Kevin’s Corner
“Yeah, Wendell said. I guess you ought to be careful cussin the dead.
I would say at the least there probably aint no luck in it.
It’s just a bunch of Mexican drugrunners.
They were. They aint now.
I aint sure what you’re saying.
I’m just saying that whatever they were the only thing they are now is dead.
I’ll have to sleep on that.”
(No Country For Old Men, Page 73)
Sleep is something in short supply in this violence filled book.
Llewelyn Moss while on a hunt for antelope manages to wound one and is forced to chase it across the West Texas desert country. Instead of finding the antelope dead or dying he finds the results of a drug deal gone bad. To the south of him lie the mountains of Mexico and their stark beauty as well as the surrounding stark beauty of the desert country he walks in as he closes in on three off road vehicles and numerous bodies. He investigates and discovers the dead, the dying, the drugs and a large amount of money. He decides to take the money and run.
Huge mistake.
For Sheriff Ed Tom Bell society at large, as well as the folks that populate his county next to the Rio Grande, have changed so much that he doesn’t know what makes sense anymore. Already facing the twilight of his law enforcement career and burdened by what he did in the war, he feels helpless to stop the killing. With Moss on the run and a number of parties looking to get the money as well as the suddenly now missing drugs and not caring who dies in the process, this caring Sheriff seems always two steps behind.
But their paths do cross, as do numerous other paths in this highly atmospheric read. What follows is an engaging and often very violent read as the bodies pile up on a trail that leads into Mexico and back and forth across Southwest and West Texas. While the read does occasionally confuse the reader due to the author’s absolute refusal to use quotation marks and his rare use of identifier tags such as “he said,” etc., the novel provides a complex study of morality.
Much of this is done through the deeply complex character of Sheriff Bell. Simplifying greatly which does a disservice to the character and the novel, this is a man who knows that he has always done the best he could and yet wonders if he could have done more. He also wonders why so much was sacrificed in war to have society as it stands today. He wonders why the country he fought for has so many folks willing to dope themselves up among other philosophical issues. His conflicted character is in contrast to the killer Chigurh, who along with killing a number of people innocent and guilty alike, offers his own brand of absolute certainty in wisdom regarding himself and the world he inhabits. Somewhere in the middle is the character Llewelyn Moss, who far from perfect, gives in to temptation and sets lose a secondary wave of death and wonders what fate had to do with all of it.
The result is an engrossing story where amidst everything else, a world that makes no sense on one hand and perfect sense on the other is contemplated. Those looking for escapist fun need to look in other places and steer wide of this book. The novel is one of those examples that abound in good literature—a work that makes the reader think.
No Country For Old Men
By Cormac McCarthy
www.cormacmccarthybooks.com
Alfred A. Knopf
www.aaknopf.com
2005
ISBN # 0-375-40677-8
Hardback
309 Pages
$24.95 US
$32.95 Canada
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More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Another Writing Life Update
Kevin’s Corner
It’s been a little over a month since my last column bemoaning the fact that my fiction still isn’t selling. Since then I don’t have any good news to report in the terms of sales. Nothing. Which is not only revolting personally but also when a cyber friend of mine posts the fact that he just received acceptances numbers 55, 56, and 57 (at last count as it changes hourly) for this year it becomes frustrating as all get out. In other words, he is humming along at more than one a week. Which is true because not only he is more talented than I am he has a lot more contacts and works flowing in the submission pipeline.
At the same time, I have been receiving words of encouragement not only here but through private e-mail as well. Then there is the fact that a certain group that I meet with every month has been enthusiastic in their continuing support of a novel I have been slowly working on. Yes, it has problems and needs a lot of work, but the overall core idea seems to entertain, as do the characters involved. It seems to be more an issue of how to make the novel better as opposed to blowing the whole thing up.
I am also reminded of one of my favorite authors James Lee Burke who experienced his own multi year drought in sales. By no means am I having the absolute nerve to compare my efforts to his. Not hardly. But it seems to me that if he and others have had such problems and overcome them to have the kinds of careers that I and many of us only dream about, then maybe it isn’t time to fold that tent just yet.
So, the tent is still up and the beat goes on. I’m still plagued by tons of self-doubt but then again, I know I may not be the best evaluator of my own work. Hopefully, like the parched landscape of North Texas, we shall both get watered in a good way pretty soon.
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More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
It’s been a little over a month since my last column bemoaning the fact that my fiction still isn’t selling. Since then I don’t have any good news to report in the terms of sales. Nothing. Which is not only revolting personally but also when a cyber friend of mine posts the fact that he just received acceptances numbers 55, 56, and 57 (at last count as it changes hourly) for this year it becomes frustrating as all get out. In other words, he is humming along at more than one a week. Which is true because not only he is more talented than I am he has a lot more contacts and works flowing in the submission pipeline.
At the same time, I have been receiving words of encouragement not only here but through private e-mail as well. Then there is the fact that a certain group that I meet with every month has been enthusiastic in their continuing support of a novel I have been slowly working on. Yes, it has problems and needs a lot of work, but the overall core idea seems to entertain, as do the characters involved. It seems to be more an issue of how to make the novel better as opposed to blowing the whole thing up.
I am also reminded of one of my favorite authors James Lee Burke who experienced his own multi year drought in sales. By no means am I having the absolute nerve to compare my efforts to his. Not hardly. But it seems to me that if he and others have had such problems and overcome them to have the kinds of careers that I and many of us only dream about, then maybe it isn’t time to fold that tent just yet.
So, the tent is still up and the beat goes on. I’m still plagued by tons of self-doubt but then again, I know I may not be the best evaluator of my own work. Hopefully, like the parched landscape of North Texas, we shall both get watered in a good way pretty soon.
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More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
A Writing Life Update
It’s been a little over a year now since we started sharing this space, you and I. Where has all the time gone? Another Halloween has passed and Thanksgiving looms next week though you couldn’t tell it from the way the stores are decked out. I ranted last year on that subject and won’t do it again this year.
At least it finally feels like fall here in North Texas. After days and weeks of above normal temps, this morning we woke to clear skies and lows in the low thirties and lower. That and a large blue heron that flew over this apartment complex screaming its head off at five am. Normally, the bird, which lives around here somewhere, lets loose once or twice and then quits. Not this morning—it didn’t stop for about fifteen minutes and was almost continuous. Of course, everyone else slept on but not yours truly.
I’m up now. Thanks, bird.
So, I grabbed a cup of tea and my coat and stepped out on the porch and caught the last of a full moon heading towards the western horizon as well as the first fingers of dawn. No wind and no traffic except for the occasional car heading down the adjoining street. It was beautiful.
And while I was out there I began to think about my writing and lack of progress as I have for the last week or so. I’m not sure if it is because of my upcoming birthday this weekend, the fact that my oldest, who at birth wasn’t much bigger than my hands put together now can stand toe to toe with me and turns eighteen in late December, or what it is but time seems to have flown. And at least writing wise, I have very little to show for it.
Good News Front
Currently at OnceWritten.com http://www.oncewritten.com/RecommendedReads/ my reviews of THE RIVER HOUSE By Margaret Leroy, SEE ISABELLE RUN by Elizabeth Bloom, RED HOT CAJUN by Sandra Hill, and PROMISES TO KEEP by Susan Crandall are now up as well as several other ones.
Currently at Mysterical-E http://www.mystericale.com/ my review of AS DOG IS MY WITNESS by Jeffrey Cohen is now up as well as numerous other reviews in the archives section.
In print (not available online) in the November edition of SENIOR NEWS I have my normal book review column which this month covers STILL RIVER: A LEE HENRY OSWALD MYSTERY by Harry Hunsicker and THE TEXAS RODEO MURDER by George Wilhite.
Bad News (Or No News) Front
I have zero fiction sales again this year. Not a one. Nothing and it certainly isn’t from not sending them out. The local stores have made a small fortune from me in mailing supplies and currently a number of stories have yet to bounce back so I could be premature in all of this. After a year, I’ve made very little progress on my novel and there is still no word on the publisher search for the anthology I am involved in so that isn’t going to come into print anytime soon.
So, there you have it. I can and do review books and I think I do them pretty well. But for the life of me, I can’t seem to sell my fiction and haven’t been able to since the late 90’s.
Which begs the obvious question—is it time to fold the tent on all of it and call it quits?
I honestly don’t know.
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More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
At least it finally feels like fall here in North Texas. After days and weeks of above normal temps, this morning we woke to clear skies and lows in the low thirties and lower. That and a large blue heron that flew over this apartment complex screaming its head off at five am. Normally, the bird, which lives around here somewhere, lets loose once or twice and then quits. Not this morning—it didn’t stop for about fifteen minutes and was almost continuous. Of course, everyone else slept on but not yours truly.
I’m up now. Thanks, bird.
So, I grabbed a cup of tea and my coat and stepped out on the porch and caught the last of a full moon heading towards the western horizon as well as the first fingers of dawn. No wind and no traffic except for the occasional car heading down the adjoining street. It was beautiful.
And while I was out there I began to think about my writing and lack of progress as I have for the last week or so. I’m not sure if it is because of my upcoming birthday this weekend, the fact that my oldest, who at birth wasn’t much bigger than my hands put together now can stand toe to toe with me and turns eighteen in late December, or what it is but time seems to have flown. And at least writing wise, I have very little to show for it.
Good News Front
Currently at OnceWritten.com http://www.oncewritten.com/RecommendedReads/ my reviews of THE RIVER HOUSE By Margaret Leroy, SEE ISABELLE RUN by Elizabeth Bloom, RED HOT CAJUN by Sandra Hill, and PROMISES TO KEEP by Susan Crandall are now up as well as several other ones.
Currently at Mysterical-E http://www.mystericale.com/ my review of AS DOG IS MY WITNESS by Jeffrey Cohen is now up as well as numerous other reviews in the archives section.
In print (not available online) in the November edition of SENIOR NEWS I have my normal book review column which this month covers STILL RIVER: A LEE HENRY OSWALD MYSTERY by Harry Hunsicker and THE TEXAS RODEO MURDER by George Wilhite.
Bad News (Or No News) Front
I have zero fiction sales again this year. Not a one. Nothing and it certainly isn’t from not sending them out. The local stores have made a small fortune from me in mailing supplies and currently a number of stories have yet to bounce back so I could be premature in all of this. After a year, I’ve made very little progress on my novel and there is still no word on the publisher search for the anthology I am involved in so that isn’t going to come into print anytime soon.
So, there you have it. I can and do review books and I think I do them pretty well. But for the life of me, I can’t seem to sell my fiction and haven’t been able to since the late 90’s.
Which begs the obvious question—is it time to fold the tent on all of it and call it quits?
I honestly don’t know.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Review: "Techno-Noir" Edited by Eva Batonne and Jeffrey Marks
The dark side of technology is often reported in the day’s news. The modern problem of identify theft was a topic long ago covered in classic science fiction. With such problems and others being daily fodder for the media which seems to be driven by sensationalism these days, it isn’t surprising that authors in other genres are going to explore the positives and the negatives of technology. The mystery field, out of the remaining genres, seems to be not only the most suited to do so, but the genre leading the pack in the form of novels, anthologies, and collections.
Case in point is the recent anthology release Techno-Noir edited by Eva Batonne and Jeffrey Marks. In the book, which contains eighteen stories by as many authors, the roles of technology, morality, deceit and consequences are considered. Some authors and the resulting stories play on the classic stereotypes in the mystery field and twist them while others go in a different direction. A couple of works contain some humor but most of the stories in the anthology are deadly serious as is subject matter. Like all anthologies, it’s hard to go into detail on all the strong stories so just a couple will be covered here.
One that really jumps out is “Suspicion” by Leann Sweeney. Keeping one’s mental health secret is important because even the paranoids do have enemies.
“Cookie Monster” by Tim Wohlforth also stands out for divine retribution on a dishonest computer salesman.
Driven by memories that won’t let go, “All the World is a Stage” by Rick McMahan also works very well and gives the reader a lasting image.
That isn’t to say the other authors, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Nick Andreychuk, Michael Bracken, Earl Staggs, Eva Batonne, Stephen D. Rogers, J. Michael Blue, Flora Davis, Bill Crider, Jeffrey Marks, Arla Gregory, Linda Posey, Kris Neri, H. Robert Perry, and Vera-Jane Goodin didn’t contribute excellent stories. They did. But any reader, or reviewer for that matter, is going to have personal favorites. The above are mine. Your experience will vary.
Techno-Noir
Edited by Eva Batonne and Jeffrey Marks
Zumaya Publications
www.zumayapublications.com
2005
ISBN #1-55410-266-9
Large Trade Paperback
223 Pages
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Case in point is the recent anthology release Techno-Noir edited by Eva Batonne and Jeffrey Marks. In the book, which contains eighteen stories by as many authors, the roles of technology, morality, deceit and consequences are considered. Some authors and the resulting stories play on the classic stereotypes in the mystery field and twist them while others go in a different direction. A couple of works contain some humor but most of the stories in the anthology are deadly serious as is subject matter. Like all anthologies, it’s hard to go into detail on all the strong stories so just a couple will be covered here.
One that really jumps out is “Suspicion” by Leann Sweeney. Keeping one’s mental health secret is important because even the paranoids do have enemies.
“Cookie Monster” by Tim Wohlforth also stands out for divine retribution on a dishonest computer salesman.
Driven by memories that won’t let go, “All the World is a Stage” by Rick McMahan also works very well and gives the reader a lasting image.
That isn’t to say the other authors, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Nick Andreychuk, Michael Bracken, Earl Staggs, Eva Batonne, Stephen D. Rogers, J. Michael Blue, Flora Davis, Bill Crider, Jeffrey Marks, Arla Gregory, Linda Posey, Kris Neri, H. Robert Perry, and Vera-Jane Goodin didn’t contribute excellent stories. They did. But any reader, or reviewer for that matter, is going to have personal favorites. The above are mine. Your experience will vary.
Techno-Noir
Edited by Eva Batonne and Jeffrey Marks
Zumaya Publications
www.zumayapublications.com
2005
ISBN #1-55410-266-9
Large Trade Paperback
223 Pages
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Monday, November 07, 2005
Killing With Food
One of the things I have noticed lately is the number of books using food directly as a murder weapon or serving as a backdrop to crime, murder, and mayhem. One wonders why and one wonders if it is really safe to eat anywhere but home. Even then, one may not be safe depending on what gets recalled five months after it hit the nation’s food supply. Food and the creation of it is one of several themes in this recent release titled Patterns In Silicon: A Lea Sherwood Mystery by Maureen Robb.
Having someone you just served dinner to in your restaurant become ill and within a short time die at the hospital is pretty bad. Being accused of being the murderess or assisting in it is worse. Both things happen to Lea Sherwood in short order in this very good mystery.
Five months ago, Lea opened Panache in San Francisco. So for, critics have been kind, business is pretty good and other than the usual problems associated with running any small business, things have been going well. Her ex-boyfriend Keith Whitten also is doing well as head of Whitten Systems Corp. Just today Whitten’s company had taken over Decision Ace, run by her current boyfriend, Mr. Paul Boyd. Keith’s decision to come to dinner at her restaurant with a couple of his executives quickly becomes fatal as within hours he is dead, a victim of poisoning.
Having served him, Lea, quickly becomes the number one suspect in both the eyes of the police and the voyeuristic media hungry for another sensational cause. While she is the prime suspect and her business begins to suffer, the police don’t seem inclined to either publicly clear her or search for other suspects. Instead, it is left to Lea to snoop and ask questions both in her culinary world as well as Paul’s high tech computer world.
Using detailed scenes in the restaurant and the company the author shows readers a world where creative input is valued into both arenas. Lea, a complex character doing her best, is left to hang in the media whirlwind and forced to fight for her economic and personal survival with little help from others, several of whom she had previously thought of as friends. The result is an engrossing read that steadily moves forward towards a fully satisfying conclusion.
According to the small author bio at the back of the book, the author is currently working on the next novel in the series. That is very good news as this book provides an excellent foundation for a series while leaving plenty of character growth opportunities to be explored. This is definitely a series to keep your eyes open for in the future.
