Scott's Take: Fated: An Alex Verus Novel by Benedict Jacka

Fated: An Alex Verus Novel by Benedict Jacka. This series was on a list I found on the internet for books similar to the Harry Dresden series. In some ways, this first book is as it features a mage named Alex Verus who is a diviner. Such a person is a mage that can see the future. Multiple groups are using people he cares about to pressure Alex Verus to help them find an ancient mystic relic from a dead civilization. The person or group in possession of the relic could do almost anything they wanted and could change the world.

This novel is a part urban fantasy thriller and part mystery and is set in London in a time where magic is still very much possible and unseen by many. Alex Versus is outmatched by pretty much every enemy he faces. He has to use his wits, magic, and snarky attitude, to survive every situation. He has a few allies that help him deal with the multiple factions. One of the most important allies is Luna who is an aspiring mage who has a serious curse on her. Nobody in the factions can be trusted and even the good guys within the factions are willing to kill anyone who gets in the way of them getting the relic.

I enjoyed this book in the long running series a lot and according to the internet there are late last eight more books. I liked the character of Alex Verus a lot. He is intelligent, funny, and sarcastic, has little respect for authority, intelligent and is brave and honorable. A good guy, he knows when it is smarter to take off and hide from fights he can’t win. He knows when he is in over his head and retreats to plan a new strategy to overcome the problem.

I am very interested in seeing how this series goes and learning about his world and his backstory. Good book and I recommend reading Fated: An Alex Verus Novel by Benedict Jacka. Book two in the series is Cursed and I have it here in my library to be read pile.

Fated: An Alex Verus Novel

Benedict Jacka

http://benedictjacka.co.uk/

Ace Books (Penguin Books)

https://www.penguin.com/books/browse/1142/sci-fi-fantasy

February 2012

ISBN# 978-1-937007-29-4

Paperback (also available in audio and digital formats)

304 Pages

My paperback cop came from the Downtown Dallas Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

Scott A. Tipple ©2019

Beneath the Stains of Time: Noose for a Lady (1952) by Gerald Verner

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No FFB Today

As it is Thanksgiving, there is no FFB today.

He Does Not Listen Well At All

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Happy Thanksgiving 2019

Do Some Damage: Dark Yonder

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Bitter Tea and Mystery: Killed in the Ratings: William L. DeAndrea

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Barry Ergang's New Story: The Audiophile Murder Case

The latest published read from Barry Ergang is a short story.  Originally published in 1982 in Stereophile Magazine, his short story, “The Audiophile Murder Case” is now available in digital format at Amazon and Smashwords. The tale is “a satire of the high-end audio business as a parody/pastiche of the Philo Vance mystery novels by S. S. Van Dine.” You can pick up a number of the S. S. Van Dine mystery  novels for free at the Freeditorial Publishing House website.

Review: Mystery Weekly Magazine: August 2019

Mystery Weekly Magazine: August 2019 issue begins with “El Chappie: The World’s Second Greatest Criminal” by T. L. Huchu. He might be the second greatest criminal, but, he clearly is the biggest talker. It can’t be referred to as an “interrogation” when the suspect is freely sharing all of the details of his life in crime.

Audrey finds herself in a bad situation in “Stranger in Paradise” by James Nolan. She knows where she is and she also knows nobody else has any idea of her location and situation. This was not how her visit to New Orleans was supposed to go at all. She is going to have to take charge of her own rescue.

So too will the primary character in the next story “The Mayfly” by David Bart. He faces a certain death as terminal cancer is waging a war on his body. He has one final thing to do for himself as well as his sister, Phoebe, to set things right.

Pressman has a very simple plan in “You Can’t Go Alone” by Andrew Welsh-Huggins. Pressman has a very simple plan. Kill the drug dealer that sold Pressman’s son, Billy, the drug that hooked him and eventually killed him. Orndorff deserves to die. Bargaining at the moment of truth will not earn him a temporary reprieve. Unless it does.

It appears that Bo Hendrickson is going to lead his followers to the Praying Hands sculpture and encourage the devoted to take the eight thousand drop leap of faith. It is not the first time there has been a cult-suicide and no doubt won’t be the last. Reporter Bell is being forced to cover the story by Editor Bill Thomas and does not like it all. As the boss bluntly pointed out, “You’re a reporter. So go report.” Bell does and that is the crux of the tale “Jumpers for Jesus” by Emily Devenport.

Weegee The Famous is known for his photographs. He takes pictures of various things including crime events. He sells those pictures to the tabloids and business was good. Thanks to the ongoing mob wars and carnage, the price for his photographic efforts is going down. He needs a new angle and may have found one in “The Dead Man In The Pearl Gray Hat” by Bruce W. Most.

