This Bill Pronzini novel is a compelling page-turner and will stick with you long after you have read the last page. Why? Because the story not only makes for good crime fiction but is a penetrating meditation on several key philosophical questions: what is the nature of love; what means should we take to realize our dreams; how valuable are such things as friendship, peace of mind and knowing oneself?
At the beginning of the novel, it appears to be a clear-cut case of Jordan’s love for sexually-charged, alluring Annalise, his like-minded female alter-ego, a twenty-six year old willing to do anything for a life of excitement and living on the edge. But the more Jordan tells his tale, the more the plot thickens, a thickness that’s as dark and as rich as Jordan’s favorite rum, Arundel Cane, the only rum he ever drinks.
Jordan also loves sailing, especially as captain of his very own yawl, the feel of the wind in his face, the tropical sun overhead, the exhilaration of being on the wide, open sea.
And Jordan comes to love Bone, a fiercely independently minded Caribbean man whose skin is "the color of milk chocolate," an expert seaman who acts as his mentor, the man who later becomes Jordan’s best and only friend.
Lastly, we come to understand Jordan has another love, perhaps his deepest love of all, a love that grounds him in the world and gives him a sense of identity, a very, very special identity – his perfect crimes.
Oh, Jordan, through your well-calculated plan of embezzlement, you set yourself free from the work-a-day white-collar world of your office, where you spent ten years crunching numbers as a trustworthy accountant. You can now live on a Caribbean island with your lover Annalise and take up sailing by day and drinking your rum and having great sex by night. What a life! What a dream come true!
If only this life could go on and on for you. But there’s the rub. Life is forever changing, forever evolving or devolving – over time, the dream can vanish so quickly. And it did for you.
Ancient philosophers from Plato to Aristotle to Cicero, Seneca and Epicurus put great emphasis on friendship as an indispensable part of the good life. Jordan’s friendship with Bone has all the soulful qualities those ancient philosophers spoke about in such glowing terms. When Bone is not longer a friend, Jordan finds out the hard way just how much wisdom is contained in the words of those Greco-Roman philosophers.
Toward the end of the novel, when Jordan appears to have life on his own terms, we read, “the tight, structured little world I established for myself on St. Thomas was secure. I could continue to indulge my simple tastes for the rest of my life. I could be at peace. Only I wasn’t.”
Rather than delving into the specifics of Jordan’s story, let’s pause and note how many ancient philosophers, most notably Epicurus, held ataraxia (a combination of tranquility and joy) to be life’s highest value and ultimate goal.
Epicurus reasoned without ataraxis, without peace of mind, no matter whatever else a man or woman has in life, their life doesn’t amount to that much. Jordan lived his dream, at least for a number of years, but ultimately, it wasn’t enough.
No doubt about Jordan having a dark side -he philosophizes about his own dark nature and also human nature in general. But how deep is his understanding?
American author Bill Pronzini, born 1943
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