit of the book.  Mr Ingram has planned a sequel to this book, called Unfinished Business, where many loose threads will be put in their proper places.  Mr Ingram mentions this in his interview with Books Monthly.  I shall look forward to reading it when it is out.