Kyle Hogg had thought that if he made it safely home to his worn out Winnebago parked at the Sunny Acres trailer park in Tulsa he would be home safe. He was wrong in “Three Hogg’s Tale And One Hairy Ending” by Jeff Dosser.  Lawrence Talbot, also known to one and all as Harry Larry, was waiting and wants his product or the money.

“FanFarewell” by Laird Long is the selection for “A You-Solve-It” by Laird Long this month. The body was found in the pond just to the east of the old factory and Detective Hunter and Constable Mancini are on the case. Sam Trusco is the dead man. The pond was not the kill site. When and how he died are just two of several elements in this story that readers have to put together.

The answer to the July “A You-Solve-It” case titled “Shut And Open Case” brings this issue to a close.

As has been present in each issue from the start, Mystery Weekly Magazine: August 2019 issue continues the tradition of a solidly good mix of writing styles, characters, and interesting mysteries. Mystery is a wide canvass and such is the case here resulting in another higher entertaining issue.

Mystery Weekly Magazine: August 2019

http://www.mysteryweekly.com

July 30, 2019

ASIN: B07VV8R5GH

eBook (also available in print)

125 Pages

For quite some time now I have been gifted a subscription by the publisher with no expectation at all of a review. I read and review each issue as I can. To date, I have never submitted anything to this market and will not do so as long as I review the publication.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2019

TEXAS BOOK LOVER: Review: AN EQUAL JUSTICE

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Review: Cross Cut: A Joe Gunther Short Story by Archer Mayor

Cross Cut: A Joe Gunther Short Story by Archer Mayor opens many years ago with Sammie Martens. It is in the 1990s and Sammie is back home after four years of military service, very unhappy, and having a hard time adjusting back to civilian life in Vermont. Things just get harder because her mom’s latest live in boyfriend wanted her out of the house so mom, Helen, kicked her out into the cold in more ways than one.

At least there is at least one place in Brattleboro she can stay if she pays for it. It also fires in her the impetus to start trying to establish her new life. An impetus that, possibly, is going to have to take a back seat when she learns her mom has been arrested for robbing a nearby gas station.

What happened and why, the first meeting between her and Joe Gunther, and many more things are at work in this very enjoyable short story. Cross Cut: A Joe Gunther Short Story is a tale that features all the complexity of the series novels as well as the little things that make the books so very good. It accomplishes a lot from the perspective of Sammie Martens and yet manages to include Joe Gunther and others that readers see again and again in the series. For longtime readers as well as those new to the series, Cross Cut: A Joe Gunther Short Story is a great read.

Highly recommended as is the most recent novel, Bomber’s Moon, which is extensively previewed here with the first three chapters of the book. My review of Bomber’s Moon from October can be read here.

Cross Cut: A Joe Gunther Short Story

Archer Mayor

https://archermayor.com/

Minotaur Books (St. Martin’s Publishing Group)

https://www.minotaurbooks.com

July 2019

ASIN: B07RHHNG2Q

eBook only

76 Pages

While working on my review of Bomber’s Moon, I came across this and purchased it to read and review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2019

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Review: Bloody Genius: A Virgil Flowers Novel by John Sandford

It took a few days for the body of Dr. Quill to be found behind the locked door of a personal study carrel at the University Library. A subsequent two week investigation by the local police went nowhere. It was clear that he was murdered and that had been accomplished by two massive blows to his head with a heavy object of some sort. Who did it and why, the location of the murder weapon which might have been his very expensive computer, and a host of other questions have yet to be answered. Dr. Bathelemy Quill came from serious money and had connections despite his arrogance and other issues. His surviving sister has serious money and powerful connections so it is no problem at all for her to call the Minnesota Governor and express her dissatisfaction. Before long the request rolls downhill to land squarely on one BCA agent named Virgil Flowers.

Virgil Flowers is less than thrilled to be sent to the University of Minnesota to investigate the murder, but Minneapolis Homicide is not getting anywhere. As it is Thursday the Governor would like the whole deal wrapped up by the end of the weekend and has made that thought clear all down the chain of command. The Governor may be a weasel or worse as Flowers sees him, but he can’t be ignored either. The only good thing is he won’t have to go out of state or to the far corners of Minnesota as he has in the past. This time Flowers will be relatively close in case the very pregnant Frankie needs him or an issue happens out at their farm. He is going to have to go home, explain all and pack and get some sleep, and then go see Sergeant Margaret Trane of Minneapolis Homicide.

