The Golden Hour Yields Insight into Strange Cultures, Both in Africa and Inside the Beltway

The Golden Hour - Todd Moss

Emergency medical personnel know from experience that if a patient receives treatment within an hour after a heart attack or stroke, his chances of survival increase exponentially. Judd Ryker knows this because he worked his way through undergrad as an EMT, but in a moment of idle curiosity the polysci prof wondered whether the same principle translates to other “incidents” as well, especially his own field. Once a corps of grad students had sifted through a mountain of data, Ryker’s study of the history of coups d’etat convinced him that The Golden Hour translates to affairs of state as well. The statistics suggest that there’s a critical period within which governmental overthrow can be reversed; a period of about 100 hours. Once his findings are published, Judd finds himself plucked out of academia and dropped into a position at the United States Department of State.

Ryker quickly discovers that even the bloodiest coup in a third-world nation is tame compared to the back-stabbing and interdepartmental infighting going on among the many government agencies. A year after his move, while on a beach vacation, Ryker gets a call: there has been an overnight change of government in the West African nation of Mali. The hundred-hour clock has started… Ryker knows the terrain and the principals in Mali, because he spent many months there as a grad student. He even met his wife out in the wild fringes of the Sahara. Mali is also the country where he found himself in the hospital eight months back, caught with the Ambassador by an IED as he toured the countries of the Dark Continent. Once a few task-force meetings convince him that the best test of his concept is for to be more hands-on, Ryker makes his way to the scene.

Meanwhile back in Foggy Bottom, the buzzards are circling as a claque of departments squabble over the best method for reversing the changes in Mali, assuming they should even try. Matters are complicated by rumors of drug and arms smuggling, reports that an al Qaeda franchise is operating from a desert camp near Timbuktu, and a video of a kidnapped Peace Corps volunteer who just happens to be the daughter of a powerful U. S. Senator. Every party at the conference table insists he has the solution, to a man – or woman – suffering from a form of tunnel vision. Their views of the coup are reminiscent of the parable about the blind men and the elephant.

Ryker knows the people and the culture of Mali, but is that first-hand knowledge enough to override the rumors and innuendo? If he’s lucky, the super-secret Purple Cell will save the day.

Todd Moss, author of The Golden Hour, possesses first-hand knowledge of the deserts of West Africa, having served with the U. S. Department of State in the country west of Mali – that would be Mauritania, if your geography is shaky. This knowledge of the country, people and culture informs his characters and his plot. At the same time, Moss brings experience in the convoluted workings of the U. S. Government (any government, in fact) to his writing.

The Golden Hour is no shoot-‘em-up political thriller such as one might find shelved with the David Baldacci novels, nor is it an action thriller starring the likes of Jack Bauer. On the contrary, Moss’s style owes more to John le Carré; whose George Smiley novels of espionage rely on psychology and human nature instead of armament and fast cars; than it does to James Bond and to Ian Fleming. Not only that, the protagonist is married – quite happily, it seems. Both of those facts seem a source of disappointment to the class of readers expecting a gore- and lust-fest more typical of the genre.

That’s not to say that Moss has written a sparkling debut, though. While he constructs a n admirable cast of characters and does well in laying the plot’s groundwork, the execution remains somewhat clumsy. Moss seems obligated to insert a neck-wrenching plot twist (and does so). He also relies overmuch. For this reader’s money anyway, on allegorical and metaphorical speeches out of Ryker’s conversants instead of plain speech, meaning Ryker keeps having to puzzle out the hidden meaning of some fable or other.  

Overall, though, The Golden Hour is a good read. It’s one that’s far more thoughtful than the typical political thriller. Moss’s familiarity with cultures most of us have never seen – both in West Africa and the inner workings of our government – make entertaining reading. If he manages to sharpen those plotting skills for future Judd Ryker installments, the series has great promise.