Here we are, we made it, and this is it, the final book of the semester. All things considered, Hurricane Fever may have been saved best for last. I’ve had my ups and downs with many of the books that we’ve read this semester, so it was really nice and refreshing to read a fast paced thriller as our final book. The book follows Roo, an ex-spy living an average day to day life in the Caribbean taking care of his nephew, when he’s plunged into the mystery of the murder of one of his former colleagues.
The primary thing this book did well, is similarly the thing I thought worked so well about Snowpiercer. It is not using Climate Change as primary source of forward momentum for the novel. The book has its own story to tell completely independent of the looming threat of climate change constantly hanging over the entire book like a storm cloud. In this case literally a storm cloud. Cli Fi as a narrative device, in my opinion, works better as a factor working outside the plot as opposed to the force driving it. I think when used thusly it is able to more succinctly get the message of climate change out there, and it does it with subtlety rather than beating us over the head with the never ending threat of planetary destruction. It normalizes it as a concept, and as something that is happening, while also making it something that should be concerning. However, I’m off on a tangent, back to the book itself.
I found Hurricane Fever to be very engaging. I liked how quickly the plot zipped along, I found myself unable to put it down most of the time. Roo was a very interesting character to follow, even if he and the story do fall into some typical clichés common in stories like these (the retired spy being pulled back into the game and things of that ilk). However, I would not consider that a point against the book, it’s something that befalls most writers, and it’s a book that accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do. It’s not trying to be the Great American Novel, and nor should it, it’s a fun action spy thriller and I can’t imagine anyone who enjoys the genre reading it and not finding something worth liking about it.
