A family mystery set in small town Louisiana
starts with the death of Danny Hoyle.  At first it is thought that he committed
suicide, but then the sheriff notes that the circumstances of his death were
not consistent with his killing himself.  Besides, the Hoyle family has made
many enemies, since the father Huff Hoyle runs a metal pipe factory where the
machines are very dangerous and there have been many accidents where workers
lost limbs or even died.  Danny’s sister Sayre Lynch returns to her hometown
from her life in San Francisco, and soon becomes embroiled in the family fights
that she escaped from long ago.  Sayre hates her family but she finds herself
surprisingly drawn to the family lawyer Beck Merchant, even though she hates
what he does.  When it becomes clear that Danny was murdered, Sayre stays in
town despite her better judgment.

The story stays firmly rooted in
the Hoyle family, who are the most powerful in the area.  The book contains
plenty of double-dealing, sexual liaisons, battles between management and
unions, and surprise revelations.  It is tightly written, including subtle
clues right from the start about the dramatic surprises that come to light by
the end.  The main appeal of White Hot comes from the characterization
of Louisiana and especially the factory scenes with their noisy and dangerous
machines.  Few of the characters are sympathetic and it is hard to care very
much about whodunit, so there’s not much motivation to pay attention to the
minor characters or the plot twists in the middle of the book.  The main
character, Sayre Lynch, is not very interesting.  Nevertheless, the story keeps
going at a fast rate, and it is entertaining if a little confusing.

Victor Slezak, an actor who has
appeared in a number of movies and Broadway plays, reads the audiobook nicely. 
He does a good job with the accents and is able to keep the different
characters fairly distinct.

© 2004 Christian
Perring. All rights reserved.

Christian
Perring, Ph.D., is Academic Chair of the Arts & Humanities
Division and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Dowling College, Long Island. He is also
editor of Metapsychology Online Review.  His main research is on
philosophical issues in medicine, psychiatry and psychology.

Categories: Fiction, AudioBooks