Stephen White: Harm’s Way

I am a HUGE HUGE fan of Stephen White’s books (did I say HUGE?). So much so, that every few years I go back and read them all again, in sequence.  Stephen White is an author in the classic suspense tradition of John Sandford - and similar to Sandford’s Prey series, which by the way are also beyond fabulous, White’s books all center around one main character, Alan Gregory, a clinical psychologist in Boulder, CO.  Alan’s wife Lauren Crowder, a deputy district attorney in Boulder, his neighbor Adrienne, a urologist, his best friend Sam, a police detective, and his practice partner Diane carry significant storylines in all of the books as well.

A few things make these series of books one of my favorites (if not my favorite):

1) I love sequence and story lines.  Each of these characters has been a part of my entire fiction-life as an adult.  Each book builds upon the last.
2) The character of Alan Gregory is incredibly well-written.  He’s smart without being cocky, impulsive without being stupid, and completely relatable.  And on top of that, the supporting characters are so developed that they can (and do later in the series) carry a book on their own.
3) With Stephen White, it’s the little things, as well as the plot, that are important.  The way he describes the meals that Lauren and Alan are eating… Or the description of their dog’s beard after drinking water… Not a single detail is left unfinished and each nuance is carried through the storyline.

Now, before I delve into my review of Harm’s Way (which was actually the third Stephen White book I re-read this week, but is the oldest of the three hence my reviewing it first), I have to say one thing.  And it’s important.

Although the books are all written such that you can pick one up and not need to read the predecessor books to have the current book make sense, all of Stephen’s books are so great and their personal stories develop so well over the series that I can’t recommend enough that you READ THEM IN ORDER.  That means, start with Privileged Information and move on from there.

The other evening, I picked up my old paperback version of Harm’s Way.

As with most of White’s books, Harm’s Way’s plot centers around a crime that has been or will be committed that Alan, Sam, Lauren, or another character, must help solve.  In Harm’s Way, that unfortunate crime is the murder of Alan’s neighbor and friend and Adrienne’s husband, Peter.  Peter has a troubled past and at the behest of Adrienne and the request of Sam, who is investigating the case, Alan begins to put the pieces of Peter’s past together with the list of suspects in the present to solve the case. Soon Peter’s murder is wrapped up into two others and the police fear a serial killer is on the loose.

Because the victim is a friend, this book has a great deal of emotion and the grief that is felt is palpable, yet it doesn’t overpower the story and isn’t emotional in the sense of being distracting.  The focus in White’s books is always on the plot, which is fast-moving and concisely delivered.  I definitely rank this book as one of my favorites of the series.

This installment in the Alan Gregory series was written in 1997 - but picking it up Tuesday night and reading it through, it felt incredibly current (except perhaps for the lack of cell phones!).  Although White’s writing has obviously grown and matured over the years, the older books are still so strong.

I can’t recommend these books enough!  Has anyone else read the series (or the Prey series, which I also love)?

E.