Philip Newey's Reviews > The Hero

I have never read any of Robyn Carr’s novels before. This is the third book in what is, apparently, a new series, the Thunder Point series. I take it that Carr’s books are quite popular: this was the number one bestseller in the New York Times bestseller list when I purchased it. It is a fantasy. Oh, you won’t find it in any catalogue of fantasy novels. I suppose it is categorized as a ‘romance’. It is, nevertheless, a fantasy.

The Hero tells the story of Devon McAllister and her three-year-old daughter Mercy. Devon, now in her late twenties, has spent the last four years of her life living within a religious commune, The Fellowship, run by the increasingly autocratic and erratic Jacob. Although Jacob probably genuinely regards himself as some kind of messianic figure, the commune is a front for growing a large marijuana crop. Jacob draws vulnerable young women into his circle, generally beds them and fathers children by them. Although he is apparently ready to let the women escape, if they want to, he is very possessive of the children. Devon escapes with her daughter, with the assistance of Laine who is, unbeknownst to her, an undercover FBI agent. Devon escapes to a small town, Thunder Point, on the northwest coast of the USA, where she gradually begins to regain her self-confidence, build a new life for herself and Mercy, and, yes, find love in the arms of Spencer. For a time she lives in fear that Jacob will come searching for his daughter, which eventually he does, leading to a quite interesting, but hardly unexpected climax.

The novel is populated with the various characters who inhabit this small coastal town, including Rawley, a rough old Vietnam vet, and various other men and women who tend to blur together. Each has a back story of some kind, variously interesting or not.

The story is fairly predictable, but not badly written. That is to say, all the words are in the right place and spelled correctly. The real problem for me is the people who live in this town. Each and every one of them is simply too good to be true. There is scarcely a bad deed to be seen, a nasty word spoken, or a bad thought entertained. In this town, everyone is nice to everyone else, everyone is on their best behaviour, and everyone is just right neighbourly. As I said, this is a fantasy. The bad guys, chiefly Jacob, are, of course, outsiders. There are a couple of nasty-ish FBI agents who come to question Devon. These, too, are, of course, outsiders. The only character who really interested me at all was Laine, the undercover FBI agent. She at least has some gutsy moments. As I was reading, I couldn’t help thinking that here was yet another perfect American town, which, were one of its inhabitants to go berserk and start shooting people, would be in shock that such a thing could happen in their perfect, safe, quiet little community. There were times when I wanted to pick up the gun myself.

I find it hard to understand why such an unremarkable book would reach the number one bestseller position. Perhaps I find it worrying, too. It seems so difficult for American culture to embrace a realistic view of itself. It would rather entertain and perpetuate this fantasy. The good guys on one side, the bad on the other; nobody with a bit of the bad mixed in with a bit of the good. No society will ever grow up until it begins to perceive and understand itself realistically, warts and all. As a piece of writing this is okay. As a story, it is predictable, but okay. As an exposition of human nature, it is appalling. If you believe in elves, the Good Witch Glinda and the tooth fairy, you will believe in the people of Thunder Point. I give this a begrudging three stars.