Many because of Rose Auburn who reached out to share her assessment of our pal and fellow DXer Ralph Perry’s e book, Pacific Odyssey: The Curious Case of Lew 2.0, initially posted on Rose’s assessment web site:
By Chet Nairene
5*
Thirty-six-year-old tech wizard, Lew Clarke is about to ascend to god-like standing on the company behemoth he has labored for since leaving Harvard. Accolades, and extra importantly to Lew, eye-watering ranges of monetary recompense are raining down on him. However when a minor, forgotten challenge floats shockingly to the floor, Lew’s gold-plated, superficial existence implodes.
After licking his wounds, Lew embarks on a brand new enterprise enterprise, importing extremely intricate, bespoke picket backyard ornaments instantly from the provider, Lotus Creations, within the tiny kingdom of Amazia, Southeast Asia. Cash and the nice occasions roll abundantly once more. Till a trickle of unusual complaints turns into a deluge and Lew is left with no choice however to hunt out the mysterious retailer from the much more mysterious Amazia…
Pacific Odyssey undoubtedly ranks as certainly one of my favourite novels up to now in 2024. I learn Nairene’s earlier novel, Pacific Sprint, final 12 months and completely loved it. Nevertheless, with Pacific Odyssey, Nairene has shifted up into fifth gear. It’s a extremely imaginative and strange e book that I discovered nearly inconceivable to place down.
From the opening couple of paragraphs, the novel immediately hooks the reader. Assured, breezy, and intriguing, it crackles with comedian vitality and is deceptively well-written. It will have been simple for Nairene’s depiction of Lew, and his employer, the company IT titan, Mega, to have fallen into stereotype.
And, whereas Nairene does tip the reader a figuring out wink for some components, it’s finished with intelligent subtlety and wry, observational humor, a tone that continues all through the novel.
The construction and ethos of Mega just isn’t solely horribly credible however extremely well-conceived. When Lew is put out to pasture at Mega’s world name middle in Weehawken, Nairene depicts the place with hellish accuracy.
Though the novel is comparatively lengthy, it’s fast-moving with wave after wave of itchy foreboding. None extra so than when Lew discovers Lotus Creations. Nevertheless, beneath the suspense and potential chicanery, a faint sub-textual and thought-provoking commentary emerges as Lew and finest pal, Sal, navigate the variations between the East and West cultural mores.
These distinctions show profound, though Nairene retains the reader guessing in regards to the Amazians. Because the novel gathers tempo, a compelling thriller begins to unfold at its coronary heart.
Nonetheless, on the floor at the very least, Half Two additionally resembles the best of journey memoirs, definitely paying homage to Paul Theroux’s rail journeys. As Lew travels from the capital of Amazia, Ruangbang, as much as Biti, a deeply rural backwater, it’s wonderful stuff. Kafka-esque, humorous, immensely genuine, and by no means turns into far-fetched even because the reader is hurtled right into a surreal rabbit gap.
Lew encounters hurdle after hurdle till help seems within the type of Boo, an Amazian who speaks English. The arrival of Boo adjustments the novel a contact, it turns into a bit extra severe, and in addition slightly religious each by way of the narrative and Lew’s trajectory.
This esoteric flip is enhanced by Nong, Boo’s cousin. She jogged my memory of Fiona Lo in Nairene’s earlier e book and, at occasions, appeared underdeveloped, though her enigmatic countenance and cause for it, type the premise of the narrative’s final result.
Pacific Odyssey is richly descriptive, vivid, sensory, and stuffed with whip-smart, nimble dialogue, particularly between Lew and Sal, whose exchanges are heat and amusingly pure. All of Nairene’s characters from Harry at Mega to Wongrat on the Miracle Royal Pagoda Resort are splendidly convincing and step from the web page.
Pacific Odyssey is a literary thrill trip. Darkly humorous and thought-provoking, it’s written with consummate verve and charming vibrancy that by no means fails to entertain. Extremely advisable.
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