Torment by Raymond Benson (eBook exclusive)
Grade: C
Raymond Benson has had an interesting career. He had a great run as a bestselling author in the 90s and early 2000s as the official writer of the James Bond series. Besides that, though, he's mostly been off the radar, writing less-noticed novels (including the very good Spike Berenger series) and short stories. He even spent some time as "David Michaels" the fictional author credited on the Tom Clancy: Splinter Cell books.
His latest is Torment, an eBook only novel set in the Caribbean with a background of voodoo and other island intrigue. The protagonist, Rich Shepherd, is a middle-aged Midwestern man in the midst of a mid-life crisis. There's a substantial supernatural aspect, so it's a pretty big departure for Benson, who's previous novels have tended toward action and mystery.
There are ghost, voodoo, curses and more -- definitely not what I was expecting from the former 007 author. And frankly it just didn't work for me. Reading along, I felt like Benson wasn't quite comfortable with the departure himself, and the ending seemed pretty obvious not to far into the book. My recommendation is to skip it, although for the low eBook price, it's not a terrible way to spend a few hours.
Instead, check out the aforementioned Spike Berenger series, A Hard Day's Death and Dark Side of the Morgue, a great series of mysteries set in the world of classic rock and roll.
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