Outside Reading (Book Review #2)

November 14, 2010
http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Reviews-Essays/Rogue-Island/ba-p/3561
Article Published November 4, 2010

Howard Frank Mosher's review of Rogue Island, by Bruce DeSilva, gives an excellent summary of the book's best points. His review gives much praise to both the descriptive nature of the investigative journalism industry and the plot and character development of the story. Mosher's informal writing style, along with his thorough descriptions, leads to an all-together excellent review of Rogue Island.

Mosher's reader-friendly stylistic writing allows even the most simplistic reader an excellent understanding of the book as a whole. There are few sentences that do not fit the constant "flow" of this piece. Mosher first describes to the reader the main protagonist, Liam Mulligan, and some of his more recent struggles. The reader then learns of some of the more quirky minor characters, such as a "74-year-old numbers racketeer," that add to the novel's first-rate writing. Mosher then praises DeSilva's accurate depiction of investigative journalism. Mosher only writes in the first person during this one sentence, noting, "As a bonus, Rogue Island also contains some of the best writing about the embattled newspaper business I've ever read—unsurprisingly, the author is a former investigative journalist and Associated Press editor." When reading this sentence, I was definitely surprised by Mosher's sudden use of the first person; though I think that his decision to do so helps give the reader a better understanding of his opinions on the novel.

Rogue Island's main character, Liam Mulligan, reminds me of the main character in a few of Jodi Picoult's books, (such as Perfect Match) Nina Frost. Though Liam is a journalist and Nina is an assistant district attorney, they both must face the scummy underbelly of their society and seek the truth amongst it. Another similarity between the two lies in their inability to not make their jobs personal. Mosher writes in his review that Liam disobeys his editor when he discovers that an arsonist is burning down his childhood buildings. In Perfect Match, when Nina discovers that her 5-year old son has been sexually abused, she goes on a man-hunt that leads to the fusing of her personal and work lives.

Although this review does a stupendous job of complementing the novel's highlights, it point outs none of its faults. Mosher points out the less-than-great character traits of Liam Mulligan, though he never once makes any negative comments directed at DeSilva. This is the greatest fault of Mosher's article. His nearly flawless writing would initially make me believe that this review is suitable for an AP assignment; however, his failure to make a counterargument overrules such a notion. I most also note that I do not detect any critical perspective in its entirety: the closest perspective I can detect is formalism, although he does not outright mention any literary devices what-so-ever.