I read the first half with a frenetic intensity, though as the book went on, with a mild annoyance, too. Mr. Vyleta, known in Canada and Britain for his atmospheric, well-made thrillers (including “The Quiet Twin” and “The Crooked Maid”), writes with intricacy and imagination and skillful pacing; never once would I have considered putting his book down. But when he wants to make a point, he plays with a heavy hand — fortissimo, when piano would have done....It’s the subject of class, unfortunately, that also brings out the preacher in Mr. Vyleta. He is especially highhanded and literal when writing about the use and abuse of smoke as a tool of social control....Yet his ending, which I wouldn’t dare reveal here, is a real firecracker, and the lessons Mr. Vyleta wishes to impart are largehearted, even if they detonate with a loud boom. To smoke is human, is his real point