Patterns In Silicon: A Lea Sherwood Mystery
By Maureen Robb
Drake Valley Press
www.drakevalleypress.com
2004
ISBN #0-9728186-4-2
Large Trade Paperback
304 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Having someone you just served dinner to in your restaurant become ill and within a short time die at the hospital is pretty bad. Being accused of being the murderess or assisting in it is worse. Both things happen to Lea Sherwood in short order in this very good mystery.
Five months ago, Lea opened Panache in San Francisco. So for, critics have been kind, business is pretty good and other than the usual problems associated with running any small business, things have been going well. Her ex-boyfriend Keith Whitten also is doing well as head of Whitten Systems Corp. Just today Whitten’s company had taken over Decision Ace, run by her current boyfriend, Mr. Paul Boyd. Keith’s decision to come to dinner at her restaurant with a couple of his executives quickly becomes fatal as within hours he is dead, a victim of poisoning.
Having served him, Lea, quickly becomes the number one suspect in both the eyes of the police and the voyeuristic media hungry for another sensational cause. While she is the prime suspect and her business begins to suffer, the police don’t seem inclined to either publicly clear her or search for other suspects. Instead, it is left to Lea to snoop and ask questions both in her culinary world as well as Paul’s high tech computer world.
Using detailed scenes in the restaurant and the company the author shows readers a world where creative input is valued into both arenas. Lea, a complex character doing her best, is left to hang in the media whirlwind and forced to fight for her economic and personal survival with little help from others, several of whom she had previously thought of as friends. The result is an engrossing read that steadily moves forward towards a fully satisfying conclusion.
According to the small author bio at the back of the book, the author is currently working on the next novel in the series. That is very good news as this book provides an excellent foundation for a series while leaving plenty of character growth opportunities to be explored. This is definitely a series to keep your eyes open for in the future.
Patterns In Silicon: A Lea Sherwood Mystery
By Maureen Robb
Drake Valley Press
www.drakevalleypress.com
2004
ISBN #0-9728186-4-2
Large Trade Paperback
304 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Ending it right.....
Last time in this space I wrote about how some series seem to slowly crash and burn. That the series runs out of steam and should be ended but for some reason, much like a certain annoying commercial (which should be banned so that IQ scores would instantly rise across the nation and planet) the worn out series just keeps going and going. At the opposite end of the spectrum are those series that are ended leaving the reader wanting more. Such is the case with the final installment of The Fisherman’s Son Trilogy aptly titled, “Return of the Golden Age.” Author Marilyn Peake has crafted another winner here.
The third book in this moving young adult series finds Wiley O’Mara faced with a problem. How to blend the six boys from the incredible ancient city on the sea floor into his society which is very poor and where strangers are quickly noticed? Everything about the six boys marks them as being different and they can’t survive on their own or stay hidden for long. Not only do they need to blend in for themselves and accept what can’t be changed, they have to blend in for the society as a whole. Wiley also has to figure out how to help his people understand their magnificent past and to break out of the circle of poverty they have been in for quite some time.
With the help of Elden, Lucinda and others, the aid of seven magical rings and secret caverns on the island, Wiley begins to find answers. Answers that help him aid the newcomers as well as help his own people plan for a future that honors one of the themes of all three books. “Destiny is bigger than what you can understand at the moment” (P. 23). A destiny that he and he alone can fulfill if he has the strength to seek it.
Blending the mystical of what could have been with period correct descriptions, author Marilyn Peake brings to a close what she started so well in The Fisherman’s Son. The usual melancholy feel to the ending of a series is not present in this final novel. Instead, much like the preceeding books, the novel champions determination, perseverance, and a willingness to achieve something greater than can be imagined. This final novel in the series is another strong and enjoyable read as well as a fitting conclusion to the story arc.
Return Of The Golden Age
By Marilyn Peake
Double Dragon Publishing, Inc.
http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/
2005
ISBN #1-55404-256-9
Large Trade Paperback
138 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
The third book in this moving young adult series finds Wiley O’Mara faced with a problem. How to blend the six boys from the incredible ancient city on the sea floor into his society which is very poor and where strangers are quickly noticed? Everything about the six boys marks them as being different and they can’t survive on their own or stay hidden for long. Not only do they need to blend in for themselves and accept what can’t be changed, they have to blend in for the society as a whole. Wiley also has to figure out how to help his people understand their magnificent past and to break out of the circle of poverty they have been in for quite some time.
With the help of Elden, Lucinda and others, the aid of seven magical rings and secret caverns on the island, Wiley begins to find answers. Answers that help him aid the newcomers as well as help his own people plan for a future that honors one of the themes of all three books. “Destiny is bigger than what you can understand at the moment” (P. 23). A destiny that he and he alone can fulfill if he has the strength to seek it.
Blending the mystical of what could have been with period correct descriptions, author Marilyn Peake brings to a close what she started so well in The Fisherman’s Son. The usual melancholy feel to the ending of a series is not present in this final novel. Instead, much like the preceeding books, the novel champions determination, perseverance, and a willingness to achieve something greater than can be imagined. This final novel in the series is another strong and enjoyable read as well as a fitting conclusion to the story arc.
Return Of The Golden Age
By Marilyn Peake
Double Dragon Publishing, Inc.
http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/
2005
ISBN #1-55404-256-9
Large Trade Paperback
138 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Monday, October 17, 2005
More of the same in "Eleven On Top"
Kevin’s Corner
Sometimes it seems as if a series begins to crash and burn on itself. What used to be funny or at worst mildly amusing becomes less so after a number of novels. Actions of the main character, which used to entertain, now make the reader wonder why in the heck hasn’t the character learned something by now. Even an attempt to shake things up a bit comes across as halfhearted and instead turns more into what has been read before in the series. Such was the way it seemed things worked in Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich.
This latest Stephanie Plum novel opens with Stephanie announcing to one and all she is quitting the bail bonds business. After one too many rolls through garbage (see preceding novels) and one too many car fires (see preceding novels for this running gag as well), she has decide she has had enough. No more chasing FTA’s and all that. To ease her life dissatisfaction, she will instead pursue new employment and one knows before she starts looking, her search won’t go well.
It wouldn’t be a Stephanie Plum novel if it did go right so, of course, it doesn’t. Each new job seems to end in spectacular public failure and her old friend Lulu constantly shows up seeking her help in capturing this suspect or that. In fact, once she quits, it seems as if Stephanie goes out on more chases than when she was officially working for cousin Vinnie. Of course, the ongoing saga of her Grandma Mazur with her comments and need to view bodies goes on as well as the ongoing saga of Valerie, her kids, her weight and her pending marriage to Kloughn. Also included is her ongoing struggle in regards to Ranger and Morelli and which one she wants more at the moment while thinking about the other one. And if that were not enough, she once again has to deal with another crazed stalker and his desire to see her dead.
While some of the novel goes into the secret sanctum of Ranger’s company, that is the only new area readers haven’t seen before and the entire read has absolutely zero character development regarding Stephanie. This is the same character as seen in the first novel, loveable and bumbling from crisis to crisis leaving havoc and Morelli and Ranger in her wake. This novel is proof that fiction allows the author to get away with what would never work in real life.
Eleven On Top
By Janet Evanovich
Random House Large Print
http://www.randomlargeprint.com/
2005
ISBN # 0-375-43533-6
Hardback
405 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Sometimes it seems as if a series begins to crash and burn on itself. What used to be funny or at worst mildly amusing becomes less so after a number of novels. Actions of the main character, which used to entertain, now make the reader wonder why in the heck hasn’t the character learned something by now. Even an attempt to shake things up a bit comes across as halfhearted and instead turns more into what has been read before in the series. Such was the way it seemed things worked in Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich.
This latest Stephanie Plum novel opens with Stephanie announcing to one and all she is quitting the bail bonds business. After one too many rolls through garbage (see preceding novels) and one too many car fires (see preceding novels for this running gag as well), she has decide she has had enough. No more chasing FTA’s and all that. To ease her life dissatisfaction, she will instead pursue new employment and one knows before she starts looking, her search won’t go well.
It wouldn’t be a Stephanie Plum novel if it did go right so, of course, it doesn’t. Each new job seems to end in spectacular public failure and her old friend Lulu constantly shows up seeking her help in capturing this suspect or that. In fact, once she quits, it seems as if Stephanie goes out on more chases than when she was officially working for cousin Vinnie. Of course, the ongoing saga of her Grandma Mazur with her comments and need to view bodies goes on as well as the ongoing saga of Valerie, her kids, her weight and her pending marriage to Kloughn. Also included is her ongoing struggle in regards to Ranger and Morelli and which one she wants more at the moment while thinking about the other one. And if that were not enough, she once again has to deal with another crazed stalker and his desire to see her dead.
While some of the novel goes into the secret sanctum of Ranger’s company, that is the only new area readers haven’t seen before and the entire read has absolutely zero character development regarding Stephanie. This is the same character as seen in the first novel, loveable and bumbling from crisis to crisis leaving havoc and Morelli and Ranger in her wake. This novel is proof that fiction allows the author to get away with what would never work in real life.
Eleven On Top
By Janet Evanovich
Random House Large Print
http://www.randomlargeprint.com/
2005
ISBN # 0-375-43533-6
Hardback
405 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Venturing into "No Man's Land"
Kevin’s Corner
Meza Azul prison in Arizona is supposed to be proof of what private enterprise can do for the nation’s prison system. Superior in design and featuring state of the art controls, it was constructed to hold the worst of the worst from across the nation. It wasn’t supposed to allow an escape or for an inmate to be able to lead a rebellion and take over the prison. That is until now.
Timothy Driver has instigated a rebellion and as their leader, has over 100 guards and workers hostage. He intendeds to kill a hostage every six hours until Frank Corso comes to him. The same Frank Corso who profiled the former submarine commander in a best selling book after his sensational murder trial. Corso thinks all Driver wants is for Corso to tell Driver’s story again in exchange for the freedom of the hostages.
Driver has other plans as he walks the slippery slope of sanity. He also has accomplices and despite his apparent growing break with reality, manages not only to escape the facility with Corso as his newest hostage, but to leave mayhem and death in his wake while constantly eluding law enforcement.
While G. M. Ford portrays law enforcement as bumbling idiots from time to time, especially in the federal ranks, that tone is not directed at them in this novel. While Frank Corso in his recurring role as the difficult reporter/author does make a few comments, most of his scorched speech and thought is aimed at the national media and their attempts to sensationalize a story no matter what it is. In this case, it works in the form of the character Melanie Harris, who rode her own emotional trudge of the death of her young child into celebrity pundit expertise and eventually became host of a reality based television show dedicated to hunting down criminals and putting them back behind bars. The allusion to a certain long running televion show on FOX stations around the country are many and at times the thin veneer of fiction is almost non-existent.
Series fans that hoped for a quick return of Meg will surely be disappointed. She remains gone and without contact, which may exacerbate Corso’s legendary by now “death wish.” Or not as the novel is certainly open to reader interpretation on that matter. What isn’t open is the fact that this novel is a hard-edged violence filled book that continues the character well and provides another strong entry in this very enjoyable series.
No Man’s Land
By G. M. Ford
William Morrow/Harper Collins Publishers
www.harpercollins.com
2005
ISBN # 0-06-055482-7
Hardback
310 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Meza Azul prison in Arizona is supposed to be proof of what private enterprise can do for the nation’s prison system. Superior in design and featuring state of the art controls, it was constructed to hold the worst of the worst from across the nation. It wasn’t supposed to allow an escape or for an inmate to be able to lead a rebellion and take over the prison. That is until now.
Timothy Driver has instigated a rebellion and as their leader, has over 100 guards and workers hostage. He intendeds to kill a hostage every six hours until Frank Corso comes to him. The same Frank Corso who profiled the former submarine commander in a best selling book after his sensational murder trial. Corso thinks all Driver wants is for Corso to tell Driver’s story again in exchange for the freedom of the hostages.
Driver has other plans as he walks the slippery slope of sanity. He also has accomplices and despite his apparent growing break with reality, manages not only to escape the facility with Corso as his newest hostage, but to leave mayhem and death in his wake while constantly eluding law enforcement.
While G. M. Ford portrays law enforcement as bumbling idiots from time to time, especially in the federal ranks, that tone is not directed at them in this novel. While Frank Corso in his recurring role as the difficult reporter/author does make a few comments, most of his scorched speech and thought is aimed at the national media and their attempts to sensationalize a story no matter what it is. In this case, it works in the form of the character Melanie Harris, who rode her own emotional trudge of the death of her young child into celebrity pundit expertise and eventually became host of a reality based television show dedicated to hunting down criminals and putting them back behind bars. The allusion to a certain long running televion show on FOX stations around the country are many and at times the thin veneer of fiction is almost non-existent.
Series fans that hoped for a quick return of Meg will surely be disappointed. She remains gone and without contact, which may exacerbate Corso’s legendary by now “death wish.” Or not as the novel is certainly open to reader interpretation on that matter. What isn’t open is the fact that this novel is a hard-edged violence filled book that continues the character well and provides another strong entry in this very enjoyable series.
No Man’s Land
By G. M. Ford
William Morrow/Harper Collins Publishers
www.harpercollins.com
2005
ISBN # 0-06-055482-7
Hardback
310 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Hitting The Circuit
Kevin’s Corner
There is an old adage in writing fiction. No, not the beat to death and should be buried under a mountain of lime one about “show, don’t tell.” That one never made much sense to me especially when one considers what makes the bestseller list. Not that I believe in the bestseller list much either. For me it ranks right up there with political polling – it just does not have much reliability.
The writing adage I’m referring to is the one about “write what you know.” Sure, there are those that argue against it (personally, I’m not going to kill folks just so I can write about murder in my book) but when you read it as a reader, without knowing a word about the author’s background bio, you know it. There is that certain ring of truth that comes through when the author is writing about a subject that the author knows completely. That is certainly true in George Wilhite’s case and the result is his very enjoyable novel, The Texas Rodeo Murder.
For English Department Professor Ira Carter, it begins with a phone call from his old friend Jake, publisher and owner of the Texas Rodeo Magazine that is disconnected seconds after Ira hears something that sounds like trouble. Concerned, Ira goes off and finds his friend near death from a shotgun blast to the stomach. He survives just long enough to get to the hospital and tell Ira to find J. D.
J. D. was John Davis who had ridden in the rodeo circuit years before along with Ira and a few other good friends. Ira had eventually cut back to just taking pictures at the rodeos and occasionally doing clown performances as his regular job became teaching English at the rural campus of Hill County College. Around the same time, J. D. had crashed his truck into a lake in western Oklahoma and though his body was never found, was presumed dead. His family, a wife and two boys, had moved back to live with her family on a reservation in New Mexico.
With Jake's dying plea in his ears to find J. D. and an address in New Mexico in hand, Ira begins to hunt for J. D. The trail will cross into New Mexico before returning to the rodeo circuit in Central Texas. Along the way the 34-year-old Ira will have to deal with the fact that others with dark intent are looking for J. D., that clowning at the rodeos isn’t as easy as it used to be, and that the sport he loves is changing and not necessarily for the better. All that and the fact that romance can be more difficult than any bull in the ring.
George Wilhite uses his thirteen years of bare back riding, eight years of bull riding, and numerous other years experience in and around rodeos, to create an enjoyable and heavily atmospheric read. By the time he is through, the world of the rodeo comes alive for the reader in every sense. Along the way he also delivers a good mystery, a few twists and turns, some romance, and characters to care about. The result is a good read, guaranteed to entertain, and a great introduction to a sport that one does not hear nearly enough about. This is good stuff and well worth the read.
The Texas Rodeo Murder
By George Wilhite
Sunbelt/Eakin Press
http://www.eakinpress.com/
2003
ISBN # 1-57168-779-3
Large Trade Paperback
178 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
There is an old adage in writing fiction. No, not the beat to death and should be buried under a mountain of lime one about “show, don’t tell.” That one never made much sense to me especially when one considers what makes the bestseller list. Not that I believe in the bestseller list much either. For me it ranks right up there with political polling – it just does not have much reliability.
