This review is part of a series covering each installment of the serialized novel Higher Cause, written by John Hunt and published by Laissez Faire Books. To catch up, start with the announcement, the book’s link-rich table of contents, and the first review.
This week’s installment has good movement to it. We get three chapters, all of which follow a thread of plot, but from three different perspectives. There are a couple of moments that tantalize us, and we are left with the promise of trouble to come. A good continuation to the story, leaving the reader eager for next Wednesday.
The first chapter is told from Jeff’s perspective. He gets the news that he is cleared to work for The Island, and for Petur specifically. Given Jeff’s background and the forces arrayed against this tropical Galt’s Gulch, there is all kinds of potential there.
Sophia finally lets Jeff in on the details of her work, which is interesting, but best of all, Jeff catches a glimpse of someone we have probably seen before. Someone Petur has seen before, but who has never been identified. A woman of mystery. Further developments await in the following chapters.
Sophia is the point-of-view chapter in the second chapter, and she meets an attractive woman who, we suppose, is the one who has turned up, briefly, before. At this point it is difficult to say whether she is trustworthy or not. She wants to work on The Island, but does not want to get her job the easy way, which would be a guarantee for her. Her approach is curious, her reasons unclear, and it is far from certain whether she is trustworthy or not. My caution alarm is still going off.
Petur is our guide through the last chapter. He meets with this new character, Elisa. Once again, Elisa sets off alarms with her approach to the meeting. She does nothing blatantly malignant, but her behavior continues to be odd. It is clear she is plotting something, but we cannot tell what.
She delivers some important information to Petur about the host nation of their island, Mexico. Trouble is looming. As readers we already know who is behind it, but now The Island could be in jeopardy.
There were only two problems I could discover, one of them quite minor. The first is the regrettable use of feminine pronouns as neutral pronouns, and the second is a bit of odd phrasing: “Almost every country on the globe had, within the first six months of operation, sent at least one of its citizens to vacation there.” A libertarian especially could find a better, more precise way of phrasing that!
We shall have to wait another week to see where we go from here. This week was successful, and one hopes the momentum is maintained.
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