Dated and tone deaf. [Under Pressure by Robert Pobi]
On a beautiful October evening, New York City's iconic Guggenheim Museum is closed for a tech company's private gala. Until an explosion rocks the night, instantly killing 702 people, including every single attendee—yet the damage to the building itself was minimal.
An explosion of that precision was no accident and, in response, the FBI mobilizes its entire team -- but the sheer number of victims strains their resources. Were all 702 victims in the wrong place at the wrong time, or was there only one target and 701 unlucky bystanders? That many victim files is a staggering amount of data to sort through and Brett Kehoe, Special Agent in Charge of Manhattan, decides that he can't do this without more computational power.
Dr. Lucas Page, astrophysicist, university professor, and former FBI agent, is uniquely gifted for the task at hand—he can visualize a crime scene as if he was a bystander and can break down any set of data at a glance. Even though Page wants nothing to do with the FBI, with his city under attack and his family at risk, he steps in to find a killer in a haystack before they strike again.
With the nation reexamining the role and value of police in our society, the pro-cop, pro-law enforcement narratives that pervade media are being called into question, drawn into the light for account. Mystery thrillers are one of my favorite genres across the board, so I'm sure the future hold a slow, protracted reckoning for me with these narratives. Yes, not all mystery thrillers are focused around a law enforcement figure, but more often than not there's one who, if not central to the plot, is secondary.
Reading Robert Pobi's Under Pressure, I couldn't help but think this felt like a poor man's NUMB3RS (Numbers). Not that I was actually familiar with the show, but the genius math savant seeing patterns and solving problems faster than anyone else isn't a new concept. The savant in the criminal sciences who's a rude condescending bastard isn't new period. And it doesn't read well.
Our protagonist, Lucas Page, is maybe a bit racist. The weird characterization of non-white characters, throughout, was a little racist. Ascribing alien, animal-like features to the Black female character was uncomfortable to read. The lax attitude towards accidental shootings, the idea that some people might deserve to get shot - all really weird, especially for the times. And then there was just a weird upper class, elitist tone that radiated the characters. That was highly annoying.
The story was not thrilling. The reveal of the criminal mastermind was anti-climactic and predictable, which was odd considering crimes themselves were so intriguing. This is my first novel of Pobi's, Under Pressure being the second in the Lucas Page series. It was a story. The story was fine enough. It'd probably do better as a TV episode or episode arc, but I didn't really enjoy it. 2 stars from me.
Under Pressure is set for publication August 04, 2020.
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