Jock Stewart and The Missing Sea of Fire by Malcolm R. Campbell is a colorful rambling tale rooted in the old Bogart mystery movies or the Mickey Spillane pulp fiction of yesteryears but with more twists that a package of red licorice; with more curves than Lindsey Lohan; with characters as crusty as the pie at the Purple Platter Diner; the plot as thick as the meatloaf entrée they serve there as well.
Jock is an old-school journalist whose destiny with danger is encompassed within the present dealing with realities of the digital age and the new blog bites of temptations that the public is now reduced to reading and the art of investigative journalism has taken a back seat – much like the one in an old 1953 Desoto he seduces the mayor’s wife quite often in – to the end of newsprint and its importance in the informational superhighway of sod-busting sycophants. Jock is never at a loss for juicy comebacks and there isn’t a pun that he ever kept to himself save for one instance. The plethora of puns is a panalopy of cross-references with two or three meanings and sometimes none at all but for his current synaptic thought processes. Like the cartoon figure Roger Rabbit he just can’t stop going for that last two notes of “Shave and a Haircut-Two-Bits!”
There are many other points that are subtly made regarding the written word and the growing state of gossipy news taking the forefront of old-style journalism but the book never takes itself so seriously as to not evoke a laugh with a Krispy Kreme Kruller running the show as the flatulent three-ring circus fat-bellied Master of Ceremonies, the big chief of the round robin intertwined plot.
It is a fun and entertaining romp and without giving away any of the plot, the main character of book never appears-that must be a first for any novel. There should be a large warning label on this book: Warning-Those with no sense of humor should avoid reading this book at all costs.
By the way if you’re in the area pick up a half dozen Krispy Kremes and two coffees if you don’t mind, the story is as sweet as those sugary, doughy, and airy treats.
Wherever there’s a story or a wanton woman available-Jock Stewart is right as rain on it!
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Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire
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