By noon the next day, he is Minneapolis City Hall meeting with Sergeant Trane and reviewing the case. Trane is justifiably enraged by the media coverage that has become increasingly negative towards her and the Department as well as being second guessed by the family and Governor to the point that Flowers is present to work the case. She is also more than a little frustrated and annoyed with herself and her own failure to solve the case.

It becomes clear to Flowers that the fact the case isn’t solved is not because of a lack of effort by Trane. The issue is a lack of clues and leads. The few leads they do have do not seem to have any merit at all and are next to worthless. The evidence found to this point is very limited and seems to have no merit. Despite all the hard work by Trane and support stuff, there does not seem to be anything to really go on, let alone a pattern or order to things, or a connection to the murder. The only idea Flowers has initially is to go to talk to everyone Trane has interviewed so that he can get a feel for them. He also needs to go walk the crime scene in the library.

Before long Flowers is doing his thing of talking to people and, metaphorically speaking, kicking over rocks. His doing so starts sending things into motion. Eever so gradually, sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly, progress begins to be made on this case and several other situations that may or may not be connected.

Regardless of which series it is, author John Sandford can always be counted on for complex reads with many moving pieces. Sometimes readers know from the get go who the bad guy or guys are. Other times, as in this case, readers don’t. One also knows that in his books, there will be plenty of adult language and fast moving actions, references to at least one latest book by a major author, and plenty of the everyday minutiae in the main series character’s life. All these elements and more make Bloody Genius: A Vergil Flowers Novel well worth reading. While it could be read by readers new to the series, there are several references to books in earlier in the series that could impact readers well as multiple references to running jokes that have been in place since the start.

For another take on the book, please read this September 2019 review by Lesa Holstine.

Bloody Genius: A Virgil Flowers Novel   

John Sandford

http://www.johnsandford.org/author.html

Random House Large Print

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/large-print-format-books/

October 2019

ISBN# 978-1-9848-8285-1

Large Print Paperback (also available in audio, digital, and hardback formats)

480 Pages 

My reading copy came from the Bachman Lake Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2019

In Reference To Murder: Media Murder for Monday for 11/25/19

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Bitter Tea and Mystery Review: The Keeper of Lost Causes: Jussi Adler-Olsen

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Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: Run Away by Harlan Coben

Run Away (Grand Central Publishing, 2019) is the most recent thriller from Harlan Coben, whose Myron Bolitar series was a fixture on the 1990s amateur sleuth lists. With the new century Coben has turned to elaborately plotted stand-alone thrillers; his latest has more twists and hairpin turns than two or three roller coasters combined.

Simon Greene, a successful financial manager in metropolitan New York City, does not know where he went wrong. His oldest daughter Paige seemed fine until she started college. There, she got in with the wrong crowd, started taking drugs, and disappeared. He’s never given up looking for her. His neighbor tells Simon he thinks he saw Paige in New York’s Central Park. Simon finds her but her boyfriend keeps him from taking her home. Paige disappears during the fracas that follows, and shortly thereafter the confrontation between Simon and the boyfriend, filmed by tourists in the park, goes viral on the internet, creating a legal and PR nightmare for Simon.   

Simon and his wife Ingrid start searching for Paige on their own, naively looking for her drug dealer in his lair in a confrontation that anyone should know wouldn’t go particularly well. Interwoven with this thread are descriptions of the activities of a pair of paid assassins that go to great lengths to ensure each kill cannot be linked to any of the others. They are being tracked by a determined private investigator named Elena Ramirez, who is trying to figure out what the pattern is in their choice of targets to protect potential future victims. Eventually both story lines merge but it takes awhile.

After a comparatively slow start that sets the stage for the story, the action never stops, galloping headlong until the very last paragraph. There are some great secondary characters, such as Cornelius, the owner of the apartment house where Paige lived. Devoted fans of the Myron Bolitar series will catch the indirect reference to Bolitar’s friend Windsor Horne Lockwood III early in the book.

Starred review from Library Journal.

·         Hardcover: 384 pages

·         Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; First Edition (March 19, 2019)

·         Language: English

·         ISBN-10: 1538748460

·         ISBN-13: 978-1538748466

Aubrey Hamilton ©2019

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Cowboys Frustration

Phantom tripping calls, legit penalties that should never happen, bad special teams play, and another inability to get the running game going, kills the Cowboys today. This is another devastating loss. It again reflects far more about the Cowboys than their opponent. NE is not the powerhouse they were and they were there to be beat today. I don't know if JG has to go or not. I don't see another coach better than him available. I also don't know that another coach, unless Jerry gets the hell out of the way, would do any better.