The writing adage I’m referring to is the one about “write what you know.” Sure, there are those that argue against it (personally, I’m not going to kill folks just so I can write about murder in my book) but when you read it as a reader, without knowing a word about the author’s background bio, you know it. There is that certain ring of truth that comes through when the author is writing about a subject that the author knows completely. That is certainly true in George Wilhite’s case and the result is his very enjoyable novel, The Texas Rodeo Murder.
For English Department Professor Ira Carter, it begins with a phone call from his old friend Jake, publisher and owner of the Texas Rodeo Magazine that is disconnected seconds after Ira hears something that sounds like trouble. Concerned, Ira goes off and finds his friend near death from a shotgun blast to the stomach. He survives just long enough to get to the hospital and tell Ira to find J. D.
J. D. was John Davis who had ridden in the rodeo circuit years before along with Ira and a few other good friends. Ira had eventually cut back to just taking pictures at the rodeos and occasionally doing clown performances as his regular job became teaching English at the rural campus of Hill County College. Around the same time, J. D. had crashed his truck into a lake in western Oklahoma and though his body was never found, was presumed dead. His family, a wife and two boys, had moved back to live with her family on a reservation in New Mexico.
With Jake's dying plea in his ears to find J. D. and an address in New Mexico in hand, Ira begins to hunt for J. D. The trail will cross into New Mexico before returning to the rodeo circuit in Central Texas. Along the way the 34-year-old Ira will have to deal with the fact that others with dark intent are looking for J. D., that clowning at the rodeos isn’t as easy as it used to be, and that the sport he loves is changing and not necessarily for the better. All that and the fact that romance can be more difficult than any bull in the ring.
George Wilhite uses his thirteen years of bare back riding, eight years of bull riding, and numerous other years experience in and around rodeos, to create an enjoyable and heavily atmospheric read. By the time he is through, the world of the rodeo comes alive for the reader in every sense. Along the way he also delivers a good mystery, a few twists and turns, some romance, and characters to care about. The result is a good read, guaranteed to entertain, and a great introduction to a sport that one does not hear nearly enough about. This is good stuff and well worth the read.
The Texas Rodeo Murder
By George Wilhite
Sunbelt/Eakin Press
http://www.eakinpress.com/
2003
ISBN # 1-57168-779-3
Large Trade Paperback
178 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
The past comes alive in "The Rogues' Game"
Kevin’s Corner
Like the small west Texas town that is never named, the man with no name is not what he appears to be on the surface. He drives a beautiful car and appears in town with a beautiful woman named Della. It isn’t the first time he has been in town as he was here before in 1942. This time he is back to seek some revenge and no one remembers him or suspects that he is anything other than what he appears to be—a flamboyant gambler.
Revenge for what isn’t clear nor is his plan. His plan does involve a weekly high stakes card game that has been going on for decades at the Weilbach Hotel. It also isn’t really clear which of several players is his target. It also isn’t clear on how Della’s interest in a recent oil strike is going to help or for that matter hurt his plan. Like his cards, he keeps his plans close to the vest and adjusts for changes. He does have a plan, he is flexible and he just needs a little help from friends like Chicken Little and Icepick Willie.
What follows in this novel by Tyler, Texas resident Milton T. Burton is an intriguing and deeply twisted tale of a great con. The author opens a portal back into a different time and pulls the reader deeply into a Texas of the recent past. Told through first person point of view he spins a rich and complex weave that pulls the reader deep into his world where only slowly does the shape and scope of the plan come tantalizingly clear like the mirage on a West Texas highway during the heat of the summer before disappearing again. Heavily atmospheric both in place and in style of writing, this is the kind of novel that starts slowly, moves slowly and pulls the reader in so deep that when one looks up from the book there is that splendid moment of disorientation between the past that might have been and the present.
The Rogues’ Game
By Milton T. Burton
Thomas Dunne Books
www.minotaurbooks.com
2005
ISBN # 0-312-33681-0
Hardback
296 Pages
$23.95 US
$33.95 Canada
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Like the small west Texas town that is never named, the man with no name is not what he appears to be on the surface. He drives a beautiful car and appears in town with a beautiful woman named Della. It isn’t the first time he has been in town as he was here before in 1942. This time he is back to seek some revenge and no one remembers him or suspects that he is anything other than what he appears to be—a flamboyant gambler.
Revenge for what isn’t clear nor is his plan. His plan does involve a weekly high stakes card game that has been going on for decades at the Weilbach Hotel. It also isn’t really clear which of several players is his target. It also isn’t clear on how Della’s interest in a recent oil strike is going to help or for that matter hurt his plan. Like his cards, he keeps his plans close to the vest and adjusts for changes. He does have a plan, he is flexible and he just needs a little help from friends like Chicken Little and Icepick Willie.
What follows in this novel by Tyler, Texas resident Milton T. Burton is an intriguing and deeply twisted tale of a great con. The author opens a portal back into a different time and pulls the reader deeply into a Texas of the recent past. Told through first person point of view he spins a rich and complex weave that pulls the reader deep into his world where only slowly does the shape and scope of the plan come tantalizingly clear like the mirage on a West Texas highway during the heat of the summer before disappearing again. Heavily atmospheric both in place and in style of writing, this is the kind of novel that starts slowly, moves slowly and pulls the reader in so deep that when one looks up from the book there is that splendid moment of disorientation between the past that might have been and the present.
The Rogues’ Game
By Milton T. Burton
Thomas Dunne Books
www.minotaurbooks.com
2005
ISBN # 0-312-33681-0
Hardback
296 Pages
$23.95 US
$33.95 Canada
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Scareing Parents in "Five Days In Summer"
Kevin’s Corner
For Emily Parker, mother of three, her life, unknown to her, began to unravel the moment she decided to go to the local grocery store. It was supposed to be simple enough as their last summer vacation before school starts winds down. She was leaving in the morning with the kids and returning home to New York as she wanted to leave the house stocked with food for her mom, Sarah. She never returns.
For Will, her husband, his carefully constructed life begins to unravel the moment his mother-in-law calls him late at night. Will knows what the death of a parent can do to a child having lost both of his when he was four due to a car crash. He also knows that Emily would not have just vanished. Before long he is on the road speeding south, to Cape Cod and his mother-in-law’s home seeking answers.
It should have been the local police who found Emily’s abandoned care in the parking lot of the grocery store full of groceries. Instead, it was her husband, Will and a retired FBI profiler, Dr. John Gary, who is writing a book on serial killer’s by researching cold cases. The fact that Emily is missing reminds him of an earlier case he recently read and before long he finds others. His research has led him to an inescapable conclusion. They have five days to find Emily before there is another victim taken from the family. It will be a son.
Shifting in POV, this novel weaves a tale that is guaranteed to stress any parent. Full of interesting characters and constant misdirection by the author, Kate Pepper, readers are kept guessing as to the identity of the kidnapper/serial killer as the days click by. The result is tension filled read for the entire 304 page paperback novel that leads to a violent showdown between forces of the good and evil.
Four Days In Summer
By Kate Pepper
www.katepepper.com
ONYX
www.penguin.com
2004
ISBN # 0-451-41140-4
Mass Market Paperback
304 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
For Emily Parker, mother of three, her life, unknown to her, began to unravel the moment she decided to go to the local grocery store. It was supposed to be simple enough as their last summer vacation before school starts winds down. She was leaving in the morning with the kids and returning home to New York as she wanted to leave the house stocked with food for her mom, Sarah. She never returns.
For Will, her husband, his carefully constructed life begins to unravel the moment his mother-in-law calls him late at night. Will knows what the death of a parent can do to a child having lost both of his when he was four due to a car crash. He also knows that Emily would not have just vanished. Before long he is on the road speeding south, to Cape Cod and his mother-in-law’s home seeking answers.
It should have been the local police who found Emily’s abandoned care in the parking lot of the grocery store full of groceries. Instead, it was her husband, Will and a retired FBI profiler, Dr. John Gary, who is writing a book on serial killer’s by researching cold cases. The fact that Emily is missing reminds him of an earlier case he recently read and before long he finds others. His research has led him to an inescapable conclusion. They have five days to find Emily before there is another victim taken from the family. It will be a son.
Shifting in POV, this novel weaves a tale that is guaranteed to stress any parent. Full of interesting characters and constant misdirection by the author, Kate Pepper, readers are kept guessing as to the identity of the kidnapper/serial killer as the days click by. The result is tension filled read for the entire 304 page paperback novel that leads to a violent showdown between forces of the good and evil.
Four Days In Summer
By Kate Pepper
www.katepepper.com
ONYX
www.penguin.com
2004
ISBN # 0-451-41140-4
Mass Market Paperback
304 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Joe Pickett is back in "Out of Range"
Kevin’s Corner
This latest novel in the series finds Joe Pickett reassigned from Saddlestring to Jackson Hole, Wyoming on temporary assignment. Jackson Hole, home of the Teton District, is the marquee district in the state of Wyoming and as such, the political playground of the rich and famous as well as any environmental group. While intrigued with the challenge of running such a high profile district, Joe Pickett never wanted to get the job because of the death of his good friend Will Jensen.
However, that is exactly what happened and the fact that he apparently died by suicide is unbelievable to Joe. The man he knew never would have done such a thing. As he begins work in the district, he begins to understand some of the intense pressure Will was under first hand. While some questions are quickly answered, those answers as well as an unrelated string of events, lead Joe to dig into the case. Powerful interests are at work and as Joe digs into not only Will’s suicide but various matters he was working on, decisions are made that put Joe into peril as well as his family back home in Saddlestring.
As in earlier novels in the series, this fifth novel in the series reflects the author’s clear love for the outdoors as well as his disdain for various groups that use the environment for their own selected purpose. Environmentalists, politicians, and land developers come up for equal contempt as Joe tries to balance out everyone’s needs in regards to the best use of the land. The marital strife between Joe and his wife, which first surfaced a couple of novels ago continues and is made worse by the forced separation. However, overriding it all is the storyline of Will Jensen’s death, which remains a strong intriguing presence that runs the gamut of the book and is not lost among the side stories.
Which is why, novel after novel, this author remains worth reading. Consistently, C. J. Box shows the average person what the Game Wardens have to face in our modern use it all up today society and how difficult their job is to protect the wilderness that some of us got to see in our youth. At the same time, each novel has at its core, an intriguing mystery that just as easily could have happened at the center of the urban jungle. With all the story elements any reader could want, this author provides quality enjoyable novels and this one is no exception.
I strongly suggest that they should be read in order. From the beginning, they are titled, “Open Season,” “Savage Run,” “Winterkill,” “Trophy Hunt” and his latest, “Out Of Range.”
Out Of Range
By C. J. Box
www.cjbox.net
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
www.penguin.com
2005
ISBN # 0-399-15291-1
Hardback
308 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
This latest novel in the series finds Joe Pickett reassigned from Saddlestring to Jackson Hole, Wyoming on temporary assignment. Jackson Hole, home of the Teton District, is the marquee district in the state of Wyoming and as such, the political playground of the rich and famous as well as any environmental group. While intrigued with the challenge of running such a high profile district, Joe Pickett never wanted to get the job because of the death of his good friend Will Jensen.
However, that is exactly what happened and the fact that he apparently died by suicide is unbelievable to Joe. The man he knew never would have done such a thing. As he begins work in the district, he begins to understand some of the intense pressure Will was under first hand. While some questions are quickly answered, those answers as well as an unrelated string of events, lead Joe to dig into the case. Powerful interests are at work and as Joe digs into not only Will’s suicide but various matters he was working on, decisions are made that put Joe into peril as well as his family back home in Saddlestring.
As in earlier novels in the series, this fifth novel in the series reflects the author’s clear love for the outdoors as well as his disdain for various groups that use the environment for their own selected purpose. Environmentalists, politicians, and land developers come up for equal contempt as Joe tries to balance out everyone’s needs in regards to the best use of the land. The marital strife between Joe and his wife, which first surfaced a couple of novels ago continues and is made worse by the forced separation. However, overriding it all is the storyline of Will Jensen’s death, which remains a strong intriguing presence that runs the gamut of the book and is not lost among the side stories.
Which is why, novel after novel, this author remains worth reading. Consistently, C. J. Box shows the average person what the Game Wardens have to face in our modern use it all up today society and how difficult their job is to protect the wilderness that some of us got to see in our youth. At the same time, each novel has at its core, an intriguing mystery that just as easily could have happened at the center of the urban jungle. With all the story elements any reader could want, this author provides quality enjoyable novels and this one is no exception.
I strongly suggest that they should be read in order. From the beginning, they are titled, “Open Season,” “Savage Run,” “Winterkill,” “Trophy Hunt” and his latest, “Out Of Range.”
Out Of Range
By C. J. Box
www.cjbox.net
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
www.penguin.com
2005
ISBN # 0-399-15291-1
Hardback
308 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Bearing burdens in "Crusader's Cross"
Kevin’s Corner
“The wind smelled of humus, lichen, the musky odor of pecan husks broken under the shoe, a sunshower on the fields across the bayou. But any poetry that might have been contained in that moment was lost when I stared into Honoria’s face, convinced that human insanity was as close to our fingertips as the act of rubbing fog off a windowpane.
Honoria’s eyes remained fixed on mine, expectant, somehow trusting, the redness of her mouth and the mole next to it as inviting as a poisonous flower.” (Crusader’s Cross, Page 66)
The inherent evil whether born or created by enviroment in some and righting past wrongs as best as one can have always been strong themes in the Dave Robicheaux series of novels. That certainly is true in this latest effort, which leads readers back in time to 1958 before returning to the present.
Years ago, Dave and his brother Jimmie met a young woman named Ida Durbin in Galveston, Texas. Jimmie quickly fell in love with her not knowing much about her including the fact that she was a prostitute. Once he found out, he made plans to get her away from her pimp and out of the life. Unfortunately, that didn’t work and she vanished without a trace moments before Jimmie was supposed to meet her. Jimmie has always carried a torch for her, convinced she survived whatever happened and may have even had a country music career.
In the present, Dave is called to the hospital to talk to Troy Bordelon. Troy has been asking for Dave for some reason possible because they knew each other years ago. Troy always was bullying scum and Dave has no idea why he would want to talk to him about anything. Troy tells him that his Uncle was one of the cops who took a woman away (presumably Ida) years ago and he doesn’t know if she is dead or not. Dave tries to get more information but Troy is unable to talk. He also gets little information about of two Sheriff’s deputies who lurk outside the hospital and want to know what Troy told Dave. The cops are dirty and with the sudden death of Troy during the night, the answers are going to be harder to find.
For Dave, he doesn’t know if she is alive or dead or what happened so long ago. He also can’t explain why if she is alive, she never contacted Jimmie. Dave goes back home to New Iberia, Louisiana but with so many questions about what happened and guilt over the fact that they didn’t do more at the time, he isn’t about to leave things alone. Before long, he is back on the local police force so that his questions have some authority behind them. Once again, as he investigates he begins dealing with another wealthy family that seems rotten at the core while at the same time dealing with his continuing grief over the death of his wife and his own alcoholic demons. Throw in a serial killer who starts dropping bodies in the area as possible a message to Dave, the usual hard nosed antics of Clete Purcell, the usual media circus and a new love interest for Dave, along with a few other story ingredients, and the result is another dark and brooding crime laden mystery that is good to the final word.
As always, author James Lee Burke, turns a phrase well and brings the beauty as well as the pain fully alive for the reader. Told primarily through Dave’s viewpoint, the read moves forward slowly in terms of time and the long back story as well as the crimes depicted in the here and now. Through it all, there is a certain melancholy feel to the work as Dave while dealing with everything going on in his life, comments frequently about the passing of years, the aging process, life spans and death, and such. More so that in the earlier novels in the series and this time it is like Dave believes that his life has pretty much passed him by.
This reader was left with a sense that this novel, beyond being another good one, could easily be the final novel of the series. One hopes not and hopefully there will be many more. If it is the final one, he ends the series on a high note and in one book, hits on all the story themes that have made up in the entire series. By doing so, the work certainly stands as a shining example of an author’s body of work as well as the work of a familiar beloved character.
