Red Tide: A Frank Corso Novel [Paperback]

After roaming the Midwest in A Blind Eye, G.M. Ford brings his intrepid and nosy reporter, Frank Corso, back to the Pacific Northwest in Red Tide. In this one, Ford tackles international terrorism but in his own, unique way. Ford ignores the stereotypical "Let's make the Arabs the culprits." Instead, he does something much more interesting, all along commenting on the state of affairs in today's United States. He reminds us that horrible things have happened in other parts of the world, and maybe one of those will come back and bite us as just as Middle East policy has. The book is extremely tight and well-plotted, with twists and turns that will make your head spin. The ending, however, leaves a lot to be desired. I don't mean the ending of the story, but the ending of the book itself.

The book starts at the photo exhibition of Meg Dougherty, sometimes lover of Frank Corso. It's going extremely well, but it's interrupted by the police coming in and saying that everyone has to evacuate. They won't say why, which is Frank's signal to stick his nose into the situation. He discovers that somebody has released a deadly disease in a Seattle bus tunnel, killing over 100 people. Meanwhile, Meg heads home but stumbles upon a man from her past. She follows him, loses him, but then finds him again, dead on her kitchen floor. Are these two occurrences linked? Who would do something so horrible to the citizens of Seattle? And worse, will they strike again? Corso, Dougherty, and the Seattle police race to find out what happened, constantly interrupted by the Feds, who have their own agenda and thoughts on the situation, as they usually do.

Red Tide benefits from using the current political climate to add a lot of tension to an already interesting plot. At first, I thought Ford was making his political point much too blatantly, with the Feds coming in and trying to use the Patriot Act to intimidate everybody. The message is a bit strong, but I realized that this is what the Feds in these books always do, just more so. They always butt into the situation like they know everything and the hero has to avoid them and solve the crime despite them. Sometimes they help at the end, sometimes they don't. In this case, they just serve to get in the way. Corso makes some comments against the war in Iraq, especially referencing weapons of mass destruction, but much of that can be attributed to the fact that Corso is a pretty liberal guy anyway.

When you look at the situation like that, it becomes a lot more bearable. The rest of the book is extremely interesting. It's also very tight, taking place over two days, except the last few pages. It's nice to see that, for once, Corso isn't on the outs with everybody, and the cooperation between Corso and the cops was a great change of pace. The description of the victims of the disease is horrifying, even more so when you see the reactions of the experts to the situation. The plot is intricate and red herrings abound. This is actually tough considering, for the first time I can remember in a Corso novel, Ford actually presents us with the viewpoint of the villain(s). Anybody with a good memory of the last twenty to thirty years will be able to guess what's going on before Ford actually reveals it, but that's not a bad thing. Even better, when you do figure it out you still won't know exactly what's going to be done about it.

As always, the characterization is what really makes the book. Ford presents us with a lot of them, some more fleshed out then others. Usually, Dougherty and Corso are the only ones with a lot of meat to them, but Ford gives us three cops who are vividly drawn, as well as a few others (some of whom may be villains). He gives us a lot of information on the police chief, making him three-dimensional, as he does with the cops who go around with Corso and Dougherty. Corso is a winner too, and Dougherty has a lot done with her. My only disappointment was that Dougherty disappears about two-thirds of the way through the book.

Then, there's the ending. Once everything is settled, Ford does something with Dougherty that I really hate. I don't know what Ford plans for the next Corso novel (and the cover jacket says that he's writing it, so it looks like he's not abandoning Corso as he did Leo Waterman), but it better resolve this issue with Dougherty. Otherwise, it's exactly what happened with the last Waterman book, and it annoyed me then, too. The ending of the story drags a little too, but it's more understandable as we have to wait along with the characters to know exactly how things are going to settle and how many deaths there will be at the end. It's interesting, but it's slow.

Overall, Red Tide is another winning Frank Corso book from a wonderful Seattle author. It's neat to see all the familiar Seattle landmarks, and it adds to the tension when all of this is happening to a city that you love. It's still well worth a read. Just don't let the ending get you down.

David Roy

I really enjoy G.M. Ford's writing. I love his characters, I love his sense of humor, and I love the underlying darkness that flows through his Corso series. I gotta tell you, though, I'm about 3/4 way through this book and I'm struggeling to finish.

Is it the massive number of characters? I didn't know I'd need to keep notes on this one. Each time a new chapter or sub-chapter starts, I have to read a line or two, then try to remember who that person is, where they fit in the story. Is it the fact that this is more "espianage" (sorry, spelling is not my strong point) and less "mystery"? Is it that there is just something tedious about the writing? Is it the mysterious woman who keeps showing up and disappearing (really tiring plot device after the first 4 to 6 times)?

I knew in the beginning of the book, when two characters from his first Corso book came back......but shouldn't have. One had been shot in the head and killed in Fury, but in this book, he had been shanked in prison. The other had shot is own jaw off in Fury, but that wasn't even alluded to. So maybe I've just had an attitude about this since the first chapter. I hate it when something in a book takes me out of the "reality" of the story.

So, I'm back to trying to slog my way through the rest of it, because I hate to leave it unfinished, but frankly, after I finish, I plan on thinking of this book like the "it was all a dream" episode in Dallas. I'll pretend it never happened, and enjoy the rest of the Corso series in full.

It was nice to see Corso working with the police, for a change. And there were a couple other very good characters in the policeman Hart and reporter Sexton. The pace is tense and fast and keeps you turning the pages late into the night. Although I was disappointed with the very end of the book, I shall certainly be first in line for his next one.