Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: Wrecked by Joe Ide

Wrecked by Joe Ide (Mulholland Books, 2018) is the third book in the private investigator series featuring Isaiah Quintabe, known as IQ to his friends. I am just now getting around to reading these books and I understand why everyone raves about them. Early in the book IQ is bemoaning his lack of social connections, and it is more than interest in the case that causes him to accept the request of Grace Monarova, a young artist, to look for her mother who vanished 10 years earlier. He quickly learns that a dangerous paramilitary crew who committed some of the atrocities at Abu Ghraib is also looking for Grace’s mother, because she holds incriminating photos of them. These men are violent and amoral and will kill anyone at any time for any reason at all. The descriptions of their interrogations are sickening to read. It appears to be typical of Ide’s sense of humor to bring this psychotic group to The Burning Man arts festival in Nevada.

There are subplots aplenty, almost too many to keep track of. Dodson, IQ’s sidekick, is now his partner and wants to regularize the firm, collect past due accounts, set up a website, and establish a social media presence. IQ who accepts badly knitted Christmas sweaters as payment for services, is not on board with this approach, and their conversations on this subject are hilarious. Then there’s the creepy knife designer who is in danger of eviction from his store. He decides the only way out is to blackmail Dodson and IQ into stealing a drug kingpin’s bankroll on his behalf, which goes about as well as the reader has come to expect.

The characters are fresh and lively, down to the bickering middle schoolers IQ hires for a small surveillance task. IQ in particular is a likable individual, with his formidable brain, his MacGyver tendency to improvise weapons, and his total lack of business acumen. The dialog veers between snickeringly comic and deadly vicious, often with little transition. The action is relentless in its pacing, making for an exhausting but enjoyable read. Highly recommended.

Booklist starred review. One of CrimeReads Best Books of the Year.

·         Hardcover: 352 pages

·         Publisher: Mulholland Books (October 9, 2018)

·         Language: English

·         ISBN-10: 9780316509510

·         ISBN-13: 978-0316509510

Aubrey Hamilton ©2019

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

Review: "Firebreak" by Tricia Fields

Weather in Texas often is one of two extremes--- flood or fire. It has been a couple years since the floods came to Southwest Texas. Now it has been 9 months since rain fell in the desert area and now wildfire is the threat to Artemis and the surrounding area. The threat comes from the north and south with Artemis trapped in the middle. Evacuations are ordered for parts of Arroyo County, but not everyone will agree to leave. This area of southwest Texas where folks are used to hard times, desert conditions, and relying on themselves and their ingenuity to survive, makes for a people to don’t turn away from a fight.

In the aftermath of the fires that spare the home of Artemis Police Chief Josie Gray, a body is found in the remains of the badly damaged home of Billy and Brenda Nix. If his wife and manager, Brenda, is to be believed Billy is about to make it big with a Nashville music contract. Billy is old school country and sings while playing guitar. Both he and his wife evacuated, according to some of the locals, but neither one is answering their cell phone. They may be up in Austin lining up future events or somewhere else. In the chaos of the evacuation they were seen at least once, but nobody really knows where they are or why they would not be answering their cell phones.

The location of the Nixes, the identity of the body, and figuring out what happened should be Police Chief Josie Gray’s priority and focus. A focus that isn’t easy to maintain, as thanks to the events in Wrecked, her longtime boyfriend has packed up and left. Getting kidnapped by a drug cartel can kind of put a damper on the whole romance thing. Four months later and normalcy is a foreign concept for both her and Dillion.

Firebreak is the fourth in a series that began with the award winning The Territory. This latest mystery features once again the deep characters and desert beauty present in the earlier books as well as the complicated cases Police Chief Josie Gray and her team must solve. This is a series best read in order as there are references to earlier events in each novel. The books are very good and so is Firebreak. If this series is new to you, it will be another year before Tricia Fields has another so get to work as you have some very good books to read. 

Firebreak

Tricia Fields

http://www.triciafields.com

Minotaur Books (A Thomas Dunne Book)

http://www.minotaurbooks.com

March 2015

ISBN# 978-1-250-05505-7

Hardback (available in e-book)

288 Pages

$25.99

Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2015

Senior News Newspaper Book Review Column---June 2014

For my monthly newspaper book review column in the Senior News Newspaper, I try to make sure to choose one fiction and one nonfiction book in the hopes of interesting more readers. Cookbooks are very popular so I included one as well as the latest mystery in a very good series. Included below are the relevant book covers for my June 2014 column…

Stuffed: The Ultimate Comfort Food Book-- Taking Your Favorite Foods And Stuffing Them To Make New, Different And Delicious Meals

Dan Whalen

ISBN# 978-1-62414-011-2

Paperback

208 Pages

Have you ever thought about combining two different foods into one super food? Like putting a cheeseburger inside a ravioli? “Cheeseburger Ravioli Burger” looks really good and the recipe is here on pages 84-85. Or, maybe you have a craving for something like “Lobster Stuffed Fried Mac and Cheese Balls” (pages 94-95) or a “Mac and Cheese Stuffed Burger” (pages 100-101). The culinary possibilities are intriguing and quite varied in Stuffed: The Ultimate Comfort Food Book by Dan Whalen.