Crusader’s Cross: A Dave Robicheaux Novel
By James lee Burke
Simon & Schuster
www.simonsays.com
2005
ISBN # 0-7432-7719-8
Hardback
325 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
“The wind smelled of humus, lichen, the musky odor of pecan husks broken under the shoe, a sunshower on the fields across the bayou. But any poetry that might have been contained in that moment was lost when I stared into Honoria’s face, convinced that human insanity was as close to our fingertips as the act of rubbing fog off a windowpane.
Honoria’s eyes remained fixed on mine, expectant, somehow trusting, the redness of her mouth and the mole next to it as inviting as a poisonous flower.” (Crusader’s Cross, Page 66)
The inherent evil whether born or created by enviroment in some and righting past wrongs as best as one can have always been strong themes in the Dave Robicheaux series of novels. That certainly is true in this latest effort, which leads readers back in time to 1958 before returning to the present.
Years ago, Dave and his brother Jimmie met a young woman named Ida Durbin in Galveston, Texas. Jimmie quickly fell in love with her not knowing much about her including the fact that she was a prostitute. Once he found out, he made plans to get her away from her pimp and out of the life. Unfortunately, that didn’t work and she vanished without a trace moments before Jimmie was supposed to meet her. Jimmie has always carried a torch for her, convinced she survived whatever happened and may have even had a country music career.
In the present, Dave is called to the hospital to talk to Troy Bordelon. Troy has been asking for Dave for some reason possible because they knew each other years ago. Troy always was bullying scum and Dave has no idea why he would want to talk to him about anything. Troy tells him that his Uncle was one of the cops who took a woman away (presumably Ida) years ago and he doesn’t know if she is dead or not. Dave tries to get more information but Troy is unable to talk. He also gets little information about of two Sheriff’s deputies who lurk outside the hospital and want to know what Troy told Dave. The cops are dirty and with the sudden death of Troy during the night, the answers are going to be harder to find.
For Dave, he doesn’t know if she is alive or dead or what happened so long ago. He also can’t explain why if she is alive, she never contacted Jimmie. Dave goes back home to New Iberia, Louisiana but with so many questions about what happened and guilt over the fact that they didn’t do more at the time, he isn’t about to leave things alone. Before long, he is back on the local police force so that his questions have some authority behind them. Once again, as he investigates he begins dealing with another wealthy family that seems rotten at the core while at the same time dealing with his continuing grief over the death of his wife and his own alcoholic demons. Throw in a serial killer who starts dropping bodies in the area as possible a message to Dave, the usual hard nosed antics of Clete Purcell, the usual media circus and a new love interest for Dave, along with a few other story ingredients, and the result is another dark and brooding crime laden mystery that is good to the final word.
As always, author James Lee Burke, turns a phrase well and brings the beauty as well as the pain fully alive for the reader. Told primarily through Dave’s viewpoint, the read moves forward slowly in terms of time and the long back story as well as the crimes depicted in the here and now. Through it all, there is a certain melancholy feel to the work as Dave while dealing with everything going on in his life, comments frequently about the passing of years, the aging process, life spans and death, and such. More so that in the earlier novels in the series and this time it is like Dave believes that his life has pretty much passed him by.
This reader was left with a sense that this novel, beyond being another good one, could easily be the final novel of the series. One hopes not and hopefully there will be many more. If it is the final one, he ends the series on a high note and in one book, hits on all the story themes that have made up in the entire series. By doing so, the work certainly stands as a shining example of an author’s body of work as well as the work of a familiar beloved character.
Crusader’s Cross: A Dave Robicheaux Novel
By James lee Burke
Simon & Schuster
www.simonsays.com
2005
ISBN # 0-7432-7719-8
Hardback
325 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Monday, August 22, 2005
Death, Treats, And Books--Who Could Ask For More?
Kevin’s Corner
In this soon to be released mystery, Hannah Evans has more than enough to do in the small east Texas town of Destiny. Not only does she have to get her bookstore, Death Warmed Over Mystery Books, open and running, she has her energetic six-year-old daughter Emma to raise. She also is in love with Will, Sheriff of Van Zandt County and their romance is intensifying rapidly.
If that wasn’t enough, thanks to her recent success saving her sister from jail as well as uncovering the real murderer, she is about to be pulled into another case. Recently widowed, Beatrice Payton believes her life is in danger due to her recent inheritance due to the death of her husband. She thinks that someone is out to kill her for the money and has a few suspects to consider. But, is someone really out to get her, or is she just a lonely old lady, or is something else going on that no one suspects just yet.
All those questions and more are answered in this very enjoyable read, which is a sequel to the 2003 release of “Death Warmed Over.” While it is a sequel, this novel can easily be read as a stand alone should you prefer as there are very brief explanations of the back story events depicted in the first novel. Rich in character development and setting, this East Texas cozy mystery moves slowly forward as Hannah works her way through the case along the way dealing with sibling rivalry, issues with her daughter and her own parents, small town life, and the joys and terrors of plain old everyday life in a small town. With frequent humorous comments, Hannah brings a joy to every page for the reader and showcases the fact that the simpler country style of life isn’t always what it seems. Rockwall, Texas author Cindy Daniel has once again brought Destiny, Texas alive and ya’ll better stop by soon.
A Family Affair
By Cindy Daniel
Quiet Storm Publishing
http://www.quietstormpublishing.com/
2005
ISBN # 0-9770070-57
Large Trade Paperback
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
In this soon to be released mystery, Hannah Evans has more than enough to do in the small east Texas town of Destiny. Not only does she have to get her bookstore, Death Warmed Over Mystery Books, open and running, she has her energetic six-year-old daughter Emma to raise. She also is in love with Will, Sheriff of Van Zandt County and their romance is intensifying rapidly.
If that wasn’t enough, thanks to her recent success saving her sister from jail as well as uncovering the real murderer, she is about to be pulled into another case. Recently widowed, Beatrice Payton believes her life is in danger due to her recent inheritance due to the death of her husband. She thinks that someone is out to kill her for the money and has a few suspects to consider. But, is someone really out to get her, or is she just a lonely old lady, or is something else going on that no one suspects just yet.
All those questions and more are answered in this very enjoyable read, which is a sequel to the 2003 release of “Death Warmed Over.” While it is a sequel, this novel can easily be read as a stand alone should you prefer as there are very brief explanations of the back story events depicted in the first novel. Rich in character development and setting, this East Texas cozy mystery moves slowly forward as Hannah works her way through the case along the way dealing with sibling rivalry, issues with her daughter and her own parents, small town life, and the joys and terrors of plain old everyday life in a small town. With frequent humorous comments, Hannah brings a joy to every page for the reader and showcases the fact that the simpler country style of life isn’t always what it seems. Rockwall, Texas author Cindy Daniel has once again brought Destiny, Texas alive and ya’ll better stop by soon.
A Family Affair
By Cindy Daniel
Quiet Storm Publishing
http://www.quietstormpublishing.com/
2005
ISBN # 0-9770070-57
Large Trade Paperback
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Journalistic Ethics in "Final Copy"
Kevin’s Corner
The year is 1991 and news reporter Addy McNeil is having a hard time of it. Not only is she battling prescription substance abuse and nightly panic attacks, she is dealing with the rippling aftereffects on her and her parents of her brother’s recent death. Recently demoted at the newspaper, her bosses now want her to use her relationship from 14 years ago to gain personal access to a murder suspect.
Kit Korbanics, business partner of Francis Marquesson, is suspected of throwing Marquesson over a balcony of the Harbor Inn Hotel to his death. The fact that Addy dated him in college has given her a chance to resurrect her struggling journalism career by doing an in depth profile on Kit. But in reaching out to Kit to do her assigned piece, painful old memories and feelings surface. Against a backdrop of venture capitalism, bioengineering and the beginnings of the synthetic cocaine problem, Addy struggles to investigate Kit and once again practice journalistic objectivity.
Featuring a sympathetic main character, this novel slowly moves forward in cozy style and tantalizes the reader with clues and misdirection. Much like her second novel “Confidential Source” (reviewed below) Addy deals with the same issues of substance abuse, inability to sleep, and drawing the line between her life as a reporter and her personal life. While the heroines are differently named, readers will recognize the many commonalities between the two.
Well written, no doubt due to the author’s wide experiences in journalism, this read provides a tantalizing glimpse into the harsh realities of the modern newspaper newsroom. At the same time, it provides a good mystery as well as giving the reader a reason to read bylines in the morning paper just a little differently.
Final Copy
By Jan Brogan
The Larcom Press
www.larcompress.com
2001
ISBN # 0-9678199-4-6
Hardback
317 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
The year is 1991 and news reporter Addy McNeil is having a hard time of it. Not only is she battling prescription substance abuse and nightly panic attacks, she is dealing with the rippling aftereffects on her and her parents of her brother’s recent death. Recently demoted at the newspaper, her bosses now want her to use her relationship from 14 years ago to gain personal access to a murder suspect.
Kit Korbanics, business partner of Francis Marquesson, is suspected of throwing Marquesson over a balcony of the Harbor Inn Hotel to his death. The fact that Addy dated him in college has given her a chance to resurrect her struggling journalism career by doing an in depth profile on Kit. But in reaching out to Kit to do her assigned piece, painful old memories and feelings surface. Against a backdrop of venture capitalism, bioengineering and the beginnings of the synthetic cocaine problem, Addy struggles to investigate Kit and once again practice journalistic objectivity.
Featuring a sympathetic main character, this novel slowly moves forward in cozy style and tantalizes the reader with clues and misdirection. Much like her second novel “Confidential Source” (reviewed below) Addy deals with the same issues of substance abuse, inability to sleep, and drawing the line between her life as a reporter and her personal life. While the heroines are differently named, readers will recognize the many commonalities between the two.
Well written, no doubt due to the author’s wide experiences in journalism, this read provides a tantalizing glimpse into the harsh realities of the modern newspaper newsroom. At the same time, it provides a good mystery as well as giving the reader a reason to read bylines in the morning paper just a little differently.
Final Copy
By Jan Brogan
The Larcom Press
www.larcompress.com
2001
ISBN # 0-9678199-4-6
Hardback
317 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Saturday, August 13, 2005
"Barrington. Stone Barrington."
Kevin’s Corner
As many of the Stone Barrington series novels do, this one begins at Elaine’s; a restaurant Stone dines at frequently in New York City. Stone has dropped by to have a drink having eaten dinner elsewhere as had Dino and Elaine wasn’t thrilled that they were occupying Stone’s usual table on a busy night. Bill Eggers, managing partner of Woodman & Weld arrives bringing Stone a new client. Stone handles the cases and problems that would be best not handled directly by employees of Woodman & Weld, so the fact Bill Eggers has brought in another isn’t a surprise as Stone thinks he knows what to expect. Instead, the new client, who won’t say why he needs Stone having asked for him specifically, is a stereotypical Texan from head to toe named Billy Bob Barnstormer. Stone takes an instant dislike to him but can’t say no to Bill Eggers who has made it plain Stone is to handle Barnstormer.
Stone also can’t say no when Dino helpfully suggests that Stone put up Barnstormer in his house for a few days. Eggers thinks it is a grate idea so with that decided Stone and Barnstormer head out into the cold night to go to Stone’s home. Things quickly take a strange turn minutes later when someone opens fire shooting at Barnstormer and only hitting the window of his limousine. Barnstormer is ready to fire back, whipping out an old fashioned Colt Single Action Army six-shooter which Stone quickly takes away from him citing New York’s well known gun laws. Those shots and Stone’s subsequent confiscation of Barnstormer’s gun mark the beginning of a client-attorney relationship that gets stranger and stranger with Stone in more and more trouble as the pages go by.
This novel is typical Stone Barrington and as such, poses little surprise for the reader. Slightly more complex than most in this long running series, it features the studly Stone Barrington as his graphic bedroom best. Between the attentions of a beautiful Untied Sates Attorney and his old flame Arrington, Stone has his hands full with the ladies in his life. Unfortunately, he isn’t quite so adept in dealing with Billy Bob Barnstormer, a dead hooker found in his home that results in a murder investigation, and secrets from his past.
If you have read recent books in the series than you know exactly what you are getting. If you haven’t, this novel is a cut above recent efforts on the series except for a final twist that many readers no doubt surmised books ago. Despite that anticlimactic moment, the novel is pretty good and will serve readers well on their favorite beach as the summer winds down.
Two Dollar Bill
By Stuart Woods
www.stuartwoods.com
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
www.penguin.com
2005
ISBN # 0-399-15251-2
Hardback
298 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
As many of the Stone Barrington series novels do, this one begins at Elaine’s; a restaurant Stone dines at frequently in New York City. Stone has dropped by to have a drink having eaten dinner elsewhere as had Dino and Elaine wasn’t thrilled that they were occupying Stone’s usual table on a busy night. Bill Eggers, managing partner of Woodman & Weld arrives bringing Stone a new client. Stone handles the cases and problems that would be best not handled directly by employees of Woodman & Weld, so the fact Bill Eggers has brought in another isn’t a surprise as Stone thinks he knows what to expect. Instead, the new client, who won’t say why he needs Stone having asked for him specifically, is a stereotypical Texan from head to toe named Billy Bob Barnstormer. Stone takes an instant dislike to him but can’t say no to Bill Eggers who has made it plain Stone is to handle Barnstormer.
Stone also can’t say no when Dino helpfully suggests that Stone put up Barnstormer in his house for a few days. Eggers thinks it is a grate idea so with that decided Stone and Barnstormer head out into the cold night to go to Stone’s home. Things quickly take a strange turn minutes later when someone opens fire shooting at Barnstormer and only hitting the window of his limousine. Barnstormer is ready to fire back, whipping out an old fashioned Colt Single Action Army six-shooter which Stone quickly takes away from him citing New York’s well known gun laws. Those shots and Stone’s subsequent confiscation of Barnstormer’s gun mark the beginning of a client-attorney relationship that gets stranger and stranger with Stone in more and more trouble as the pages go by.
This novel is typical Stone Barrington and as such, poses little surprise for the reader. Slightly more complex than most in this long running series, it features the studly Stone Barrington as his graphic bedroom best. Between the attentions of a beautiful Untied Sates Attorney and his old flame Arrington, Stone has his hands full with the ladies in his life. Unfortunately, he isn’t quite so adept in dealing with Billy Bob Barnstormer, a dead hooker found in his home that results in a murder investigation, and secrets from his past.
If you have read recent books in the series than you know exactly what you are getting. If you haven’t, this novel is a cut above recent efforts on the series except for a final twist that many readers no doubt surmised books ago. Despite that anticlimactic moment, the novel is pretty good and will serve readers well on their favorite beach as the summer winds down.
Two Dollar Bill
By Stuart Woods
www.stuartwoods.com
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
www.penguin.com
2005
ISBN # 0-399-15251-2
Hardback
298 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Orr and Obsession in "Tribeca Blues"
Kevin’s Corner
“Tribeca Blues” picks up approximately a year after events depicted in “A Well-Known Secret” with the shocking death of Leo, owner of Tilt and Terry Orr’s good friend. He was like a father to Diddio and in a way, was to Orr as well. While both Diddio and Orr knew Leo was not the picture of good health, far from it actually, his death is a shock and a heavy blow and another in the tragic series that has befallen the small group of friends. Also shocking were his last requests that they find hidden in his things.
Diddio is to get Tilt and is to make of it what he will. Orr is to keep an eye on Diddio which is something he would have done anyway and isn’t a surprise. What is surprising is that Leo wants Orr to find Loretta Jones, Leo’s evil ex-wife and make her pay for what she did to Leo years ago. He wants justice from the grave and Orr isn’t going to turn this request down. He begins with good intentions but soon is sidetracked by an opportunity to catch the madman he hold responsible for killing his wife and young son.
Emotionally complex, this novel somewhat completes a story arc that was begun in the first novel. Obsession has been a strong theme throughout the previous two books but not nearly at the level in this book. Obsession and the past along with Orr’s raw emotions are ramped up to a higher level that in the previous books but yet do not rise to the level that would drown the reader.
