Brenda’s husband might be having an affair with her ex-fiance’s wife. And now Brenda, her husband Don, and her ex John are driving 18 hours to New Orleans together in a small car to save her daughter from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina.
That’s all the setup you need to dive into Storm Surge (Page Publishing), the fast-paced, easy-to-absorb debut novel from John F. Banas.
EVERYONE HARBORS SECRETS
But it hardly stops there. Brenda’s daughter Ashley, a student at Tulane, is not evacuating because she is stuck trying to convince her Aunt May, who lives in a nearby assisted-living center, that it’s time to get out before it’s too late. Oddly, the management of the facility seems to have no sense of urgency to get the residents out.
And oh yes, before we forget, the ex, John, is in debt to the wrong sort of people, but, as an insurance agent, has a scheme to collect on the policy of Brenda’s husband Don — should Don turn up dead.
Lest we fail to add that there’s discord among the ranks of the criminals with which John is engaged. There’s the boss-in-waiting, VT, who can’t live up to the expectations of his father, head of the crime family. And VT’s right-hand man Zanetti has designs of his own to take over the business once all “loose ends” are tied up.
Brenda finds it unusual when John offers his services and his boat to help rescue Ashley, claiming a continued fondness for the woman and willingness to help even though he and Don are bitter rivals. With nothing being more important than her daughter’s well-being, she takes him up on his offer.
Yet along the way, she finds growing clues that Don — and maybe herself as well — is not safe, heeding an initial warning from, of all people, John’s wife Amy, who advises her to be careful because all is not as it seems. Apparently, there are many skeletons in many closets.
A STORY OF SURVIVAL
The author introduces a lot of moving parts to the story but manages them tightly and seamlessly to bring them together into a cohesive plot. There’s much you can learn about people confined to close quarters for an 18-hour road trip, and Banas takes advantage of it — primarily through the eyes and thoughts of Brenda, who juggles her concern over the two men, her suspicions about everyone’s intentions, and the matter at hand to save her daughter from a ferocious storm as communications cut off.
Banas has crafted a wild ride of a plot between the personal relationships, Hurricane Katrina, and the specter of a collision course with professional hitmen. If Brenda can survive one crisis, can she survive the next?
And don’t be surprised if Banas has a twist or two in store for us at the end. Check out Storm Surge — we thoroughly enjoyed it, and it is worthy of your consideration as your next read.
Learn more about John F. Banas on his BookTrib author profile page.
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About John F. Banas:
Storm Surge is the debut thriller by John F. Banas. John read his first novel, Andromeda Strain, when he was just eight years old and has been hooked on thriller novels ever since. He is drawn to stories about average, everyday people who are thrust into impossible situations and called upon to reach above their skill and comfort level to succeed, or even survive. John’s first published work was a short story for an anthology entitled Down the Block, a collection of tales about life in the big city. John lives with his family in a suburb of Chicago, a city that provides endless inspiration for books.
