Nelson Nye could write, but this is not an especially good example. He seems, in this novel, to be striving to create characters, that is, characters who were characters, quirky, funny, something. Alas, he didn't quite make it. His people were rather cardboardy, and his efforts at making them interesting just didn't quite succeed. It's a potentially good story, just not really well written. It won't hurt to read it, but author Nye has done better.