AND WEST IS WEST

Graham Halstead's reserved narration places this book's shortcomings--clichéd characters chief among them--in sharp relief. Take Ethan, a Wall Street quant who chases the money until a seismic life event makes him realize . . . etc., etc. He and Jessica, a drone pilot cast out from her job for spilling secrets, are the main characters in the two stories that comprise this book, which are held loosely together through Jessica's jailbird father. Halstead's character work is fine. He does a good job differentiating between characters, but his delivery lacks the drive sorely needed to make this book compelling. G.S.D. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2015]