Warning Signs: a novel of Suspense
by
Stephen WhiteReviewed by Elaine Williams
Columbine. Jonbenet Ramsey. Oklahoma City. The shadows of these tragedies loom largely in Stephen Whites tenth novel, which is set in Boulder, Colorado. Alan Gregory is a psychologist who begins to suspect that a new client's son and his friend may be planning to bomb several human targets. The patient, Naomi Bigg, wonders aloud about the parents of the two young men who opened fire at Columbine, "How could they ever, ever have guessed what evil was in their children's hearts?" She reveals to Dr. Gregory the warning signs she has seen: the explosives, the written list of people perceived to have wronged her son and his friend, the violent website they maintain. She is half hoping Dr. Gregory will tell her she should go to the police, and half hoping he will assure her that her child is not a danger to anyone. Meanwhile, Dr. Gregory struggles with his own moral dilemma: should he reveal privileged information? Like physicians with patients, attorneys with clients, and clergy with church members, information exchanged between a psychologist and a patient is protected by an ethic of strict confidentiality. Can Dr. Gregory, in good faith, continue to treat Mrs. Bigg while entertaining thoughts of turning her case over the authorities? He has no specific proof, only knowledge of a disturbed mother's instincts.
The suspense in Warning Signs builds as Naomi Bigg reveals more in each session with Dr. Gregory, but some comic relief is provided. In addition to the more harrowing cases, Dr. Gregory is also treating a massage therapist who has a phobia of goose bumps. A detective, early in the narrative, even manages to poke fun at the hapless Cincinnati Bengals! On the whole, however, White gives us a lot of food for thought, using strong, well-developed characters to provoke us. The would-be bomber is a likeable, sane fellow with legitimate reasons for anger, but not for violence. This young man draws our attention to inequities in the justice system, a system that allows rapists to go free on early parole and punishes victims by allowing plea bargains in exchange for miniscule sentences. He points to the need for a true dialogue in society about why Columbine happened, about what happened each day in the school hallways between the outcasts and the popular kids. Perhaps the administration looked the other way. Perhaps parents never listened or were too wrapped up in themselves. Perhaps friends did not believe the outrageous boasts of their strange classmates. Did they see the warning signs? Did they cloak themselves in denial--until they saw the evening news?
In an interview posted on his website ( http://www.authorstephenwhite.com ), Stephen White says that he wanted to develop a situation that would lead the reader to ask himself, "Dear God, what would I do?" What would you do if you had a vague suspicion that something big was about to happen? The events of September 11, 2001, which occurred after this book was completely written, makes the question very timely indeed.