While there are heavy periods of intense emotional angst and introspection, the main storyline of bringing Loretta Jones to justice is always present. Often that storyline is slowed to a near standstill while Orr searches for his own personal justice but his search and Leo’s last request are deeply intertwined. This sets up a final fifty pages or so when everything clicks into place and the reader is whipped along in an intense climax. Considering the overall story arcs, it isn’t surprising that this novel is aimed squarely at the ongoing internal emotions and psychic struggle of Orr. As such, it also becomes a character study of one man and where his responsibility and well as guilt lie.
This third book in the series is another excellent book. I strongly recommend reading the two previous books so that the power of this book is not diminished. It is simply very good stuff and a real treat.
Tribeca Blues
By Jim Fusilli
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
www.penguin.com
2003
ISBN # 0-399-15088-9
Hardback
273 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
“Tribeca Blues” picks up approximately a year after events depicted in “A Well-Known Secret” with the shocking death of Leo, owner of Tilt and Terry Orr’s good friend. He was like a father to Diddio and in a way, was to Orr as well. While both Diddio and Orr knew Leo was not the picture of good health, far from it actually, his death is a shock and a heavy blow and another in the tragic series that has befallen the small group of friends. Also shocking were his last requests that they find hidden in his things.
Diddio is to get Tilt and is to make of it what he will. Orr is to keep an eye on Diddio which is something he would have done anyway and isn’t a surprise. What is surprising is that Leo wants Orr to find Loretta Jones, Leo’s evil ex-wife and make her pay for what she did to Leo years ago. He wants justice from the grave and Orr isn’t going to turn this request down. He begins with good intentions but soon is sidetracked by an opportunity to catch the madman he hold responsible for killing his wife and young son.
Emotionally complex, this novel somewhat completes a story arc that was begun in the first novel. Obsession has been a strong theme throughout the previous two books but not nearly at the level in this book. Obsession and the past along with Orr’s raw emotions are ramped up to a higher level that in the previous books but yet do not rise to the level that would drown the reader.
While there are heavy periods of intense emotional angst and introspection, the main storyline of bringing Loretta Jones to justice is always present. Often that storyline is slowed to a near standstill while Orr searches for his own personal justice but his search and Leo’s last request are deeply intertwined. This sets up a final fifty pages or so when everything clicks into place and the reader is whipped along in an intense climax. Considering the overall story arcs, it isn’t surprising that this novel is aimed squarely at the ongoing internal emotions and psychic struggle of Orr. As such, it also becomes a character study of one man and where his responsibility and well as guilt lie.
This third book in the series is another excellent book. I strongly recommend reading the two previous books so that the power of this book is not diminished. It is simply very good stuff and a real treat.
Tribeca Blues
By Jim Fusilli
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
www.penguin.com
2003
ISBN # 0-399-15088-9
Hardback
273 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Feeling Lucky, Mr. Smith?
Kevin’s Corner
In this fifth novel of the series, Tony Valentine is still dealing with the temptation of Lucy Price, his own son Gerry and his mistakes, as well as catching cons and cheaters through his company, GriftSense. It is because of his company and the fact that Tony is the best that his old friend, Bill Higgins, director of the Nevada Gaming Control Board flies out to Florida to make a personal pitch for help. Higgins knows a recent winner, Ricky Smith, had to have cheated but he doesn’t know how and the fact that Ricky is a media sensation doesn’t help matters.
After escaping a burning hotel by jumping several stories into a swimming pool, Ricky Smith, named Mr. Lucky by the media, walked across the street and into the Mint. Once inside the casino he couldn’t stop winning. He took the casino for more than 200 thousand at Blackjack, 250 thousand at Roulette, and another 300 thousand at craps. He then moved on to playing poker with the legendary Tex “All In” Snyder and whipped him for a nice chunk of change. Higgins knows Mr. Lucy had to have cheated, somehow, and wants Tony to prove it.
They make a deal and soon Tony and his son, Gerry, are working the case from opposite angles. Tony heads for the hometown of Slippery Rock, North Carolina where Ricky is from while Gerry is supposed to go to Gulfport, Mississippi and see Tex Snyder. Before long, each has dug up far more than they bargained for. Throw in the Dixie Mafia, violent small town crooks, and some rather annoyed cops, and this read becomes another roller coaster ride in the series and another treat from James Swain.
Just like the series as a whole, this novel is an up and down ride where suspects are many as are the motivations and misdirection is common. Character development is limited and consists mainly of Gerry’s ongoing battle to resist the demons within and turn his life around thanks to the heavy influence of his wife Yolanda and new baby. He is desperately trying to redeem himself and be the kind of man his father is and that his family needs while at the same time resisting the ever present lure of easy cash in the form of one scheme or another. His eternal struggle and guilt over it mirrors Tony’s own struggle with guilt over the role he played in Lucy’s recent lapse in judgment and resulting arrest.
As always, those themes are secondary to the main mystery storyline and detailed explanations of various cheating scams. Like other novels in this series, the author’s book is a primer on how to spot cheating on both sides of the table and is often laugh out loud funny as various scenarios are explained.
Then there is the fact that this read is simply just plain old good fun. Danger exists but unlike real life, one knows with a shadow of a doubt it all will turn out right in the end. Sometimes it just doesn’t get better than that.
Mr. Lucky
By James Swain
www.jimswain.com
Ballentine Books
www.ballantinebooks.com
2005
ISBN # 0-345-47544-5
Hardback
354 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
In this fifth novel of the series, Tony Valentine is still dealing with the temptation of Lucy Price, his own son Gerry and his mistakes, as well as catching cons and cheaters through his company, GriftSense. It is because of his company and the fact that Tony is the best that his old friend, Bill Higgins, director of the Nevada Gaming Control Board flies out to Florida to make a personal pitch for help. Higgins knows a recent winner, Ricky Smith, had to have cheated but he doesn’t know how and the fact that Ricky is a media sensation doesn’t help matters.
After escaping a burning hotel by jumping several stories into a swimming pool, Ricky Smith, named Mr. Lucky by the media, walked across the street and into the Mint. Once inside the casino he couldn’t stop winning. He took the casino for more than 200 thousand at Blackjack, 250 thousand at Roulette, and another 300 thousand at craps. He then moved on to playing poker with the legendary Tex “All In” Snyder and whipped him for a nice chunk of change. Higgins knows Mr. Lucy had to have cheated, somehow, and wants Tony to prove it.
They make a deal and soon Tony and his son, Gerry, are working the case from opposite angles. Tony heads for the hometown of Slippery Rock, North Carolina where Ricky is from while Gerry is supposed to go to Gulfport, Mississippi and see Tex Snyder. Before long, each has dug up far more than they bargained for. Throw in the Dixie Mafia, violent small town crooks, and some rather annoyed cops, and this read becomes another roller coaster ride in the series and another treat from James Swain.
Just like the series as a whole, this novel is an up and down ride where suspects are many as are the motivations and misdirection is common. Character development is limited and consists mainly of Gerry’s ongoing battle to resist the demons within and turn his life around thanks to the heavy influence of his wife Yolanda and new baby. He is desperately trying to redeem himself and be the kind of man his father is and that his family needs while at the same time resisting the ever present lure of easy cash in the form of one scheme or another. His eternal struggle and guilt over it mirrors Tony’s own struggle with guilt over the role he played in Lucy’s recent lapse in judgment and resulting arrest.
As always, those themes are secondary to the main mystery storyline and detailed explanations of various cheating scams. Like other novels in this series, the author’s book is a primer on how to spot cheating on both sides of the table and is often laugh out loud funny as various scenarios are explained.
Then there is the fact that this read is simply just plain old good fun. Danger exists but unlike real life, one knows with a shadow of a doubt it all will turn out right in the end. Sometimes it just doesn’t get better than that.
Mr. Lucky
By James Swain
www.jimswain.com
Ballentine Books
www.ballantinebooks.com
2005
ISBN # 0-345-47544-5
Hardback
354 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Thursday, August 04, 2005
A Well-Known Secret
Kevin’s Corner
Picking up two years after events depicted in “Closing Time” (reviewed below) very little has changed for Terry Orr. He still misses his wife and young son and he still isn’t writing. He is still doing some private investigator work in the hopes of learning the skills necessary to take down the madman responsible for the pain he and Bella feel.
When his housekeeper asks him to talk to a friend of hers in need, the least he can do is talk to her. The friend’s name is Dorotea Salgado and she wants her daughter Sonia Salgado found. One wouldn’t think it would be too hard to find her since Sonia only recently got out of prison after serving a thirty-year prison sentence for the murder of a diamond merchant in the course of a robbery. The murder was particularly brutal and Terry wonders from the beginning how a physically small high school student could have done it. He wonders that and a lot more when he finds Sonia dead days later. The case quickly becomes something he can’t give up and before long this obsession, like his others, puts him crosswise with everyone around him.
This second novel of the series does not suffer the usual fatal flaws most second novels do. The writing remains top notch as the author continues to expand Orr’s world and further nuance the cast of recurring characters. Bella continues to appear smarter than her years to the reader and yet, at other times, there is an endearing child like quality to her known by many parents of the young teenager set. Also realistic is Terry’s continuing pain over the loss of his wife and young child as well as his first real tentative steps in returning to the world around him instead of just living day to day. Overriding everything is another complicated and well done mystery where almost everyone has a hidden agenda quite possible worth killing for.
A Well-Known Secret
By Jim Fusilli
www.jimfusilli.com
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
www.penguinputnam.com
2002
ISBN # 0-399-14931-7
Hardback
274 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Picking up two years after events depicted in “Closing Time” (reviewed below) very little has changed for Terry Orr. He still misses his wife and young son and he still isn’t writing. He is still doing some private investigator work in the hopes of learning the skills necessary to take down the madman responsible for the pain he and Bella feel.
When his housekeeper asks him to talk to a friend of hers in need, the least he can do is talk to her. The friend’s name is Dorotea Salgado and she wants her daughter Sonia Salgado found. One wouldn’t think it would be too hard to find her since Sonia only recently got out of prison after serving a thirty-year prison sentence for the murder of a diamond merchant in the course of a robbery. The murder was particularly brutal and Terry wonders from the beginning how a physically small high school student could have done it. He wonders that and a lot more when he finds Sonia dead days later. The case quickly becomes something he can’t give up and before long this obsession, like his others, puts him crosswise with everyone around him.
This second novel of the series does not suffer the usual fatal flaws most second novels do. The writing remains top notch as the author continues to expand Orr’s world and further nuance the cast of recurring characters. Bella continues to appear smarter than her years to the reader and yet, at other times, there is an endearing child like quality to her known by many parents of the young teenager set. Also realistic is Terry’s continuing pain over the loss of his wife and young child as well as his first real tentative steps in returning to the world around him instead of just living day to day. Overriding everything is another complicated and well done mystery where almost everyone has a hidden agenda quite possible worth killing for.
A Well-Known Secret
By Jim Fusilli
www.jimfusilli.com
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
www.penguinputnam.com
2002
ISBN # 0-399-14931-7
Hardback
274 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Detective Harry Bosch is Back!
Kevin’s Corner
Retired Detective Harry Bosch has always needed a mission—a case to work. Thanks to changes in command leadership at the LAPD and intense lobbying by his former partner, Kizman Rider, his three year forced retirement is over. Bosch returns to work out of the fifth floor of Parker Center (Police Headquarters) in the Open-Unsolved Unit. With a warning to do things the correct way from the new Chief of Police ringing in his ears, Bosch gets his first case seventeen years in the making.
Back in 1988, a sixteen-year-old girl disappeared from her home. Mislabeled as a runaway, the case was mishandled from the beginning. Two days later, her body was found nearby in a wooded area at the base of an Oak tree. Dead by way of a bullet from the .45 caliber Colt semiautomatic handgun found at her feet, investigators mistakenly believed it was a suicide. It wasn’t until days later and the autopsy results came it that the case was finally classified as a homicide but possible critical evidence in her home as well as the death scene was never recovered. That fact along with numerous other problems doomed the case to failure.
That is until the unit is alerted that some DNA evidence taken at the time off the murder weapon matches to a possible suspect. Despite internal political pressures and a determined effort by some within the Department to impede the investigation, Bosch has a mission and isn’t about to stop regardless of the personal consequences. His mission is to not only find the killer or killers but to bring some answers to grieving parents who have suffered the pain of not knowing who or why for far too long.
While a strong and well written mystery, this latest Harry Bosch does not have the same emotional edge of the early ones such as “The Black Echo” and “The Black Ice.” Harry has continued to mellow some since his forced retirement and that mellowing is very apparent in this novel. While he is still driven to provide answers for the survivors and some sort of justice for the dead victims, the episodes of his red rage as well as his instances of walking the tightrope of personal control have steadily diminished over the last several books. Even when confronted with vents that would have triggered a more emotional reaction in the past, Bosch is able to hold things together well and react accordingly. The older and emotionally wiser Harry Bosch walks to the edge and looks over but does not willingly dive deep into the pool of rage.
Not to say this isn’t a good book. On so many levels it is as Bosch and Rider work a case where Department politics, race relations, and time have played huge factors. The novel continues a strong and very enjoyable series. It is only when measured against the earl Bosch novels that this most recent installment does not measure up. Then again, we all are supposed to learn from our past and Bosch has which helps him close out a few other things as well.
The Closers
By Michael Connelly
www.michaelconnelly.com
Little, Brown and Company
www.twbookmark.com
2005
ISBN # 0-316-73494-2
Hardback
403 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Retired Detective Harry Bosch has always needed a mission—a case to work. Thanks to changes in command leadership at the LAPD and intense lobbying by his former partner, Kizman Rider, his three year forced retirement is over. Bosch returns to work out of the fifth floor of Parker Center (Police Headquarters) in the Open-Unsolved Unit. With a warning to do things the correct way from the new Chief of Police ringing in his ears, Bosch gets his first case seventeen years in the making.
Back in 1988, a sixteen-year-old girl disappeared from her home. Mislabeled as a runaway, the case was mishandled from the beginning. Two days later, her body was found nearby in a wooded area at the base of an Oak tree. Dead by way of a bullet from the .45 caliber Colt semiautomatic handgun found at her feet, investigators mistakenly believed it was a suicide. It wasn’t until days later and the autopsy results came it that the case was finally classified as a homicide but possible critical evidence in her home as well as the death scene was never recovered. That fact along with numerous other problems doomed the case to failure.
That is until the unit is alerted that some DNA evidence taken at the time off the murder weapon matches to a possible suspect. Despite internal political pressures and a determined effort by some within the Department to impede the investigation, Bosch has a mission and isn’t about to stop regardless of the personal consequences. His mission is to not only find the killer or killers but to bring some answers to grieving parents who have suffered the pain of not knowing who or why for far too long.
While a strong and well written mystery, this latest Harry Bosch does not have the same emotional edge of the early ones such as “The Black Echo” and “The Black Ice.” Harry has continued to mellow some since his forced retirement and that mellowing is very apparent in this novel. While he is still driven to provide answers for the survivors and some sort of justice for the dead victims, the episodes of his red rage as well as his instances of walking the tightrope of personal control have steadily diminished over the last several books. Even when confronted with vents that would have triggered a more emotional reaction in the past, Bosch is able to hold things together well and react accordingly. The older and emotionally wiser Harry Bosch walks to the edge and looks over but does not willingly dive deep into the pool of rage.
Not to say this isn’t a good book. On so many levels it is as Bosch and Rider work a case where Department politics, race relations, and time have played huge factors. The novel continues a strong and very enjoyable series. It is only when measured against the earl Bosch novels that this most recent installment does not measure up. Then again, we all are supposed to learn from our past and Bosch has which helps him close out a few other things as well.
The Closers
By Michael Connelly
www.michaelconnelly.com
Little, Brown and Company
www.twbookmark.com
2005
ISBN # 0-316-73494-2
Hardback
403 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Shadows of Pain and Light
Kevin’s Corner
One of the fun things about reviewing (and no, it’s not the money) is finding new authors and series that one might not have known about otherwise. I was recently sent the forth book in this series, “Hard, Hard City” by Jim Fusilli for review for the Mystery Morgue. By the way, if you haven’t ever read the Mystery Morgue run by Jeff Cohen, you owe it to yourself to look at http://breakthroughpromotions.com/mm.htm You also ought to read his books as well, both in fiction and non-fiction, but I digress. Having read and enjoyed “Hard, Hard City” so much, it seemed an excellent idea to look for the rest of the series. For once, my local library had them all.
