Escape from Big Muddy is a retrospective journey into a kind of high-tech Treasure Island. It takes place in the middle of the 21st century, and video conferencing is the norm. Liz Austen, 60-year-old partner in a renowned detective agency with her brother Tom, reconstructs the details of her first case for a fan.

Twelve-year-old Liz was commencing a Saskatchewan vacation with her aunt when adventure struck big-time. A fugitive from a biker gang boards a bus bound for Regina, clutching a mysterious book. When Billy Bones dies suddenly, the book falls into Liz’s hands. It contains a disk that seems to be a coded map of compass co-ordinates. Circumstances suggest that the treasure hunt will lead to a priceless golden statue filched from a Hollywood star. Liz, her aunt, and the band of modern-day buccaneers who gradually appear on the scene hit the trail in a painted bus. International intrigue, kidnapping, and gang violence erupt at almost every intersection. The plot gains such momentum that the reader is reminded of a twister gathering speed and debris as it roars through the countryside. Ultimately, a twister called the Big Muddy Express downs the culprit on the American border.

Eric Wilson’s latest is a breathless page-turner, but characterization suffers in the frantic pace of things. The names of characters may sometimes parallel those in Stevenson’s classic, but literary allusion does not always compensate for undeveloped personality. Most of all, readers need to know more of the real Liz Austen, and the internal spirit that drives her through her formative case.

Perhaps the most successful moments of the novel take place when crime is temporarily placed on the back burner, and the characters pause to delve into the history of a small Saskatchewan town or glimpse the glory of a prairie sunset. As always, Wilson’s extensive research into a specific Canadian setting yields much that is admirable. Is it possible that even readers who revel in serial thrillers may wish for less escape and more landscape?