GATE 76 follows DC private investigator Freddy Ferguson’s seedy slog to unravel what happened to the mysterious blonde he first spies at San Francisco International Airport, and who hustles off the flight before it takes off and explodes in mid-air. He starts finding out things he’s not supposed to know, “and that’s the first step toward getting involved.”
Author Andrew Diamond really, really wants readers to get caught up in Freddy Ferguson’s life, and root for him. Freddy isn’t the dark and doomed loser found in classic noir fiction, but he’s damaged. Unfortunately, the mystery woman who runs to catch a connecting flight in Chicago is much more interesting. She takes one last look over her shoulder, catching Freddy’s eye, with a spark of recognition from the security line. She is startled, with a look of pale terror, then turns and disappears with quick, unsteady steps. Diamond abandons her, and even when her story is picked up later, it’s never as satisfying as that introductory set-up.
Many of Diamond’s characters are outsiders, and if they do have someone they care about, there’s pain and distortion involved, causing them to live by themselves or for themselves, turning to more immediate desires – sex, money, and sometimes revenge. With all this dramatic fuel, however, the final product lacks some juice.
Before teaming with investigator Ed Hartwell, a former G-man and cop, Freddy had a doomed boxing career, then made his living as an “enforcer,” the muscle who came along to make money collection by organized crime types easier. He’s also divorced, but shows he has a heart by the way he treats four-year-old Lenny, his ex-wife’s son.
The various story lines in GATE 76 compete for attention, which instead of adding depth to the story, just make it seem fragmented. Diamond has a way with words, but even his wordsmithing can’t enliven Freddy’s rambling through Texas and the politically corrupt plot he uncovers.
GATE 76 has a very promising beginning, and although buoyed by brilliant snippets of writing, it is ultimately bogged down by a dusty plot stretched thin by too many back stories.
~MG Milbrodt for IndieReader