Man Who Whispered, The

In THE MAN WHO WHISPERED (1998), author Rick Boyer says farewell to Charles Hatton Adams, M.D., D. D. S., oral surgeon of historic Concord, Massachusetts. In this ninth of the Doc Adams detective thrillers, our sometimes obtuse hero simply explodes the simple, undemanding thriller genre. There is very little fast-moving heart-in-mouth hopping from fairly easy clue to chase to armed and unarmed combat to final confrontation with an evil monster. ***** We are now rather in an almost mythical world of Surinamese headhunters, of blowgunners who kill with poison taken from pink frogs of the Amazon basin and of cleverly hidden treasures piled up from diamonds lying scattered for the taking in the jungles and mountains of northeastern South America. ***** A good-hearted dying criminal, Christos Ramos, born in Portugal but become rich on Cape Cod, whose bad teeth Doc Adams has lovingly treated in prison, wills to Doc a fortune in diamonds but also unhelpfully gives clues to several other deathbed visitors as to how to lay hands on the riches. A half dozen others race Doc Adams through the next 250 pages for Doc's inheritance. And who ends up wealthy will surprise you. ***** Background texture is provided by crooked Massachusetts politicians, people on Cape Cod who smuggle illegal immigrants into metro Boston, worthy-of-the-Gothic illegitimate births and secret identities, tramp steamers, killers without consciences, a Catholic priest who hopes to find the treasure for the New Bedford church patronized by Chris Ramos, and, as usual, a beautiful vamp who tempts Doc to forget his vow to be faithful to his amply endowed wife Mary. ***** THE MAN WHO WHISPERED is not an undemanding read. Do not tackle if if you are tired or unwilling to juggle a large cast of characters, learn the properties and provenance of weird poisons and accept improbable situations. Doc Adams is still good ole, amiable Doc. But he is caught up in more fantasy, intrigue and mystery than we have come to associate with this lovable bumbler. -OOO-