SHOTGUN BLAST FROM THE PAST: JOHN & WARD HAWKINS'S THE FLOODS OF FEAR

The Floods of Fear by the sibling writing team of John and Ward Hawkins is the epitome of a fifties potboiler. From the overwrought title to the high emotions of its characters, and disaster story backdrop, the book possesses shameless, bold story telling. While it could easily be updated for today, the style and attitude screams drugstore spinner rack.

The tale combines disaster epic, crime melodrama, and just plain melodrama. A flood engulfs a mountain area. Inmates from the local prison are brought in to reinforce a dyke. It breaks drowning most of the work crew. One of the prisoners with swimming skills, Bruce Donovan, doing life for killing his wife, survives and saves a guard, Tom Starkey, and an unscrupulous former cellmate, Peeples. He also rescues the life of Elizabeth Mathis, a well to-do, virginal grad student with a fear of men. Donovan uses the situation to seek revenge on the man he blames for his incarceration. Elizabeth sticks with him for protection. Peeples also sticks with them, trying to talk Donovan into a mini-crime spree and get Elizabeth alone. Straw, who gets left behind, vows to bring his prisoners in, dead or alive.

There is nothing small about this book. We always know where each character is coming from, drawn in broad strokes, often speaking in declarative dialogue. The clear knowledge of them actually provides the suspense and high drama as they clash and all find themselves together at the home of Donovan's quarry, keeping us invested all the time.

The Floods of Fear is not a story of subtlety or nuance. The Hawkins Brothers designed it to grab you and keep a hold on you throughout every page; sometimes through sheer will, but mainly due to the go-big-or-go-home style. It puts a fifties crime drama movie in your head. The only choice you have is seeing it in bold black and white or blazing Technicolor.