The series opens with “Closing Time” and it is in this book we meet many of the principal characters. Terry Orr is mourning the violent passing of his wife Marina and their baby boy as well as dealing with thoughts of vengeance and retaliation against the man he believes is responsible. Since the police have been unable to help, Terry has put his successful writing career on the backburner and is aggressively learning how to be a private investigator. He believes by doing so he can achieve his goal of apprehending the man responsible for the virtual destruction of his family. Some would say he also put on the backburner his beautiful 12-year-old daughter, Gabriella (affectionately nicknamed “Bella”), but he would strongly disagree.
He would argue that he is dealing with things as best as he can. That is all he can do, day-to-day, as he adjusts but he sees Marina and the baby symbolically in everything around him. He certainly does when he sees Judith Henley Harper and their chance meeting on a New York City street is another dig into his soul. Harper used to be his wife’s agent as Marina painted beautiful pictures that sold and sold very well. Thanks to her paintings and Terry’s own book sales, money still isn’t an issue in their home. The last thing he wants to do is to go to the old art gallery as he will be forced to confront memories of happier times and the sadness of today. But that is exactly what Harper wants Terry and Bella to do, as there will be a showing of a new artist in a few days. Bella who has been after her father to write again, to get out and live again, thinks it is a wonderful idea. Before long, commitments are made and they go to the showing.
Which almost proves fatal as a bomb explodes during the show seriously injuring Harper who is saved only by Terry’s quick thinking in the aftermath. Harper unknowingly becomes a client for Terry as he launches a personal investigation into who did it and why. He also takes on another client, this time in the form of an elderly dead man, when he launches an investigation into the murder of Cabdriver Aubrey Brown. Like the Harper case, it became personal for entirely different reasons after finding the man dead in his livery cab. As he works two very divergent and difficult cases, he begins to see commonalities in both as well as links to himself while dealing with the challenges of moving on and being a good father.
This first novel lays an extensive foundation of the series with the introduction of so many of the continuing secondary characters. Told exclusively through Terry’s viewpoint, the reader sees his world as he sees it and through judicious use of dialogue how others see him. Unlike so many novels today that shift through various points of view, a reader of this novel is immersed deeply into Terry’s world and never once jarred out of it over the course of the 275-page book.
While the psychological component of the past and those issues as well as his resulting emotions are a major theme of the work, the author does not let that interfere with the twin case storylines. Instead, the thematic elements are balanced with the cases and current day life issues in such away to not only further round out the characters but to move the story forward. Not an easy task but one the author does seamlessly in page after page.
After you have had your fill of the summer beach books, take a look at this one for some mystery meat. I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
Closing Time
By Jim Fusilli
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
www.penguinputnam.com
2001
ISBN # 0-399-14793-4
Hardback
275 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
One of the fun things about reviewing (and no, it’s not the money) is finding new authors and series that one might not have known about otherwise. I was recently sent the forth book in this series, “Hard, Hard City” by Jim Fusilli for review for the Mystery Morgue. By the way, if you haven’t ever read the Mystery Morgue run by Jeff Cohen, you owe it to yourself to look at http://breakthroughpromotions.com/mm.htm You also ought to read his books as well, both in fiction and non-fiction, but I digress. Having read and enjoyed “Hard, Hard City” so much, it seemed an excellent idea to look for the rest of the series. For once, my local library had them all.
The series opens with “Closing Time” and it is in this book we meet many of the principal characters. Terry Orr is mourning the violent passing of his wife Marina and their baby boy as well as dealing with thoughts of vengeance and retaliation against the man he believes is responsible. Since the police have been unable to help, Terry has put his successful writing career on the backburner and is aggressively learning how to be a private investigator. He believes by doing so he can achieve his goal of apprehending the man responsible for the virtual destruction of his family. Some would say he also put on the backburner his beautiful 12-year-old daughter, Gabriella (affectionately nicknamed “Bella”), but he would strongly disagree.
He would argue that he is dealing with things as best as he can. That is all he can do, day-to-day, as he adjusts but he sees Marina and the baby symbolically in everything around him. He certainly does when he sees Judith Henley Harper and their chance meeting on a New York City street is another dig into his soul. Harper used to be his wife’s agent as Marina painted beautiful pictures that sold and sold very well. Thanks to her paintings and Terry’s own book sales, money still isn’t an issue in their home. The last thing he wants to do is to go to the old art gallery as he will be forced to confront memories of happier times and the sadness of today. But that is exactly what Harper wants Terry and Bella to do, as there will be a showing of a new artist in a few days. Bella who has been after her father to write again, to get out and live again, thinks it is a wonderful idea. Before long, commitments are made and they go to the showing.
Which almost proves fatal as a bomb explodes during the show seriously injuring Harper who is saved only by Terry’s quick thinking in the aftermath. Harper unknowingly becomes a client for Terry as he launches a personal investigation into who did it and why. He also takes on another client, this time in the form of an elderly dead man, when he launches an investigation into the murder of Cabdriver Aubrey Brown. Like the Harper case, it became personal for entirely different reasons after finding the man dead in his livery cab. As he works two very divergent and difficult cases, he begins to see commonalities in both as well as links to himself while dealing with the challenges of moving on and being a good father.
This first novel lays an extensive foundation of the series with the introduction of so many of the continuing secondary characters. Told exclusively through Terry’s viewpoint, the reader sees his world as he sees it and through judicious use of dialogue how others see him. Unlike so many novels today that shift through various points of view, a reader of this novel is immersed deeply into Terry’s world and never once jarred out of it over the course of the 275-page book.
While the psychological component of the past and those issues as well as his resulting emotions are a major theme of the work, the author does not let that interfere with the twin case storylines. Instead, the thematic elements are balanced with the cases and current day life issues in such away to not only further round out the characters but to move the story forward. Not an easy task but one the author does seamlessly in page after page.
After you have had your fill of the summer beach books, take a look at this one for some mystery meat. I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
Closing Time
By Jim Fusilli
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
www.penguinputnam.com
2001
ISBN # 0-399-14793-4
Hardback
275 Pages
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Murder and Mayhem At Sea and On Land
Kevin’s Corner
In this sequel to “The Repo” written by Author Bill Eidson, the team of ex-DEA Agent Jack Merchant and boat repo contractor Sarah Ballard embark on another twisting tale. Against the background of their budding intimate relationship, Eidson weaves a tail of deception and greed that will wreak havoc on the guilty and the innocent alike.
No one really believes Matt Coulter’s story and even Matt isn’t sure it actually happened the way he remembers things. While the news reports of their ship going down, demasted in a fierce storm and the loss of his family believed drowned at sea tell one chain of events, he tells another. Matt, who has suffered a severe head injury and resulting memory loss as well as other physical traumas, tells a tale of another boat arriving on scene and believes that his son and daughter were taken away on that boat while he and his wife were left to die in the storm tossed sea. His wife’s body was found a short time after he was rescued by Coast Guard Helicopter, but the kids were never found despite an extensive search. Matt is on a desperate search for help and for someone to believe his story.
Jack Merchant does and agrees to help with his first efforts aimed at trying to find the mystery boat based on a fragmentary description Matt remembers. His memory of a unique bow plate seems to be real and before long Merchant and Ballard are chasing leads and digging up secrets that others do not want found. The trail will lead to a violent confrontation at sea that will put their relationship to a horrendous test should they survive.
Continuing to build on the rich characters of Merchant and Ballard, Eidson has brought them to life once again in this engrossing story. Unfortunately, that can’t be said for the villains of the work. While all the motivations are not clear until the end of the novel, too often, the villains seem to be stereotypes. Edison does make a laudable effort to build depth to them and make them real, but they are all still weak from start to finish.
However, the weakness of the villains is a minor quibble considering the overall strength of the story. This is a fast paced complex read that provides, despite the character development issues noted above, and incredibly satisfying intense read all the way to the end. On all other levels, the book works and works incredibly well and is an excellent sequel to “the Repo.”
The Mayday
By Bill Eidson
www.billeidson.com
Kate’s Mystery Books
www.justincharlesbooks.com
2005
ISBN # 1-932112-33-2
Hardback
310 Pages
$24.95 US
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
In this sequel to “The Repo” written by Author Bill Eidson, the team of ex-DEA Agent Jack Merchant and boat repo contractor Sarah Ballard embark on another twisting tale. Against the background of their budding intimate relationship, Eidson weaves a tail of deception and greed that will wreak havoc on the guilty and the innocent alike.
No one really believes Matt Coulter’s story and even Matt isn’t sure it actually happened the way he remembers things. While the news reports of their ship going down, demasted in a fierce storm and the loss of his family believed drowned at sea tell one chain of events, he tells another. Matt, who has suffered a severe head injury and resulting memory loss as well as other physical traumas, tells a tale of another boat arriving on scene and believes that his son and daughter were taken away on that boat while he and his wife were left to die in the storm tossed sea. His wife’s body was found a short time after he was rescued by Coast Guard Helicopter, but the kids were never found despite an extensive search. Matt is on a desperate search for help and for someone to believe his story.
Jack Merchant does and agrees to help with his first efforts aimed at trying to find the mystery boat based on a fragmentary description Matt remembers. His memory of a unique bow plate seems to be real and before long Merchant and Ballard are chasing leads and digging up secrets that others do not want found. The trail will lead to a violent confrontation at sea that will put their relationship to a horrendous test should they survive.
Continuing to build on the rich characters of Merchant and Ballard, Eidson has brought them to life once again in this engrossing story. Unfortunately, that can’t be said for the villains of the work. While all the motivations are not clear until the end of the novel, too often, the villains seem to be stereotypes. Edison does make a laudable effort to build depth to them and make them real, but they are all still weak from start to finish.
However, the weakness of the villains is a minor quibble considering the overall strength of the story. This is a fast paced complex read that provides, despite the character development issues noted above, and incredibly satisfying intense read all the way to the end. On all other levels, the book works and works incredibly well and is an excellent sequel to “the Repo.”
The Mayday
By Bill Eidson
www.billeidson.com
Kate’s Mystery Books
www.justincharlesbooks.com
2005
ISBN # 1-932112-33-2
Hardback
310 Pages
$24.95 US
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Friday, July 22, 2005
The "Prey" Legacy Continues.....
Kevin’s Corner
It starts, as many in this long running series do, with the discovery of a body. This time, the body is a dead woman posed on the banks of the Mississippi facing the lights of St. Paul. She is on display for all to see but for reasons Lucas Davenport and others do not yet realize. She has been whipped with something that has left long marks on her body from her collarbone to her knees. The depths of the blows, some directly on top of others and therefore deepening the original cuts, might have killed her. But the killer left no doubt when he slashed her throat. Her name was Angela Larson and she had been a young vibrant college student. Minneapolis Detective Sloan needs Lucas’ help on this and more than that he wants permission from his old friend to call Elle, Luca’s friend.
Sister Mary Joseph, “Elle,” is head of the Department of Psychology at St. Anne’s College and has known Lucas since both were in kindergarten. While their life paths diverged, she went to the convent and he into police work eventually rising to his current position as head of The Office of Regional Research in the BCA; they both deal with crime, murder, and the aftereffects on the survivors. Elle had suggestions and while Sloan and Lucas worked various angles using the resources of their respective units the case stalled. When the second violent crime happens, this time the brutal murder of a man and his young son; Lucas finds details that link the case to Angela Larson. With Lucas’ wife, Weather and his family out of town in London, England, Lucas has plenty of time and more than enough motivation to work the case fulltime and chase an elusive madman.
This is the seventeenth novel in the Prey Series and possibly one of the most gut wrenchingly violent in the series. The recent trend of Lucas and others swearing throughout the book with very little provocation, unlike the early ones in the series, continues. So too does the more distant hands of portrayal of Lucas as it has for the last several novels. Despite the familial influences of Weather and children, Lucas remains amore cold and distant person. However, the gut wrenching violence which leads ultimately to an intense climatic shootout inside a psychiatric facility reaches levels not seen since the very first novels of the series.
While characters continue to move forward in life, most notably Detective Sloan who provides a small personal secondary storyline, almost nothing is added to the other characters development wise. As such, while all the usual players familiar to readers of the series return, they may have aged chronologically, but they haven’t changed from what is expected. As such, the focus is completely on the case, which provides plenty of action and twists as they chase an elusive suspect. As usual in this series, the only humor in the main storyline is macabre at best. There is also a secondary storyline that is designed to provide some comic relief as Lucas attempts for reasons detailed in the novel, to determine what are the best 100 rock and roll songs of all time. Your choices when matched to the list at the back of the book may vary.
The resulting effort is a good read that grabs the reader from the beginning in a marked improvement from recent reads in this series. It provides a roller coaster effect for the reader and continues the Prey legacy. The intensity of the final fifty pages is some of the best writing this author has produced in quite some time and well worth a read in one sitting.
Broken Prey
By John Sandford
www.johnsandford.org
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
www.penguin.com
2005
ISBN # 0-399-15272-5
Hardback
326 Pages
$26.95 US
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
It starts, as many in this long running series do, with the discovery of a body. This time, the body is a dead woman posed on the banks of the Mississippi facing the lights of St. Paul. She is on display for all to see but for reasons Lucas Davenport and others do not yet realize. She has been whipped with something that has left long marks on her body from her collarbone to her knees. The depths of the blows, some directly on top of others and therefore deepening the original cuts, might have killed her. But the killer left no doubt when he slashed her throat. Her name was Angela Larson and she had been a young vibrant college student. Minneapolis Detective Sloan needs Lucas’ help on this and more than that he wants permission from his old friend to call Elle, Luca’s friend.
Sister Mary Joseph, “Elle,” is head of the Department of Psychology at St. Anne’s College and has known Lucas since both were in kindergarten. While their life paths diverged, she went to the convent and he into police work eventually rising to his current position as head of The Office of Regional Research in the BCA; they both deal with crime, murder, and the aftereffects on the survivors. Elle had suggestions and while Sloan and Lucas worked various angles using the resources of their respective units the case stalled. When the second violent crime happens, this time the brutal murder of a man and his young son; Lucas finds details that link the case to Angela Larson. With Lucas’ wife, Weather and his family out of town in London, England, Lucas has plenty of time and more than enough motivation to work the case fulltime and chase an elusive madman.
This is the seventeenth novel in the Prey Series and possibly one of the most gut wrenchingly violent in the series. The recent trend of Lucas and others swearing throughout the book with very little provocation, unlike the early ones in the series, continues. So too does the more distant hands of portrayal of Lucas as it has for the last several novels. Despite the familial influences of Weather and children, Lucas remains amore cold and distant person. However, the gut wrenching violence which leads ultimately to an intense climatic shootout inside a psychiatric facility reaches levels not seen since the very first novels of the series.
While characters continue to move forward in life, most notably Detective Sloan who provides a small personal secondary storyline, almost nothing is added to the other characters development wise. As such, while all the usual players familiar to readers of the series return, they may have aged chronologically, but they haven’t changed from what is expected. As such, the focus is completely on the case, which provides plenty of action and twists as they chase an elusive suspect. As usual in this series, the only humor in the main storyline is macabre at best. There is also a secondary storyline that is designed to provide some comic relief as Lucas attempts for reasons detailed in the novel, to determine what are the best 100 rock and roll songs of all time. Your choices when matched to the list at the back of the book may vary.
The resulting effort is a good read that grabs the reader from the beginning in a marked improvement from recent reads in this series. It provides a roller coaster effect for the reader and continues the Prey legacy. The intensity of the final fifty pages is some of the best writing this author has produced in quite some time and well worth a read in one sitting.
Broken Prey
By John Sandford
www.johnsandford.org
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
www.penguin.com
2005
ISBN # 0-399-15272-5
Hardback
326 Pages
$26.95 US
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Crime Can Be Funny!
