I’m not quite sure what to make of The Speed of Sound, the first novel in a planned series by Eric Bernt. On the one hand, it’s got all the requisite elements that make a good thriller: a shadowy conspiracy, multiple factions, and an interesting technical McGuffin. On the other hand, most of the characters just aren’t that interesting, the plot tends to drag from perspective to perspective, and everyone we meet for any length of time is blandly hypercompetent at what they do.
The story revolves around two main characters. One, Skylar Drummond, is a young doctor taking her first big post-graduation job at Harmony House, a place that’s one part research lab and one part assisted living for its high-functioning autistic residents. The other is Edward “Eddie” Maxwell Park, a Harmony House resident since he was eleven years old.
In my opinion, the book does an excellent job of is putting readers into Eddie’s world. Chapters from his perspective are just slightly off, reflecting the unique way he sees the world. Although Eddie is incredibly brilliant within his small interest, he is also extremely sheltered and childlike in his responses to everyday things. How much of this would ring true with parents and loved ones of actual neurologically atypical people I can’t say, but the author certainly seems to write Eddie from an honest place. We don’t feel sorry for him that he’s different. Concerned, sure, particularly when he becomes a lost, childlike adult in New York City, but he’s not a character to be pitied. We want him to succeed, and to realize his dream of hearing his deceased mother’s voice.
That dream, and Eddie’s solution to accomplishing it, is the principle driving force of the book. For to hear that voice, he has worked out a way to reconstruct and replay sound echoes of past events. This technology, of course, has application far beyond Eddie’s ideas, and its completion sets off a cross-country race between multiple factions to acquire the device.
Skylar, meanwhile, is a far less interesting character. Her desire to work at Harmony House comes from guilt over the death of her autistic brother, she initially sees Eddie as similar in kind to her brother, and is able to break through some of his walls using techniques that she learned in dealing with her brother. She sees the potential in the device, and sets off on the run with Eddie after the first demonstration of the working prototype reveals a murder plot.
The author, Eric Bernt, is primarily a writer of movies and TV shows. Perhaps that’s one of the big reasons why the plot shifts scenes so often, and at times feels more like a screenplay than a novel. This is definitely a story that would work as a TV movie or miniseries, where characters and locations can be quickly identified visually.
I did enjoy The Speed of Sound, and will be looking for the next installment of the series. It’s an enjoyable read, with an interesting hook, just not great. Let’s say 3.5/5, and call it good, shall we?