Oil Patch Empire

John I. Jackson was a library technician at the University of Toronto.

John Ballem, author of several novels, is a Calgary-based lawyer who has been involved in the Canadian oil industry for many years. In Oil Patch Empire, he has applied his experience to produce a novel, very much in the Hailey style, which takes a wide-angled look at an entire industry from the perspective of a central character.

This book is a real “page-turner.” The plot develops quickly, with enough twists to maintain tension and forestall successful guessing of the outcome. The family and business complications, which confront the characters, are plausible and the dialogue is generally natural. When it is not, one has the feeling that a character is being made to ride one of Ballem’s own hobby-horses.

The naturalness of the personal interactions in this story notwithstanding, the characters occupy a world far removed from the day-to-day reality of most Canadians, even those routinely involved in major industries. Here is fabulous wealth, and its concomitant lifestyles. It is to Ballem’s credit that he is able to generate empathy for characters whose principal concerns seem to be the exercise of raw power and the pursuit of hedonistic pleasures.

This novel makes no pretense to literature. Nonetheless, as escapist fare, Oil Patch Empire is a success.