Stingy Jack
R. Scott Taylor
Reviewed by Vanessa Lee
It's an old story, but with Stingy Jack, R. Scott Taylor puts an
interesting twist on the tale of Jack of the Lantern. He answers the
question of what happens later, after Jack has been wandering for
centuries.
It's a cool concept, an interesting story, and a clever idea.
Unfortunately, the execution falls a little short of the idea. Readers
will want to get to know the characters, to like them and to get to
know them, but they feel flat and two dimensional. Even the main
character tells the readers what he's feeling rather than expressing it
and the wordiness of the writing keeps the characters from feeling
quite real.
Though the main story of a jewel heist is exciting enough, it's also
bogged down with details. Taylor has done his research (or has
experience!) for he can very realistically describe things like
breaking and entering, (or at least realistically enough for an
untutored reader), but sometimes his knowledge gets in his way and the
excitement of the story is lost in the little details.
It is those details that also interrupt the flow of the story. It felt
that, at times, Taylor thought of something he needed or wanted to say
and so he worked it in immediately and sometimes clumsily rather than
finding a more elegant way to convey his point. For example, the
stories of Jack's historical conflicts with the Devil are clumsily
interwoven into the main story through unrealistic bar conversations.
It is difficult to see the motivation for the listener – in fact he
even admits he doesn't know why he's listening – and the transitions
between the jewel heist story and the stories of the Devil and Jack are
jarring.
Despite the awkwardness of the flow and a lack of sympathy for the
characters, the story is strangely compelling, and one that most
readers will want to finish. Taylor is good at making the reader want
to know what happens next and the ending is explosive enough that even
the dry writing style lets the tension through.
Readers looking for excellent characterization or a stellar wordsmith
will likely be disappointed with Stingy Jack, but it will appeal to
those in the market for a compelling story that’s a bit different from
the norm.