Pete Scarcelli’s introduction to the world is about as ostentatious as they come. He’s committing a crime, an especially gruesome one: setting a boat — and the lone person asleep in the cabin — on fire in open water at night. For the vessel and its occupant, the chance of survival, much less rescue, is slim.
But as readers of Timothy J. Lockhart’s novel “Evil Intentions Come” soon find out, Scarcelli’s depraved transgression is just one of several bad choices that lead his life astray.
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Lockhart has found a groove with crime writing that’s fast-paced, gritty and thrilling. “Evil Intentions Come” is noir fiction that delivers a sentence of doom for many in the vibrant cast of characters, its title — alluding to Mark 7:21 in the New Testament — deeming the heart the source of evil.
Lockhart is a Norfolk resident, lawyer and retired Navy officer who occasionally reviews books for The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press. “Evil Intentions Come,” his fifth novel, is well-informed by details he’s noticed along the way. The story takes place in Kilmihil, a fictional Virginia town of about 7,000 on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay.
The protagonist Scarcelli is a self-described ambulance-chaser who finds — or, more accurately, brings upon himself — big-time trouble. Readers would be tempted to blame his woes on the femme fatale, Justine Kingman, who appears at his law office early in the story, “hip-cocked and long-legged in a white tennis dress.” Problems cascade from his relationship with her, resulting in his felonious debut and a host of other difficulties.
In fact, it’s Scarcelli who’s fatally flawed from the get-go. He’s rather conceited and doesn’t mind courting business from seedy clientele or keeping company with loose women, guided not so much by his brain as by that other organ that’s doomed many men since time immemorial.
At least he’s honest in his self-assessment: “I was just a low-rent lawyer with scuzzy clients faking injuries to suck a few dollars from insurance companies.”
Yet ever present throughout Scarcelli’s descent are promises of salvation. There are glimpses of his core goodness, as with the cash he discreetly leaves for his dad, a hard-drinking Navy veteran and pensioner.
It’s not just readers who see the angel on Scarcelli’s shoulder. Other characters in the story, such as commonwealth’s attorney Sally Carruthers, a keen and interested observer of Scarcelli, are fond of his heart, too.
What makes “Evil Intentions Come” so absorbing is that readers are sure of two things: the path that Scarcelli should take, and the fact that he won’t take it, even when he’s presented that opportunity time and again. Readers can’t help but feel the same regret Scarcelli does, and hope against all odds that things turn out well for him.
The details Lockhart has included for context add layers of complexity and depth to this story. It’s a plot where ideas like maritime culture and old money play a supporting role, and where modern, sticky issues such as Confederate remembrance have a cameo.
But the recurring element that makes “Evil Intentions Come” a page-turner, and that Lockhart deftly employs, is the plot twist. Abrupt changes in course up to the final pages of the novel keep readers on their toes and wondering how Scarcelli will manage consequences that have spun out of control.
It turns out that he isn’t the only character hiding the truth. “Evil Intentions Come” explores the crushing weight of poor choices and lets readers come along as a binge of bad judgment rattles a small town where one would expect to find nothing but smooth sailing.
Ben Swenson is a writer and educator in James City County who specializes in American history and culture. Reach him at ben.swenson05@gmail.com.
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Book signing
Timothy J. Lockhart will sign copies of “Evil Intentions Come.”
Weekend Scoop
When: 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 10
Where: Book Exchange, 2720 N. Mall Drive, Virginia Beach
Details: bookexchangeva.com, 757-222-0117
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About the book
“EVIL INTENTIONS COME”
Timothy J. Lockhart
Stark House Press. 221 pp. $15.95.