Now I'm going to be writing about the second part of my friend's new book, while I try to get the awful taste of the movie Lost Continent out of my brain.
So Chapter Two begins with the characters in the car, and Emily Carson is quickly established as being friendly, and far more 'manly' than Dirk Calloway. Carson also manages to quickly develop a rapport with the other characters, rather unrealistically in my mind. Hawk and Calloway have the excuse of having been in a dangerous situation together, which tends to advance relationships faster than more mundane activities. The most dangerous situation the three of them were in was pushing a car out of mud, which seemed kind of pointless in my mind.
In their quest for the vast hordes of cash that Native Americans undoubtedly possess pre-casinos, Hawk and the rest meet the medicine man. I'm sorry, I want to write nice things about this book, but I winced reading this scene. Granted, I'm not sure how much Tabor wants to intentionally use tired pulp cliches, but during this scene we're treated to annoyingly obscure mysticism and some noble savage stereotypes. Then, after some peyote induced hallucinations, the characters are shaken to their core, and compelled to stop the bad guys seen in their little vision. It's not even a real vision quest.
I'm sorry, but this feels weak as hell to me. I can only hope that the three protagonists were somehow hypnotized into it, since it seems that most video games manage to give their characters better motivations than this. :(
Fortunately, after the embarrassing moment where all the characters jump full speed onto the plot train, it gets better. There are a few more moments of characterization, hints that people might be deeper than they appear, and a few nice moments of wit. They indulge in a bit of grave-robbing, always a fun activity, then another furious fight breaks out, this one with more purpose than gratuitous word violence.
Finally, the chapter ends in a daring escape on a hot air balloon, against assailants that are probably the undead. Interesting. And we begin to see more of the signs between the Ivy League soldiers that dug up Geronimo and the Ivy League veteran that's hanging around with the other two protagonists. The book is starting to get a little crazy, and I'm liking it more and more, but the whole "Indian meeting/vision quest/important mission to stop evil guy in mask" felt weak as hell.
I do question whether or not a shovel to the head would be fatal in genre, though. :) Although the author also has a hydrogen-filled hot air balloon explode for no other reason than it's cool.
And here's an excerpt from the action scene at the end of the chapter.
Hawkins suddenly saw three men converge on their position with uncanny speed. They
were being taken by the wind fairly quickly, and well on their way to clearing the perimeter
fence, but the three men were able to get to the rope with no trouble at all. One of them grabbed
on, and the balloon sank a little. He quickly began to climb up the rope at a rate that Calloway
could in no way compete with. Calloway struggled up the rope, the man quickly gaining on him.
Rung by rung he climbed until Hawkins could almost reach out his hand and touch his
outstretched arm. Before he could make the final step for Hawkins to grab him and pull him into
the basket, however, the bearded man who Calloway had minutes before smashed in the face
with the iron spade of a shovel grabbed at his ankle. Calloway somehow held on with his arms,
freeing his leg to kick the bearded man in the face multiple times.
The man ignored this, and continued to hang on. Emily turned to Hawkins, “hold me
over the edge,” she said urgently. She picked up the shovel they had stuffed in the basket earlier.
“What?” Hawkins asked.
“You’re too heavy for me to hold you. Just do it!” Hawkins complied, grabbing her by
the waist and holding her over the edge of the basket. She held out the shovel, swinging it
awkwardly but forcefully at the bearded soldier hanging onto Calloway below. Hawkins heard
the repeated thud of metal on bone, and the man grunted while suffering the blows. The balloon
basket tilted and teetered in the wind, and both the rope and the people attached oscillated along
with it, causing Hawkins to almost lose hold of Emily. She screamed, grabbing hold of the
basket while dropping the shovel to the ground. Calloway was finally able to break free and grab
a hold of the basket while the man below secured his handle on the rope.
Hawkins yanked Emily back inside the basket and reached out to grab Calloway.
Unfortunately for him, the bearded soldier took hold of his ankle again at the second time,
causing a tug o’ war between the man and Hawkins for Calloway’s torso. Holding onto
Hawkin’s grasp, he flailed his legs about in an attempt to throw the man off. Suddenly the man
bellowed, “Dirk Calloway, Charak-teres, Eko Eko Azerak, Charak-teres.” His skin began to
glow slightly, turning reddish as if a light had been ignited inside his skin. This glow gradually
left his body and seeped into Calloway’s through his exposed ankle. Dirk then went limp,
making it that much more difficult for Hawkins to hold on, but he was able to manage. The
bearded man then dropped his grip and fell to the ground, rolling as he hit.
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