Scott Von Doviak’s debut novel, CHARLESGATE CONFIDENTIAL, is based on actual events of an unsolved crime. Unfortunately Von Doviak’s structure makes the narrative difficult to follow.

In 1946 a group of criminals steal a dozen priceless paintings from a Boston museum. While some of the criminals are caught in the years that follow, the works of art are never found. But credible rumors say the art is hidden somewhere within the Charlesgate Hotel. Forty years later, a college student finds himself on the trail of the missing art, and the reward that has grown significantly over the years.

Three decades later, in 2014, the college student returns to the Charlesgate Hotel for his 25th class reunion, and resumes his search for the stolen art. This time, however, the student finds his life threatened. Could the deaths taking place at the Charlesgate Hotel be connected to the missing art?

Von Doviak begins the story with the background of the criminals and then the heist itself in 1946. He follows this with successive chapters taking place in 1986 and then 2014. This sequence of chapters in the three time periods is repeated throughout the novel and includes bits of Boston lore and highlights of Red Sox baseball.

While this structure is unique, it proves to be the novel’s biggest liability. The events and characters keep shifting with each chapter. It isn’t until close to 100 pages into the novel that we finally learn the identities of the central characters as well as the crucial narrative events.

To his credit, however, Von Doviak’s depiction of each period is credible and the dialogue remains faithful to the speech patterns of the three shifting times. In fact, it is these qualities that keep us reading until we get a firm grasp on the novel’s focus. In an afterword, Von Doviak briefly details the theft that formed the basis of his novel and indicates those characters, settings and events that are wholly fictional.

Despite the disappointing shortcomings of this debut, Von Doviak proves himself a competent and skilled author. Perhaps his next work will feature a more traditional structure to better highlight his talents. —Alan Cranis

Get it at Amazon.