The Safety Expert [Paperback]

Ben Keller is a dull but dependable chap who runs a safety consultancy in California. His life - both professionally and personally - is characterised by the avoidance of risk but it was not always so. His past as a successful restaurateur was torn apart by the murder of his wife and baby daughters. After years of therapy and following his marriage to his second wife Alex, Ben thinks he has his life under control and believes that he has moved on. Then suddenly he receives a package containing a CD. It has come from a woman he doesn't know, the daughter of a convicted felon who has recorded a deathbed testimony revealing that he shared a cell with the man who killed Ben's family. He names that man and Ben has to make a life-changing decision - to try to find the man who ruined his life or to leave his past behind.

As you can imagine, if he'd opted to ignore the recording and move on there wouldn't be much to fill 341 pages.

Ben enlists the help of single-mum copper Lydia `Gonzo' Gonzales and a private detective called Woody. Woody is a 400 pound paraplegic in a souped-up wheelchair and a custom painted `passion wagon' and quite possibly the least 'undercover' sleuth he could find but he's good. Woody tracks down Stew Raymo, the man identified by the dying convict and Ben has to make another decision; to contact the man or to walk away. He tells himself that if he can shake the hand of this man, look him in the eyes, he'll `know' if this is who killed his family. He meets him and all too rapidly neither man can turn back or stop their lives falling apart.

At times we're not sure what to believe. We wonder if this is a case of mistaken identity but soon it becomes almost irrelevant whether Stew did it or not as he `deals' with the people investigating him in violent and creative ways. We learn there's a different side to the alleged killer - a past of alcoholism and drugs and a present of sobriety, hard work, and marriage to a beautiful ex-porn star. Both Stew and Ben have new lives and a lot to lose. We wonder if either can stop themselves before they push the self-destruct button just once too often.

I used to read quite a lot of books in this genre but have mostly given up on them the last couple of years. I enjoyed stepping back into the world of intrigue and destruction. A little bit of murder and mayhem isn't a bad thing now and then (so long as it's only on the written page). The pace of the book was a little bit slow at first but soon picked up and by half way through it was zipping along. There are some fabulously described car crashes and violent attacks. There are just enough side stories to give the characters the required depth to add layers of complexity to their decisions and their actions.

Although the violence is quite graphic, I was very happy that it didn't get sick or kinky. One of the reason I stopped reading these kind of books was that I was getting nauseated by the violence against women that characterised so many of them. Thankfully there's none of that in here. The Safety Expert lacks the twists and turns of writers like Jeffrey Deaver (the only writer of this genre that I still read) but that in itself is not such a bad thing. We're not led down blind alleys and then sent off in new directions - we just follow a natural direction that's altogether more believable for its relative simplicity. It's a story of two men - pure and simple - and without the distractions that spoil so many suspense books, I enjoyed the chance to think seriously about guilt and innocence and where blame lies.

The only suggestion I would offer to the writer is that his chapters are exceptionally long for this type of book and I believe that breaking things up into smaller chunks would appeal more to the typical suspense fans, the type who like to string a book like this out over many weeks, reading just a handful of pages each night before falling asleep. I don't need that short choppy style, but I think some of the readership would prefer it.

When `Pratt', a dying convict suddenly decides to have a pang of conscience, his well-meaning actions have a devastating effect on the future of so many, setting off an unstoppable chain reaction of events, which take so many lives into a downward spiral of self-destruction and misery.

Ben, is a model citizen; loving husband, and devoted step-father, existing in his `safe' life, where every action is made only after the considered risk has been analysed and accepted. It isn't until we discover the horrific demons which haunt Ben's past life, that we begin to realise just how fragile is the cocoon he has built up around himself and how easily it can shatter into a million pieces, leaving Ben vulnerable once again to his raw feelings and emotions of hatred, revenge and retribution.

When we are first introduced to Stew, it quickly becomes obvious that he has a whole different set of demons all his own, which he battles on a regular daily basis. His naturally violent tendencies and addictions, are only barely controlled, still bubbling away gently, just below the surface veneer of domesticity and respectability he has built up around himself. Repressed memories of his past horrific crimes, are re-played in his mind as always being the `other persons' fault, with himself having been provoked beyond all reason, to carry out the terrible acts of retribution and violence that he has inflicted on so many.

Detective Lydia (Gonzo) Gonzalez, is yet another in a long line of fiction detectives who is trying to juggle the pressures of family life, with the stress and demands of the job and probably achieving neither to their full potential. She makes the fundamental mistake of allowing her heart to rule her head and looses her cool on more than one occasion, only then does she realise that her actions have probably made an already bad situation, much, much worse. In trying to make reparation for her mistakes, her life as well as her career are on the line. Loosing one and narrowly saving the other, forces her to re-evaluate her life and what it really means to her.

The two main supporting players, as this terrible scenario unfolds, are Alex and Pam, Ben and Stew's respective wives. Although they outwardly appear to be at opposite ends of the social spectrum and are destined never to meet, they are not so different as you might think. Both are determined characters, who will defend their homes and loved ones with their own lives if necessary. Neither however, are strong enough to withstand the combined force of the hatred between their husbands and are powerless to influence the outcome and the effect it will inevitably have on all their futures.

All of the remaining supporting characters are well developed and defined, in a way which is both sympathetic to the overall storyline, yet which is also designed to highlight both their individual strengths and weaknesses.

Ben and Stew, complex and at times almost frightening characters, two men both fighting to keep buried dark memories from the past, controlling demons which, when the layers of the story are peeled back, find them both pushed beyond their limits, hunter and hunted both.

The fast paced storyline flows naturally from one phase to the next, on this horrific roller coaster ride, of high tension and exposed, raw emotions. The storyline is a carefully measured piece of writing, which is equally plot and character driven, creating a finely balanced narrative, which keeps its pace and action right until the very last page. The ending however, did come as something of a surprise and wasn't quite what I had expected, just one last twist in the tail of this venomous, deadly snake named `revenge'.

Given Doug's hitherto successful screenplay writing career, I think that `The Safety Expert' would definitely, easily lend itself to being adapted as a screenplay script for a film and even the title sounds fantastic as it is.

`The Safety Expert' had me in its grip and on the edge of my seat, from the very first page, to the very last word and even then I didn't want it to end!

Imagine living your life in a safe manner, being mister reliable and totally dependable, obeying all the rules and not taking any chances. When out of the blue you receive a cd through the post, from a dying convict telling you that he knows who killed your first wife and twin daughters, naming him and giving you his address. All this happens to Ben, it affects his life in a big way and his current wife suspects he is having an affair but the lady in question is a police officer who is helping Ben with his quest.

On receiving information Ben decides to visit the murderer undercover at his workplace, but after his visit the murderer, Stew, gets suspicious and starts his own investigation. This leads to Stew's downfall to drink and drugs and he starts murdering to get to our hero, Ben. Ben's marriage starts to crumble along with his business, his obsession to catch Stew takes over and he is no longer safe, reliable or dependable, which he now finds exciting.

Ben is not the only one with an obsession as Stew is intent on taking out Ben, which costs him his marriage and business. Who will win, Ben with the help of the police officer or Stew who is totally out of control on drugs and alcohol?

The author challenges the way and manner we all live our lives, are we happy knowing what is safe and predictable or do we want excitement. In the search for excitement or change will this upset the balance, causing doubt, secrets and dishonesty, which also leads to the road of ruin. In the portrayal of the characters we see this happening, how one mans obsession turns not only his life but the lives of the people who rely and trust them. The storyline and language is well versed and the plot is excellent, only slight negative is that I found some parts long winded, but this does not retract from being an excellent book.