In his lustful haste, he stepped off the curb behind a parked minivan. Turning, Daniel caught movement out of his left eye as the brown truck struck him. The impact was like a bug being hit by a fly swatter. He could feel his chest breaking-being thrown backwards onto the street, the back of his head hitting the pavement with a deadly force. All he could hear were tires screeching and his girlfriend Devi's scream: "NO!"
Daniel St Croix is the beneficiary of his estranged grandfather's estate-including a gold wedding band holding a powerful secret. The gold forming the band was originally given to a long-dead Egyptian Pharaoh from the gods who once walked the earth. Daniel must read Pierre St Croix's well-kept journals to unravel the puzzle and imminent danger attached to his inheritance.
In his lustful haste, he stepped off the curb behind a parked minivan. Turning, Daniel caught movement out of his left eye as the brown truck struck him. The impact was like a bug being hit by a fly swatter. He could feel his chest breaking-being thrown backwards onto the street, the back of his head hitting the pavement with a deadly force. All he could hear were tires screeching and his girlfriend Devi's scream: "NO!"
Daniel St Croix is the beneficiary of his estranged grandfather's estate-including a gold wedding band holding a powerful secret. The gold forming the band was originally given to a long-dead Egyptian Pharaoh from the gods who once walked the earth. Daniel must read Pierre St Croix's well-kept journals to unravel the puzzle and imminent danger attached to his inheritance.
“EXQUISITE!” THE THIEF RAN his latex-gloved hand along the bottom of the wooden frame. Using a military-power flashlight, he examined the attached nameplate. Then he searched the canvas, looking for the mark made by the famous artist from the Canadian North. Finding it, he smiled. “No doubt, this piece is worth hundreds of thousands.” Shaking his head, he sighed. “It would be next to impossible to find a fence to turn it.”
On the night Daniel St. Croix would die, he did not come to steal artwork. He would rather receive a wire transfer to an offshore account within hours of delivering the targeted goods. Industrial espionage was a much cleaner way to earn a living as a thief. Once he had the file, it would be virtually untraceable. If everything went according to plan, Daniel would not be noticed; a lost business deal for the victim, written off as bad planning and judgment. He passed through the wood-paneled office to sit behind an executive-style mahogany desk. Relaxing, he placed his hands on top of the CEO’s private CPU, drumming his fingers.
He flipped open the laptop, and the home screen came up, prompting a password. Daniel pulled a decoder from his satchel and plugged it into an empty USB port. Within minutes, the device cracked the security code . . . allowing access.
He had spent days attempting remote access of their hard drive, but the CEO of ANMARK must have paid the premium for online security. Most commercial security coding would deter a common burglar. Daniel was a pro. Accessing the building gave him little difficulty. He smiled and went straight to recent files in order to pull up financial statements and an Acquisition Proposal created by the company to purchase a small, but profitable, tech company located in Toronto. The intel Daniel retrieved would be turned over to his benefactors, who would use the advantage to mount a superior bid and undercut the competition.
Daniel stood slowly, turning off the computer before he made his way out of the room. He whispered into his headset. “Got it!”
His partner Giovanni responded. “Hang on, Danny, we’ve got a problem. Looks like the night cleaning staff just arrived. You need to get out of there . . . pronto.” Giovanni monitored the grounds with a hi-tech drone utilizing infrared. But the eye-in-the-sky was not needed to see the minivan pull up to the front of the building. When the driver and two passengers got out, they begin to unload the cleaning equipment.
Giovanni heard Daniel’s voice come over the headset. “If I hurry, I can be out the back door before they reach the building.”
“Careful, Danny . . . ”
“Are the grounds clear once I’m out?”
“Affirmative, head back through the parking lot then onto the side
street. I’ll pick you up.”
“Got it. Three minutes, pal.”
The two-story building had both cameras and a laser-censored alarm
system. Lasers were easy enough to avoid. Daniel used a photo-electric sensor, detecting three thin red beams crossing the office door, two laterals and one diagonal. He carefully stepped over the lower beam, keeping his head under the second, his tight-fitting black clothing luckily passing just over the diagonal.
Cameras were limited to the entry doors and front foyer. Daniel stayed clear of them and kept the sensor panned ahead. There were a few lasers along the main hallway at waist height, and he slipped under them. He made his way into the utility room at the back of the building, housing the structure’s mechanicals. As expected, he would be out before the cleaners entered the building.
The outside exit was a plain steel safety door with a basic deadbolt five-pin Kwikset, simple access for someone with Daniel’s skill. Deadbolts were primarily created to deter a forced entry. He had been able to spring the lock within a minute when he first entered the building, and he locked the door from outside, where he retrieved a wire set, which kept the alarm connection intact.
Knowing the grounds were clear, Daniel hurried off the property, avoiding the point-of-entry cameras. He slipped into the passenger seat of Giovanni’s black SUV and handed over the USB stick.
His partner, Giovanni, nodded. “Good work, St. Croix.” He slipped it into his jacket pocket and drove away from the scene of the crime. Giovanni was ten years older than Daniel, and a good mentor. The Italian had been referred to him by one of his fences, an older French-speaking man who only communicated to Daniel via the phone. The voice claimed anonymity was of utmost importance to him. Daniel did not argue as the contact’s information had proven to be reliable time and time again.
“One day you will become too old for this work, Daniel.”
“Come on . . . then I’ll follow in your steps . . . you lazy ass.” Giovanni laughed. “You remind me of someone I met a long time go.” “Who is that?” Daniel asked.
“I will tell you one day,” he said in a placating manner.
The Society of Necessities has much to offer readers who love the fast-paced action and mysterious puzzles of a modern thriller. Centered on Daniel St. Croix, the book charts his journey from simple thief to major player in a centuries-long battle for ultimate power. In my opinion, some of the best parts occur in the story-within-a-story, though: the journals of Pierre St. Croix.
While the novel moves along at a steady pace, has some compelling characters, and offers edge-of-your-seat thrills and intrigue, I had some qualms with the story. The dialogue often seems a bit stilted, with characters speaking more like storybook characters than actual people. There is also the issue of both St. Croixs' overall personalities. Both Pierre and Daniel seem to ricochet between immoral playboy tropes and well-meaning hero stereotypes. For example, they may spend one page decrying racism or eschewing the hierarchy of aristocratic society, but on the next page, they'll refer to women as "females," engage in thievery, and even become comfortable with murder. It's a jarring back-and-forth.
On the other hand, author Chris Bowron does an admirable job with the enemies in this book. In many thrillers, we are left wondering how trained killers could possibly "lose" to amateurs brought into the action by fate. In The Society of Necessities, Bowron is able to keep the suspense high, rachet up the tension, and provide escape routes for his protagonists without the enemy coming off as especially incompetent and without the need for story-breaking deus-ex-machinas.
Ultimately, I enjoyed my time with the St. Croixs and their supporting characters. The blossoming of love between Daniel and his love interest was good, although I will throw out a trigger warning if readers are uncomfortable with descriptions of sex.
The Society of Necessities is worth reading, especially if you love thrillers in the vein of Dan Brown or David Baldacci.