Andrew Hudson's debut novel Drift, opens with a murder, then moves to introduce Travis Benson, who seems a little stressed in his marketing role with hints to a major incident or trauma in his past.
Travis soon takes his bosses advice to take some time off and sets off across the country in his truck, although the reader is not sure where. Hudson does a fantastic job here of building suspense and I think it would be fair to say that for the first half of the book I enjoyed following Travis and was really keen to unearth the trauma in his recent past. Suspense is the major driver here.
Self-published as an e-book, it was certainly obvious to this reader that the novel lacked the expert editing and polish from a publishing house. Typos and errors can be skimmed over, such as: "And where there any passersby? No." on page 211. However, the use of the word 'skeptics' in relation to hiding a car in the following sentence also on page 211, was a little odd: "Branches and pines hid it out of site, keeping it at bay from skeptics' eyes."
Having said that, Hudson's writing of a character's suicide note within the novel was so deep and moving, I would go so far as saying that it was one of the most touching and intimate letters I've seen incorporated in a novel.
Ultimately I enjoyed reading Drift, the suspense was real and I enjoyed the backstory of the killer; one of the best parts of the novel. It was a relief to read a book like this after the heaviness of The Name of the Rose, however I can't give Drift a higher rating than The Name of the Rose.
My rating = ***
Carpe Librum!
