Angels Fall
Baron R. Birtcher
Reviewed by Araminta Matthews
Truly great novels have an undercurrent of culture woven seamlessly
within the subtext, the scenery, and the psyches of its
characters. Baron R. Birtcher's mystery, Angels Fall has
precisely that. Set against the backdrop of Hawaii, cultural
slang, occupations, living accommodations, even teenage circumstances
are vividly painted and yet not distracting to the story. What's
more, the author makes not pretenses about Hawaiian culture. The
main character, dubbed "Big City" by his native friend, Detective Moon,
lived in Los Angeles for a length of time. This separation from
the culture brings truth to it as we, the readers, experience the
oceanic views, the islands, the burial customs, the cherry-picking
jobs, and the language from an unbiased source. It is merely
observation, not judgment, that we see, and because of this, Hawaii
seems real – even to this native New Englander. I could
practically smell the salt in the air. The setting was truly
well-played.
In addition to a believable subtext, mystery novels must have
tension. It is vital that a reader feels like he or she is always
on the cusp of solving a mystery that he or she cares about
solving. With the mysterious disappearance of pious, teenaged
Ashley Logan, and the resistance with which "Big City"'s investigation
is met, the reader has just that. A slew of suspects. Could
it be the rightwing religious parents of the young girl, fed up by
their daughter's disobedience by dating a young boy who is Catholic and
not Protestant as she was raised? Could it be the boyfriend, a
young and poor Hispanic fellow whose mother thinks has become hopeless
about his future? Could it be Pawai, a known drug dealer and
all-around bad kind of guy? This suspicion, this tension, is
bursting out of Angel Falls. Not only will any reader be swept up
in this mystery, but he or she will be very surprised by the end.
And we all know how welcome a believable surprise ending to a mystery
can be.
Surprises are not the only thing this novel has going for it. The
writer, Baron Birtcher, is well-equipped at delivering prose that is
sharp, tactful, illuminating, and plain. Birtcher is
skilled at the understatement, understanding that writing is about
showing and not telling a reader what is happening. Birtcher does
just this, allowing the reader to make his or her own decisions about
the context of a situation, the pretense of a character, or the imagery
of a scene. The dialogue is believable and each character's voice
is distinguishable against the rest of the story. And the
behind-the-scenes history of Mike Travis, a.k.a. "Big City", is
fulfilling and necessary to the story.
This is an all-around great mystery novel for anyone who likes
who-dunits, as well as for anyone interested in traveling to Hawaii.