A Review of Winter Soon

By Robert J.R. Graham

“Winter Soon” is a novel by David Michael Martin, a former English professor which takes readers on a journey into the wilderness of Maine.  The story telling unfolds across a three act play structure, that takes three friends on a trip that involves, treachery, sex, and murder.  The writing harkens back to a classic, educated prose that turns pages, and raises eye brows as an unlikely murder takes place.  This causes a divide between friends, as an affair takes place, hampering the investigation.

Characters like John Mason are written given a rich palette of emotions and depth, as conscience comes into play forcing him back to the scene of the crime.  Familiar characters resurface, as do hidden dangers.  Sarah, the wife of the murdered game warden becomes entangled through an affair with a rich Lumber Executive named Trask.  Trask becomes a suspect in the murder, but doubts around that arise as well.  Overall I found the characters held together well, and had unique dialogue and perspectives.  Free spirits, and pragmatists alike interweave in a seamless interplay of intrigue as the story unveils a classic “whodunit.”

This is something I could easily see becoming a play, or movie (given the right cast).  The way it unfolds is quite interesting, and given the three act structure, it would translate very well to an on-stage performance.  The descriptions within basically jumped off the page, as I was quickly drawing the landscapes and people in my mind.  David does a great job describing scenes, and setting the mood quickly and effectively.  Each character was uniquely distinguished by their vocabulary, and manner of speaking – which is rare for a first time novel.

The story telling itself was great, and I secretly loved and despised some characters.  There was something about Sarah that interested me, she plotted to kill her husband, has an affair, and yet she remains relatively untouched so to speak.  That kind of conniving is kind of scary, but David does a great job of making it very believable.  I was also quite impressed how each section read like its own novel.  Given a bit more, I could have easily seen each section become its own book.  But despite not taking the opportunity to expand the “Winter Soon” universe, Mr. Martin instead compacted the excitement and mystery of three books into one!  Well done.

My only comment about the book is that it is a period piece.  In fact it covers a 4 month period in 1973, but given that the book is set in the wilderness, it is almost timeless and avoids being dated (an unfortunate problem with sci-fi).  If it were converted to TV, a play, or film, I’d recommend a bit more colorization in the vocabulary, and modern overtones.  I’d give this one a 4/5.