Remember the first time you ever flew in an airplane? The excitement mingled with nervousness to create a sense of almost joyous anxiety. The engines revving up at take-off and the terrifying realization that this multi-ton piece of metal should by no stretch of the imagination be able to stay in the air for longer than a few seconds hits almost simultaneously with absolute glee that comes with the realization that you are actually sailing through the freaking air! But it turns out that the flight is cross-country and several hours later all you can think about is when is it finally going to be over.
That is A.G. Riddle’s Departure in a nutshell. The analysis is clear and nearly universally recognized by critics. Departure follows the Stephen King template of storytelling: burst from the gates like Secretariat in the Belmont Stakes but finish like Alcorn State playing Ohio State. Okay, the horse racing and college football metaphor may be a stretch, but reading Departure is very much like reading Stephen King. Things start out very well, with intense action and the introduction of interesting characters and the effect is one that draws the reader in and keeps the pages turning. But just as King is notorious for losing steam—especially in his longer novels where the pace is almost impossible to keep going—so does this flight eventually transform from breathlessly exciting to a travelogue.
The story is reliant on one too many suspensions of disbelief. Or, perhaps two or three too many. And the plot sets up too many questions that require satisfactory answers that, though answered, turn out not to be quite as satisfying as expected or hoped for. Departure is, ultimately, a textbook example of completing a novel before its time. Maybe this is due to contractual obligations needing to be met with a completion date set by the publisher that the author could not avoid. Maybe it is a case of the author becoming bored with his story and just wanting to end it. It may even be the case of an author not recognizing that the manuscript would have been better being set aside for a few months, allowing it to simmer in his mind until all the weaker elements were strengthened. Whatever the case, Departure takes off with a bang but lands with a whimper.