Lesa's Book Critiques: City of Immortals by Carolyn Campbell

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Why She Missed Church

Do Some Damage: 19 Crimes, or Wine with a Story by Claire Booth

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KRL Update: KRL This Week for 11/23/19

Up in KRL this week a review and giveaway of "Stamped Out" by Tonya Kappes

https://kingsriverlife.com/11/23/stamped-out-by-tonya-kappes/

And we have reviews and giveaways of cookbooks by mystery authors Nancy J. Cohen, Kathi Daley, Karen MacInerney, Lise McClendon, Chelsea Thomas, and C.A. Phipps (4 are giveaways through KRL and 2 are through the author's by joining their mailing list), and a review and info to preorder Jenny Kales cookbook. And we have a couple recipes for your Thanksgiving dinner!

https://kingsriverlife.com/11/23/anyone-can-cook-cozy-cookbooks-to-love/

And reviews and giveaways of a feast of food and drink mysteries for your Thanksgiving reading-"The Chocolate Shark Shenanigans": A Chocoholic Mystery by JoAnna Carl, "Apple Cider Slaying": A Cider Shop Mystery by Julie Anne Lindsey, "Clarets of Fire": Rose Avenue Wine Club Mystery by Christine E. Blum, "Fatal Cajun Festival": A Cajun Country Mystery by Ellen Byron, "Jealousy Filled Donuts": A Deputy Donut Mystery by Ginger Bolton, and "Mumbo Gumbo Murder": A Scrapbooking Mystery by Laura Childs with Terrie Farley Moran

https://kingsriverlife.com/11/23/food-mysteries-for-your-thanksgiving-feast/

We also have a review and giveaway of "Flour in the Attic" by Winnie Archer along with a Thanksgiving guest post and recipe by Winnie

 https://kingsriverlife.com/11/23/flour-in-the-attic-by-winnie-archer/

And the latest mystery Coming Attractions from Sunny Frazier, along with a giveaway of a $25 gift card from mystery author Victoria Hamilton who was featured in a past Coming Attractions

https://kingsriverlife.com/11/23/coming-attractions-merry-gifting-edition/

For those who prefer to listen to Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast directly on KRL, the player is now up for the new one-the first chapter of "A Cupid Caper" by Larissa Reinhart read by local actor Teya Juarez

https://kingsriverlife.com/11/23/new-podcast-ep-featuring-the-cupid-caper-by-larissa-reinhart/

Up on KRL News and Reviews this week we have a review and giveaway of "Cleanup on Aisle 6" by Daniel Stallings

https://www.krlnews.com/2019/11/cleanup-on-aisle-6-by-daniel-stallings.html

And a review and giveaway of "Murder Under a Blue Moon" by Abigail Keam, along with a bonus review of her book "Death By Deceit"

https://www.krlnews.com/2019/11/murder-under-blue-moon-by-abigail-keam.html

And a review and ebook giveaway of "The Nora Pigeon Mysteries" by Krista Lynn

https://www.krlnews.com/2019/11/the-nora-pigeon-mysteries-by-krista.html

Happy reading and Happy Thanksgiving!

Lorie

_._,_._,_

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Lesa's Book Critiques: Have You Heard? William Kent Krueger's This Tender Land

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Beneath the Stains of Time: The Rat-a-Tat Mystery (1956) by Enid Blyton

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Scott's Take: Batman Damned by Brian Azzarello

Batman Damned by Brian Azzarello is the first book from the “Black Label” line from DC comics. This line is mandated to produce out of the canon adult stories where creators have more freedom to do whatever they want. Batman Damned is a Batman themed horror story featuring cussing, male nudity, and violence. In this story, the Joker is dead and Batman is not sure if he killed him or not. Batman lost his memory during the time the Joker was killed and therefore has no idea if he did it or not. Who killed the Joker, why, and what exactly happened is just part of Batman Damned.

Readers find out what happened by way of the very unreliable narrator John Constantine. The story is very different than the typical Batman story. It features cameos from various supernatural/magic themed heroes. The art is great and reflects the fact it is different than the typical Batman story. While I enjoyed it, I am not sure I understood everything that was going on in the read. I think the fact that I don’t understand everything was the point as it seems to be setting up for a sequel series despite the fact that this miniseries is marketed as being self-contained.

This book is not for everyone due to its strong horror elements and deliberately unclear story. As noted before, this read is designed for adult readers as there is adult language, male nudity, and more in the read.  If you are interested in something different than most Batman stories and are okay with never fully knowing what is actually going on in the read, I recommend it. 