Kevin’s Corner
Lily Marsden is very good at what she does. She has managed to kill and kill again and her signature style is to leave no clues or trace of her presence. Her clients pay well for her work but she is starting to get tired of the hunt and killing. Her latest target, Max Vernon, gave her no problems and she was happy to leave him dead in his room at the Tropical Bay in Las Vegas.
But Max had two brothers, Hi and Norm. Two brothers with anger and resources who aren’t going to wait for the clueless cops to figure it out. They have a very good idea why Max was taken out and plan to start rolling up Vegas for the name of the shooter. They aren’t waiting and neither is Ken Staley, the owner of the Tropical Bay, who already had enough problems to deal with. He doesn’t think the cops can find the killer either and he knows he can’t have the publicity of a trial if the cops do find her. Lily made a mistake this time and both the brothers and Staley quickly know who she is and begin hunting her.
While the brothers and Ken want her dead, former officer Joe Wiley knows the execution of Max Vernon to be her work and needs her alive. The Vegas cops aren’t interested in his help so his long running solo chase of her continues. She is the key to his clearing his severally damaged reputation in Chicago. He has no intention of backing off and his efforts are constantly interfered with by two crazy gamblers who don’t take losing well and don’t know when to quit in anything.
This novel quickly becomes a fast fun read as the point of view constantly shifts through a large ensemble cast of characters. Many of the characters are off the wall funny, while others manage to get off an occasionally funny line or two to break up the serious sections of the book. There is a certain inevitability to the read as it becomes clear that everything and everyone will collide in such a way at the end to border on the absurd.
Despite all the humor, the core mystery is complicated and rather intense. The book fully engages the reader and keeps one steadily turning the pages. While occasional bordering on the madcap, the tone overall is relatively serious and a novel well worth reading and enjoying.
Bullets
By Steve Brewer
Speck Press
www.speckpress.com
2005
ISBN # 0-9725776-7-X
Large Trade Paperback
299 Pages
$13.00 US
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Lily Marsden is very good at what she does. She has managed to kill and kill again and her signature style is to leave no clues or trace of her presence. Her clients pay well for her work but she is starting to get tired of the hunt and killing. Her latest target, Max Vernon, gave her no problems and she was happy to leave him dead in his room at the Tropical Bay in Las Vegas.
But Max had two brothers, Hi and Norm. Two brothers with anger and resources who aren’t going to wait for the clueless cops to figure it out. They have a very good idea why Max was taken out and plan to start rolling up Vegas for the name of the shooter. They aren’t waiting and neither is Ken Staley, the owner of the Tropical Bay, who already had enough problems to deal with. He doesn’t think the cops can find the killer either and he knows he can’t have the publicity of a trial if the cops do find her. Lily made a mistake this time and both the brothers and Staley quickly know who she is and begin hunting her.
While the brothers and Ken want her dead, former officer Joe Wiley knows the execution of Max Vernon to be her work and needs her alive. The Vegas cops aren’t interested in his help so his long running solo chase of her continues. She is the key to his clearing his severally damaged reputation in Chicago. He has no intention of backing off and his efforts are constantly interfered with by two crazy gamblers who don’t take losing well and don’t know when to quit in anything.
This novel quickly becomes a fast fun read as the point of view constantly shifts through a large ensemble cast of characters. Many of the characters are off the wall funny, while others manage to get off an occasionally funny line or two to break up the serious sections of the book. There is a certain inevitability to the read as it becomes clear that everything and everyone will collide in such a way at the end to border on the absurd.
Despite all the humor, the core mystery is complicated and rather intense. The book fully engages the reader and keeps one steadily turning the pages. While occasional bordering on the madcap, the tone overall is relatively serious and a novel well worth reading and enjoying.
Bullets
By Steve Brewer
Speck Press
www.speckpress.com
2005
ISBN # 0-9725776-7-X
Large Trade Paperback
299 Pages
$13.00 US
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
No People and Evil Lurking
Kevin’s Corner
A standard of science fiction is the idea of the vanished people. A small town will be eerily silent, or even a big city, and while the buildings still stand, the people will be gone. Travelers of one type or another will stumble across the vacant buildings and try to figure out just what happened to all the people. This classic idea is used to great effect in this latest novel of the series.
Grace MacBride, Annie Belinsky and Sharon Mueller were to take a road trip from Minneapolis to Green Bay, Wisconsin at the request of the local Police. There is a concern among some in the Police force that a serial killer might be at work and in the beginnings of a spree. Thanks to their software and the reputation they have made helping Police Departments since the events depicted in “Monkeewrench” their offer of free help is accepted. Their road trip quickly becomes a nightmare as they get lost, their car breaks down, their cell phones won’t work, and their walk through the woods brings them to a ghost town where nothing, neither man or animal, is alive.
They have stumbled across the very small town of Four Corners, Wisconsin. The entire town, such as it is, is completely devoid of life. Counters have been washed, dishes done, and everything is spotless but no animals, people, or wildlife such as birds or squirrels are around. It seems as if the classic science fiction premise has happened and every living thing has been catalogued and removed. But space aliens wouldn’t have needed to cut the phone lines. As Grace, Annie, and Sharon struggle to figure out what has happened and stay alive, the men in their lives launch a rescue mission with virtually no idea where to begin looking for them.
After the mind numbingly boring read of “Live Bait” this third novel in the series is a welcome return to what made the series worth reading in the first place. While some new information is added to the development of these continuing characters, especially in regards to the women on the run, the effort is secondary to the main thrust of the book, which is an action adventure read. Secondary to that point also is the resolution of at least two storylines from the first book that should have significant impact on the further development of the series.
The entire thrust of the book is not the mystery surrounding what happened in Four Corners, part of which becomes very obvious early on. The thrust is in providing an intense action adventure oriented read designed to keep the reader glued to the page despite whatever might be happening in the real world surrounding the reader. The authors pull the feat off masterfully by shoving the reader to the edge of the seat and keeping him or her there the entire time while the action flows at a breathtaking pace. This is an intense read and certainly a book to read this summer—preferably while alone.
Dead Run
By P. J. Tracy
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
www.penguin.com
2005
ISBN # 0-399-15246-6
Hardback
326 Pages
$23.95 US
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
A standard of science fiction is the idea of the vanished people. A small town will be eerily silent, or even a big city, and while the buildings still stand, the people will be gone. Travelers of one type or another will stumble across the vacant buildings and try to figure out just what happened to all the people. This classic idea is used to great effect in this latest novel of the series.
Grace MacBride, Annie Belinsky and Sharon Mueller were to take a road trip from Minneapolis to Green Bay, Wisconsin at the request of the local Police. There is a concern among some in the Police force that a serial killer might be at work and in the beginnings of a spree. Thanks to their software and the reputation they have made helping Police Departments since the events depicted in “Monkeewrench” their offer of free help is accepted. Their road trip quickly becomes a nightmare as they get lost, their car breaks down, their cell phones won’t work, and their walk through the woods brings them to a ghost town where nothing, neither man or animal, is alive.
They have stumbled across the very small town of Four Corners, Wisconsin. The entire town, such as it is, is completely devoid of life. Counters have been washed, dishes done, and everything is spotless but no animals, people, or wildlife such as birds or squirrels are around. It seems as if the classic science fiction premise has happened and every living thing has been catalogued and removed. But space aliens wouldn’t have needed to cut the phone lines. As Grace, Annie, and Sharon struggle to figure out what has happened and stay alive, the men in their lives launch a rescue mission with virtually no idea where to begin looking for them.
After the mind numbingly boring read of “Live Bait” this third novel in the series is a welcome return to what made the series worth reading in the first place. While some new information is added to the development of these continuing characters, especially in regards to the women on the run, the effort is secondary to the main thrust of the book, which is an action adventure read. Secondary to that point also is the resolution of at least two storylines from the first book that should have significant impact on the further development of the series.
The entire thrust of the book is not the mystery surrounding what happened in Four Corners, part of which becomes very obvious early on. The thrust is in providing an intense action adventure oriented read designed to keep the reader glued to the page despite whatever might be happening in the real world surrounding the reader. The authors pull the feat off masterfully by shoving the reader to the edge of the seat and keeping him or her there the entire time while the action flows at a breathtaking pace. This is an intense read and certainly a book to read this summer—preferably while alone.
Dead Run
By P. J. Tracy
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
www.penguin.com
2005
ISBN # 0-399-15246-6
Hardback
326 Pages
$23.95 US
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Monday, July 11, 2005
The Obligations of Friendship
Kevin’s Corner
One would think that by now that the assorted thugs, punks, and lowlifes that inhabit the fair city of Boston would have figured out that if they mess with Hawk, they better kill him. Make a run at Hawk and let him live and he will look to even the score and settle the debt. That is precisely what happens in this recent release.
Somebody attempted to kill Hawk while he was protecting bookie Luther Gillespie. The unknown shooter put three shots into Hawk’s back between his shoulder blades. After taking Hawk down, Gillespie was killed but the killing didn’t stop there. Also killed were Gillespie’s wife and two of his three kids. The surviving child was at daycare and thus physically able to escape the bloodbath of his family. The deaths were meant to send a message and Hawk has one of his own to send back.
As soon as Hawk gets out of the hospital and is physically able to do what he does best once again, he wants to track down those responsible. Not just the people who pulled the trigger but the person or persons who ordered the deed done. All he knows for sure was that the people he suspects were members of the Ukrainian mob, but he does not yet know their names. Once he knows for sure that they are guilty, he plans on pursing his own kind of justice for what they did and wants Spenser’s help. Spenser agrees and while Hawk begins the slow and painful rehabilitation process, Spenser begins working the case, troubled by the moral implications of what is to come, but knowing he has obligations.
This latest novel in the Spenser series features the minimalist scene descriptions and massive amounts of dialogue the author is known for while weaving a complex tale of justice and vengeance. Parker toys with the ideas of justice and vengeance, ideas common in the series, in new ways as Hawk and Spenser are both forced to confront at a deeper level than before what they have done and what may come as well as who they ultimately are as human beings. What works for one may not, and often does not, work for the other. At the same time, when the need arises, one would do whatever the other asked. Such contemplations trouble Spenser at times as he is faced with the moral quandary of exactly how far to go. With the help of Susan, he is able to work through what needs to be done for friendship and debts owed.
That is not to say that the contemplation of the morality of their actions, which adds significant depth to the characters this go around, impedes the story in anyway. Using the Ukrainian mob with a modern day version of small town corruption reminiscent of the Old West, Parker once again sets up the battle lines of Spenser/Hawk against the far more numeric forces of evil. As in the last several novels of the series, Spenser and Hawk recruit allies who once were former foes to fight on their side because all recognize that there are far more serious enemies that must be dealt with.
Devoted and vocal readers of the long running series know exactly what is in store in each book. In this case, they would be right.
Cold Service
By Robert B. Parker
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
www.penguin.com
2005
ISBN 0-399-15240-7
Hardback
305 Pages
$24.95 US
$36.00 Canada
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
One would think that by now that the assorted thugs, punks, and lowlifes that inhabit the fair city of Boston would have figured out that if they mess with Hawk, they better kill him. Make a run at Hawk and let him live and he will look to even the score and settle the debt. That is precisely what happens in this recent release.
Somebody attempted to kill Hawk while he was protecting bookie Luther Gillespie. The unknown shooter put three shots into Hawk’s back between his shoulder blades. After taking Hawk down, Gillespie was killed but the killing didn’t stop there. Also killed were Gillespie’s wife and two of his three kids. The surviving child was at daycare and thus physically able to escape the bloodbath of his family. The deaths were meant to send a message and Hawk has one of his own to send back.
As soon as Hawk gets out of the hospital and is physically able to do what he does best once again, he wants to track down those responsible. Not just the people who pulled the trigger but the person or persons who ordered the deed done. All he knows for sure was that the people he suspects were members of the Ukrainian mob, but he does not yet know their names. Once he knows for sure that they are guilty, he plans on pursing his own kind of justice for what they did and wants Spenser’s help. Spenser agrees and while Hawk begins the slow and painful rehabilitation process, Spenser begins working the case, troubled by the moral implications of what is to come, but knowing he has obligations.
This latest novel in the Spenser series features the minimalist scene descriptions and massive amounts of dialogue the author is known for while weaving a complex tale of justice and vengeance. Parker toys with the ideas of justice and vengeance, ideas common in the series, in new ways as Hawk and Spenser are both forced to confront at a deeper level than before what they have done and what may come as well as who they ultimately are as human beings. What works for one may not, and often does not, work for the other. At the same time, when the need arises, one would do whatever the other asked. Such contemplations trouble Spenser at times as he is faced with the moral quandary of exactly how far to go. With the help of Susan, he is able to work through what needs to be done for friendship and debts owed.
That is not to say that the contemplation of the morality of their actions, which adds significant depth to the characters this go around, impedes the story in anyway. Using the Ukrainian mob with a modern day version of small town corruption reminiscent of the Old West, Parker once again sets up the battle lines of Spenser/Hawk against the far more numeric forces of evil. As in the last several novels of the series, Spenser and Hawk recruit allies who once were former foes to fight on their side because all recognize that there are far more serious enemies that must be dealt with.
Devoted and vocal readers of the long running series know exactly what is in store in each book. In this case, they would be right.
Cold Service
By Robert B. Parker
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
www.penguin.com
2005
ISBN 0-399-15240-7
Hardback
305 Pages
$24.95 US
$36.00 Canada
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Feel Like Getting Even?
Kevin’s Corner
For schoolteacher Rob Carus the future appears to be great. Beth Lawter has accepted his proposal of marriage and the couple is extremely happy. Rob has finally found the one woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. That future is shattered when Rob and Beth on separate bicycles are hit by an SUV that flees the scene.
As the vehicle with Illinois tags leaves their broken bodies and mangled bicycles behind, Rob manages to tell a good samaritan the license plate before losing consciousness. While paramedics are able to help Rob, as is the hospital he is soon transported to, nothing can be done for Beth who died at the scene. Rob is devastated and his recovery, both physically and mentally, certainly isn’t helped by the fact that the negligent driver is allowed to get away with it by the courts.
Rob becomes obsessed with making the driver pay one way or the other. Something the man who identifies himself as Trey Wright plays upon when he comes to Rob with a plan. There is a secret organization known to its members as “The Circle.” Each member is a survivor looking to make the person who killed a loved one pay the ultimate price of death. Trey pulls Rob into a scheme for vengeance that backfires in ways Rob never saw coming.
Like in his enjoyable novel “Abducted” justice is a theme in this work. In this case, the justice theme takes the form of vigilante justice something that has been explored in countless movies and books over the years. However, instead of the often cartoonish violence surrounding the concept frequently used in other works, here the author explores the emotional angles to the concept. Not only the motivations for the act, but the guilt as well as joy after justice is served is explored through several characters besides Rob. In interesting secondary storylines, obsession in the form of a young student’s attentions upon an older teacher is also explored as well as the idea that the mistakes of the past are never really over for anyone.
The result is a fast and fun read that features interesting characters, a few twists and plenty of action to keep the reader tuning the page. In so doing, the author puts his own spin on the age old question as to how far one would go to right a wrong. Something that seems to become increasingly relevant these days.
Vengeance
By Brian Pinkerton
Leisure Books
www.dorchesterpub.com
2005
ISBN 0-8439-5532-5
Mass Market Paperback
324 Pages
$6.99 US
$8.99 Canada
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
For schoolteacher Rob Carus the future appears to be great. Beth Lawter has accepted his proposal of marriage and the couple is extremely happy. Rob has finally found the one woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. That future is shattered when Rob and Beth on separate bicycles are hit by an SUV that flees the scene.
As the vehicle with Illinois tags leaves their broken bodies and mangled bicycles behind, Rob manages to tell a good samaritan the license plate before losing consciousness. While paramedics are able to help Rob, as is the hospital he is soon transported to, nothing can be done for Beth who died at the scene. Rob is devastated and his recovery, both physically and mentally, certainly isn’t helped by the fact that the negligent driver is allowed to get away with it by the courts.
Rob becomes obsessed with making the driver pay one way or the other. Something the man who identifies himself as Trey Wright plays upon when he comes to Rob with a plan. There is a secret organization known to its members as “The Circle.” Each member is a survivor looking to make the person who killed a loved one pay the ultimate price of death. Trey pulls Rob into a scheme for vengeance that backfires in ways Rob never saw coming.
