Relative Danger

Starred review from January 26, 2004
Benoit's smashingly good, action-packed first novel leads Douglas Pearce, a young brewery worker from Pottstown, Pa., on a quest for information about his long-dead uncle that takes him from Toronto to Casablanca, Cairo, Bahrain and Singapore, before returning him to Toronto. He gets on the trail of a huge stolen gem, and along the way finds rascals, thugs, thieves and vamps among the archeology scholars, ex-museum directors and encyclopedia publishers who appear to be his guides. With much wit and invention, Benoit convincingly portrays the Middle East. A hilarious account of chaos in the Cairo airport reads like an updated scene from Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad
. Benoit adroitly contrasts the modern features of North Africa and Asia with the remnants of their ancient pasts. Two murderous chases through urban and rural Egypt build to a resolution that remains well concealed until the final pages. Some readers may find the sex scenes too brief and a bit strange, but this is a quibble. Benoit is a rare discovery, and one hopes that he plans to produce more adventure-oriented mysteries with the same skill and energy that propel this excellent debut. (Feb. 2)

Forecast:
A blurb from Carolyn Hart will help build momentum for a book that promises to be one of Poisoned Pen's bigger successes.

Starred review from February 1, 2004
Where has Benoit been hiding? With a debut novel this good, it's hard to believe he hasn't published at least 10 previous books. Every element of this rollicking adventure shines, from its suspenseful, globetrotting plot to its nicely rounded characters. Unlikely young hero Doug Pearce, most recently of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, leaves his small town at the request of Edna, an exotic older woman who knew his black-sheep uncle, Russell Pearce. It seems that Russell was murdered in 1948, apparently while trying to smuggle an outrageously big red diamond out of Singapore. Edna thinks Russell was framed and wants Doug to help clear his uncle's name; he agrees, mainly because he's never been out of the U.S and because Edna is footing the bill. Beginning in Casablanca and continuing through Morocco and Egypt, Doug eventually lands in Singapore, where his uncle's life ended. Along the way, he meets a stately museum curator and a stunning heiress, among other exotic characters, and unwisely trusts both of them. This captivating debut makes great use of a familiar gambit: throwing a naive, untraveled hero into foreign climes and forcing him to hit the ground running. Readers will eagerly await more from the very talented Benoit.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)