Batman Damned

Brian Azzarello

DC Black Label

https://www.dccomics.com/tags/black-label

September 2019

ISBN# 978-1-4012-9140-2

Hardback (also available in digital format)

My review copy came from the Preston Royal Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

Scott A. Alexander ©2019

Mystery Fanfare: THANKSGIVING MYSTERIES // THANKSGIVING CRIME FICTI...

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Bookbrowsing Blog: Diamonds Are Forever by Jeannette de Beauvoir

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Buried Under Books Book Review: The Satapur Moonstone by Sujata Massey

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SleuthSayers: Crimes Against Women Are Nothing New

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FFB Review: WATCH ME DIE by Lee Goldberg Reviewed by Barry Ergang

This review first appeared here as part of FFB in May 2012. More than seven years later it seems like a good time to run it again for the second time. For the full list of reading suggestions this final Friday before Thanksgiving, check out the full list at Todd Mason’s Sweet Freedom Blog.

“WATCH ME DIE” (originally “THE MAN WITH THE IRON-ON BADGE”) (2005)

by Lee Goldberg

Reviewed by Barry Ergang

At twenty-nine, Harvey Mapes has largely resigned himself to having little in the way of a life. Having been a security guard in an exclusive Southern California community since he was in college, he spends from midnight to eight a.m. six days a week in a stucco shack outside the gates of the Bel Vista Estates, watching a monitor to make sure people don't run the stop sign at an intersection within the community. If they do, he's required to write them "courtesy tickets" when they come through the gate.

The job gives Harvey a lot of time to read, and his favorite genre is the detective story—specifically, the hardboiled private eye story. He's also fond of catching reruns of old private eye series on the TV Land channel. Among his favorite detectives, literary and televised, are Travis McGee, Shell Scott, Elvis Cole, Spenser, Joe Mannix, Magnum, and Dan Tana from "Vega$." His fantasy is to be a private eye and have a life as fraught with excitement as theirs are.

Fantasy becomes reality when Bel Vista resident Cyril Parkus hires Harvey to trail his beautiful wife Lauren and report to him about her activities. It doesn't take long to discover that Lauren is being blackmailed, though Harvey doesn't know the blackmailer's name or what he has on her. His pursuit of the man earns Harvey a severe beating, but it doesn't dissuade him from eventually learning the man's identity. When he reports what he's discovered to Cyril Parkus, Parkus says he'll take it from here. This doesn't sit well with Harvey because, to his way of thinking, the case has just gotten under way, and his literary and television idols wouldn't quit at this point in a case. Thus, thinking he can help both his erstwhile client and his wife, he once again trails Lauren. When she drives to a freeway overpass, gets out of her car, climbs onto the railing, looks directly back at Harvey, and then dives into the traffic below, Harvey can only stare back in shock and horror.

Beset with guilt, despite realizing with the rational part of his mind that he's done nothing to feel guilty about, and again because his fictional heroes wouldn't leave a case unresolved, Harvey is determined to uncover the secret that drove Lauren to her death and, if he can, bring her blackmailer to justice. His quest takes him to Seattle and other areas of Washington state, where he encounters murder, a variety of quirky characters, and some stunning revelations.

I've read and enjoyed a number of the novels Lee Goldberg has written based on the TV series "Monk," so I know he's adept at writing humor. There is a good deal of that in Harvey Mapes's first-person narrative, one full of self-deprecating remarks and wry perspective on his particular world. What I initially thought I was getting in Watch Me Die was a fluffy screwball comedy about a private eye wannabe who'd blunder his way through a "case" populated by idiosyncratic characters and wacky events. What I got was far different: a love story (yes, it is that, too) that becomes very dark, violent, and sometimes flat-out nasty; that is as much about Harvey's maturation and insights into himself and others as it is about solving a mystery. Goldberg skillfully manages the delicate transition from levity to gravity as Harvey probes—and sometimes occasions—events.

This well-paced page-turner is not a cozy, so readers who dislike raw language, sexual situations, and onstage violence will want to avoid it. Those who can handle those elements will be rewarded with a story that amuses, surprises, and lingers in the mind long after it ends.

Barry Ergang © 2012, 2019

Among other works, Derringer Award-winner Barry Ergang's own impossible crime novelette, The Play of Light and Shadow, is available at Amazon and Smashwords as is his recently released book of poetry, Farrago, and other entertaining reads. For more on Barry’s books as well as his editing services, check out Barry’s website.