Like in his enjoyable novel “Abducted” justice is a theme in this work. In this case, the justice theme takes the form of vigilante justice something that has been explored in countless movies and books over the years. However, instead of the often cartoonish violence surrounding the concept frequently used in other works, here the author explores the emotional angles to the concept. Not only the motivations for the act, but the guilt as well as joy after justice is served is explored through several characters besides Rob. In interesting secondary storylines, obsession in the form of a young student’s attentions upon an older teacher is also explored as well as the idea that the mistakes of the past are never really over for anyone.
The result is a fast and fun read that features interesting characters, a few twists and plenty of action to keep the reader tuning the page. In so doing, the author puts his own spin on the age old question as to how far one would go to right a wrong. Something that seems to become increasingly relevant these days.
Vengeance
By Brian Pinkerton
Leisure Books
www.dorchesterpub.com
2005
ISBN 0-8439-5532-5
Mass Market Paperback
324 Pages
$6.99 US
$8.99 Canada
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
An Entertaining Read
Kevin’s Corner
Books released straight to mass market paperback suffer a cruel fate by reviewing standards at most sites and periodicals. They simply aren’t reviewed. Much like “direct to video” in the movie industry, such books are considered as to be unworthy of a review and thus aren’t covered. As my work over the years as well as my thoughts when I have commented on the subject should make clear, I don’t care which publisher put the book into print or how it arrived. I just want a good story worth reading. Author Brian Pinkerton certainly delivers while working a premise all too real for parents.
Every parent’s nightmare comes alive in this novel titled “Abducted” which also provides one very good read. Returning home from a night out celebrating her decision to leave her corporate job and be a stay at home mom for their young son, Anita and her husband Dennis Sherwood are immediately concerned. Not only is the nanny’s car missing from the usual spot at the curb outside their home, but also the house is silent when they enter. Their nanny does not meet them and a quick check confirms Tim is not in his crib as he was just a couple of hours earlier. Not only are Pam and Tim both missing, so too is the cash that Dennis had hidden in a drawer.
The police become involved and Pam quickly makes clear that she has no intention of giving the child back. Pam has betrayed their trust and is convinced that no matter the outcome, she has done the right thing. Powerless to stop her, Anita can only stand by as the unthinkable happens and her world comes crashing down with drastic repercussions for everyone.
This engaging read quickly becomes a roller coaster ride of emotion as the reader is pulled into Anita’s world. A world where few can be trusted, even those she had always counted on, to help her search for her child against all odds. Betrayal is a strong theme of the work as well as justice and both run heavily throughout the work.
However, while those themes are clear and covered, they do not make the novel a heavy or complex read. Instead, the action-oriented storyline propels the work forward and keeps the reader entertained as the pages go by. Interesting characters, fast pacing, and plenty of twists and turns make this book a fun summer read.
Abducted
By Brian Pinkerton
Leisure Books
www.dorchesterpub.com
2004
ISBN 0-8439-5331-4
Mass Market Paperback
341 Pages
$6.99 US
$8.99 Canada
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Books released straight to mass market paperback suffer a cruel fate by reviewing standards at most sites and periodicals. They simply aren’t reviewed. Much like “direct to video” in the movie industry, such books are considered as to be unworthy of a review and thus aren’t covered. As my work over the years as well as my thoughts when I have commented on the subject should make clear, I don’t care which publisher put the book into print or how it arrived. I just want a good story worth reading. Author Brian Pinkerton certainly delivers while working a premise all too real for parents.
Every parent’s nightmare comes alive in this novel titled “Abducted” which also provides one very good read. Returning home from a night out celebrating her decision to leave her corporate job and be a stay at home mom for their young son, Anita and her husband Dennis Sherwood are immediately concerned. Not only is the nanny’s car missing from the usual spot at the curb outside their home, but also the house is silent when they enter. Their nanny does not meet them and a quick check confirms Tim is not in his crib as he was just a couple of hours earlier. Not only are Pam and Tim both missing, so too is the cash that Dennis had hidden in a drawer.
The police become involved and Pam quickly makes clear that she has no intention of giving the child back. Pam has betrayed their trust and is convinced that no matter the outcome, she has done the right thing. Powerless to stop her, Anita can only stand by as the unthinkable happens and her world comes crashing down with drastic repercussions for everyone.
This engaging read quickly becomes a roller coaster ride of emotion as the reader is pulled into Anita’s world. A world where few can be trusted, even those she had always counted on, to help her search for her child against all odds. Betrayal is a strong theme of the work as well as justice and both run heavily throughout the work.
However, while those themes are clear and covered, they do not make the novel a heavy or complex read. Instead, the action-oriented storyline propels the work forward and keeps the reader entertained as the pages go by. Interesting characters, fast pacing, and plenty of twists and turns make this book a fun summer read.
Abducted
By Brian Pinkerton
Leisure Books
www.dorchesterpub.com
2004
ISBN 0-8439-5331-4
Mass Market Paperback
341 Pages
$6.99 US
$8.99 Canada
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
A Tortured Soul
Kevin’s Corner
A recurring theme of the Elvis Cole series has been the fact that Cole has never known who his biological father was. What he has been told about him may in fact be nothing more than lies. Raised first by his mentally ill mother and then later by grandparents, Cole has always been haunted by the question. That theme becomes the focus of the latest Robert Crais novel, “The Forgotten Man.”
Cole is still dealing with the fact that Lucy and her son, Ben, have left him behind as well as other recent events. His personal life has taken a tremendous toll on him physically and mentally with one sign of it being that he hasn’t been seen out in public or at his office in weeks. As the novel begins, Cole is asked to come out to a crime scene by Detective Kelly Diaz of the LAPD. It isn’t the first time P. I. Cole has been asked to come to a crime scene. What makes it different this time is, according to Diaz, the man as he died told her he was Cole’s father and was looking for him.
Forced into going to the crime scene to look at a man who he wouldn’t be able to recognize even if it was his father, Cole gradually moves back into the land of the living. Not only does he begin to once again appear in his office, he begins to work the case driven by a need to know if it was his father. After all, not only did the man tell Diaz that he was Cole’s father, he was carrying press clippings featuring various news stories about Cole and his cases. He does it, not because he really believes the man was his father, but because he needs something to do to occupy his mind and tamp down his always prevalent self-destructive impulses. Since the aftermath of Ben’s kidnapping and the violent rescue, which resulted in their leaving town, Cole has been in a deep depression. Now he has a mission. Identify the deceased and investigate the circumstances surround his death.
While the novel does involve other characters, the work primarily revolves around Cole and his resurrection. Cole faces great trials, both physical and mental, and by the time he is through, as in any resurrection style story, he has becomes reborn in a sense. In so doing, the further emotional evolution of the character, especially across the last several novels, continues.
While it does, Robert Crais does not allow that exploration and thematic messages, to get in the way of an outstanding story. Featuring interesting characters, a complex mystery, and plenty of action, this latest novel in the Elvis Cole series is another strong read and should please his legion of fans.
The Forgotten Man
By Robert Crais
www.robertcrais.com
Doubleday
www.doubleday.com
ISBN 0-385-50428-4
Hardback
342 Pages
$24.95 US
$34.95 Canada
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
A recurring theme of the Elvis Cole series has been the fact that Cole has never known who his biological father was. What he has been told about him may in fact be nothing more than lies. Raised first by his mentally ill mother and then later by grandparents, Cole has always been haunted by the question. That theme becomes the focus of the latest Robert Crais novel, “The Forgotten Man.”
Cole is still dealing with the fact that Lucy and her son, Ben, have left him behind as well as other recent events. His personal life has taken a tremendous toll on him physically and mentally with one sign of it being that he hasn’t been seen out in public or at his office in weeks. As the novel begins, Cole is asked to come out to a crime scene by Detective Kelly Diaz of the LAPD. It isn’t the first time P. I. Cole has been asked to come to a crime scene. What makes it different this time is, according to Diaz, the man as he died told her he was Cole’s father and was looking for him.
Forced into going to the crime scene to look at a man who he wouldn’t be able to recognize even if it was his father, Cole gradually moves back into the land of the living. Not only does he begin to once again appear in his office, he begins to work the case driven by a need to know if it was his father. After all, not only did the man tell Diaz that he was Cole’s father, he was carrying press clippings featuring various news stories about Cole and his cases. He does it, not because he really believes the man was his father, but because he needs something to do to occupy his mind and tamp down his always prevalent self-destructive impulses. Since the aftermath of Ben’s kidnapping and the violent rescue, which resulted in their leaving town, Cole has been in a deep depression. Now he has a mission. Identify the deceased and investigate the circumstances surround his death.
While the novel does involve other characters, the work primarily revolves around Cole and his resurrection. Cole faces great trials, both physical and mental, and by the time he is through, as in any resurrection style story, he has becomes reborn in a sense. In so doing, the further emotional evolution of the character, especially across the last several novels, continues.
While it does, Robert Crais does not allow that exploration and thematic messages, to get in the way of an outstanding story. Featuring interesting characters, a complex mystery, and plenty of action, this latest novel in the Elvis Cole series is another strong read and should please his legion of fans.
The Forgotten Man
By Robert Crais
www.robertcrais.com
Doubleday
www.doubleday.com
ISBN 0-385-50428-4
Hardback
342 Pages
$24.95 US
$34.95 Canada
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
The Power of Coincidence
Kevin’s Corner
Ex-con Matt Hunter is trying to rebuild his life and move forward after his four year prison sentence. His future was changed forever by a justice system that ignored his claim of self-defense. It has been nine years since his release but the fear of prison, the fragility of freedom, is something that is always there in the back of his mind.
His rebuilt life begins to unravel when he gets a strange cell phone call from his pregnant wife—or at least from her cell number. A photograph appears of a man mockingly waving at him. Considering how rare his wife, Olivia, used the camera equipped cell phone, Matt is perplexed. The man seems proud of himself and Matt has no idea who he is. Matt’s emotions quickly get the better of him when a second call comes in from her phone. This time it is a video sequence that seems to depict his wife cheating on him with the man from the still picture.
Matt can’t reach her where she is supposed to be and when he finally does, he realizes without a doubt that his beautiful wife, the mother of his child to be, is lying to him. He doesn’t know why. Nor does he know why a man was tailing him and why that same man is now dead. Nor does he know why his name has turned up in an investigation concerning a murdered nun. He does know that he can’t trust the system to clear him having failed him before. He needs answers to a past that both he and Olivia had sought to put behind them before they have chance to live, let alone have a life together like their dreams.
While an enjoyable read with interesting characters and plenty of action filled plot twists, coincidence plays a heavy role in the work almost to the point of absurdity. All the coincidences can’t be detailed in this review as to do so would remove any need whatsoever to read the book. However, there are so many, including two in the final twist sequence, that the read generates a laugh out loud moment as opposed to the shocking suspense intended.
However, if the reader can totally suspend disbelief for the entire 370-page novel, the result is an entertaining read that easily passes a few hours. This hardback also features a short story “The Rise and Fall of Super D” containing his very much missed character Myron Bolitar.
The Innocent
By Harlan Coben
www.HarlanCoben.com
Dutton
www.penguin.com
ISBN 0-525-94874-0
Hardback
$26.95 US
$39.00 Canada
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Ex-con Matt Hunter is trying to rebuild his life and move forward after his four year prison sentence. His future was changed forever by a justice system that ignored his claim of self-defense. It has been nine years since his release but the fear of prison, the fragility of freedom, is something that is always there in the back of his mind.
His rebuilt life begins to unravel when he gets a strange cell phone call from his pregnant wife—or at least from her cell number. A photograph appears of a man mockingly waving at him. Considering how rare his wife, Olivia, used the camera equipped cell phone, Matt is perplexed. The man seems proud of himself and Matt has no idea who he is. Matt’s emotions quickly get the better of him when a second call comes in from her phone. This time it is a video sequence that seems to depict his wife cheating on him with the man from the still picture.
Matt can’t reach her where she is supposed to be and when he finally does, he realizes without a doubt that his beautiful wife, the mother of his child to be, is lying to him. He doesn’t know why. Nor does he know why a man was tailing him and why that same man is now dead. Nor does he know why his name has turned up in an investigation concerning a murdered nun. He does know that he can’t trust the system to clear him having failed him before. He needs answers to a past that both he and Olivia had sought to put behind them before they have chance to live, let alone have a life together like their dreams.
While an enjoyable read with interesting characters and plenty of action filled plot twists, coincidence plays a heavy role in the work almost to the point of absurdity. All the coincidences can’t be detailed in this review as to do so would remove any need whatsoever to read the book. However, there are so many, including two in the final twist sequence, that the read generates a laugh out loud moment as opposed to the shocking suspense intended.
However, if the reader can totally suspend disbelief for the entire 370-page novel, the result is an entertaining read that easily passes a few hours. This hardback also features a short story “The Rise and Fall of Super D” containing his very much missed character Myron Bolitar.
The Innocent
By Harlan Coben
www.HarlanCoben.com
Dutton
www.penguin.com
ISBN 0-525-94874-0
Hardback
$26.95 US
$39.00 Canada
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note here or at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Thursday, June 23, 2005
The Dark Ages
“’It’s a new dark age,” he said at one point. “Nobody reads anymore. People are losing the ability to think. Television has destroyed us. I’m glad I won’t live to see the worst of it.’” (Dry Heat, Page 73)
History and the dead, victims of crime or otherwise, have been constant themes of this enjoyable series. So too has been the price of progress and resulting urban sprawl and what that has done to Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area. Those themes continue in this third novel of the series, which also deals with modern day realities of the Russian Mafia and terrorism.
In 1948 the body of FBI Agent John Pilgrim was found floating in a canal outside what was then small city of Phoenix, Arizona. Over 200 agents spent more than two months working the case before it was ruled a suicide and buried by FBI management. Now, an elderly homeless man has been found dead, floating in a swimming pool, at approximately the same location. Homeless people die everyday across this country and that isn’t why the media are circling above by helicopter or clogging the neighborhood streets below with satellite trucks. Word is already out that the dead homeless man had the dead agent’s badge. A badge that vanished in 1948 and never found, was sewn inside the dead man’s coat.
An interagency taskforce is formed and launches an investigation with all the political backstabbing and power plays that go along with such things. Assigned to the case, Deputy Sheriff David Mapstone should be focused entirely at the matter at hand but he can’t focus that well. Recently married to Deputy Lindsey, he knows how lucky he is and is reminded thanks to the death of a good friend and mentor, how fragile life is. When the Russian Mafia begins to retaliate for the success of Lindsey’s team that stopped dead a multi million dollar fraud operation using stolen credit card identities, both Lindsey and David are forced to go into hiding. Hiding is something that neither one is good at, especially with Mapstone pushed to solve his own case.
Containing twists and at times intense action, this novel continues the overall character story arc begun in the first novel Concrete Desert. Enjoyable as the others, this novel does have more of a melancholy feel to it. Without giving too much away it is safe to say that some decisions for the future have to be made and the ending has enough wiggle room that it can be interpreted in two different ways.
Not to say both cases aren’t satisfactorily resolved, because they are. While the Russian Mafia case is resolved pretty much as expected, the Pilgrim case has one final twist at the end that is shocking in its simplicity. Little new is added to the characters as the novel has Mapstone contemplating not only the past of Phoenix and what progress has done to the city in the last fifty plus years, but his own checkered and complex past and recent developments. Some of this ground has been covered before in “Concrete Desert and Camelback Falls but is more of a constant presence in this novel. While containing plenty of action and complex cases, this book is a more introspective work and as such has a more melancholy feel than the previous two.
However, do not let that deter you from another excellent book in the series. As always, Jon Talton delivers a read full of interesting characters, vivid descriptive settings, and a pair of complex cases. The result is another twisting tale of the past and present and one very good book.
Dry Heat (A David Mapstone Mystery)
Jon Talton
Thomas Dunne Books
www.minotaurbooks.com
ISBN 0-312-33385-4
Hardback
$22.95 US
$32.95 Canada
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
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