After a brief and interesting introduction the book is broken into six chapters featuring lots of possibilities. Each recipe has an ingredient list and directions, the number of portions it makes, a heat scale as to flavor, and a “Pig-Out” scale as how gluttonous you feel. There are not any specifics regarding fats, salts, etc., as the ratings are more of an unspecified personal scale. Some recipes have pictures, but most do not. This same format continues throughout the book and features recipes that are designed for those who do not have dietary restrictions and are open to experimentation.

Wrecked

Tricia Fields

Minotaur Books (Thomas Dunne Book)

ISBN# 978-1-250-02137-3

Hardback (also available in e-book and audio)

320 Pages

The series that began with the award winning, The Territory, and continued in Scratchgravel Road, continues in the recently released Wrecked. While this novel could be read as a standalone, because of the numerous and often spoiler references to the two prior books scattered throughout this novel, readers who have not read this series would be prudent to start at the beginning.

Deep in southwest Texas in the Big Bend region sits the small town of Artemis, Texas. A small border town where folks struggle to survive despite the economy of the region as well as the violence that occasionally spills across the border into Texas. Chief of Police Josie Gray knows firsthand about the violence that comes across the border and is about to again as her boyfriend, Dillon Reese, will be taken.

While the previous books were more police procedural oriented, this one is considerably more psychological suspense as it shifts through the various character viewpoints. The primary focus is on what Dillon’s disappearance does to Chief Gray and others as well as what being kidnapped does to Dillon. Despite the occasionally travelogue feel to the series, the reads are complex and feature realistic characters and multiple interesting storylines. As noted, this is one of those series best read in order from the beginning.

Kevin R Tipple ©2014

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Review: "Wrecked: by Tricia Fields

The series that began with the award winning, The Territory, and continued in Scratchgravel Road, continues in the recently released Wrecked. While this novel could be read as a standalone, because of the numerous references to the two prior books scattered throughout this novel, readers who have read the earlier works will appreciate this one more. Some of those references are clear spoilers for the prior books.

Deep in southwest Texas in the Big Bend region lays the small town of Artemis, Texas. A small border town where folks struggle to survive despite the economy of the region as well as the violence that occasionally spills across the border into Texas. Chief of Police Josie Gray knows firsthand about the violence that comes across the border and might prefer that to local politics.

The idea that Mayor Steve Moss would show up at her door one morning at 6:30 am is something she has never had to contemplate before. This spring morning he has arrived unannounced and she is less than thrilled to see him no matter what he wants. She has been Chief of Police for six years now and their mutual distrust has steadily grown. According to the Mayor, a local woman by the name of Roxanne Spar, went to one of the officer the night before and filed some sort of harassment/stalking charge on Moss. Not only does Chief Gray know nothing about the case or the charge, Moss thinks she should destroy all the paperwork on the case because he said to do it. That won't happen under Gray's watch and the Mayor should have known that.

Of course, Moss should not have put himself in to a position that a woman could accuse him of wrong doing. If he wasn’t smart enough to know that as Mayor, he should have known that as a married man. For Chief Gray Moss’s problems at home and politically are going to become nearly meaningless as in a few hours her boyfriend, Dillon Reese, will disappear.

The next seven days are a nightmare for Chief Gray as she has to take a backseat in the investigation and search for Dillon. Haunted by her actions in the early hours when she wasn't aware he was missing, she can't do much of anything as the days pass and Dillon remains in the clutches of the kidnappers. Having to step aside and let others run things their way is a role guaranteed to drive her crazy if her own emotions about the events don't make her snap first.

The latest in the series from author Tricia Fields is a good read. While the previous books were more police procedural oriented, this one is considerably more psychological suspense as it shifts through the various character viewpoints. Of course the police work is still present, but the primary focus is on what Dillon’s disappearance does to Chief Gray and others as well as what being kidnapped does to Dillon. Guilt, rage, and angst are the main components for all in differing amounts as the case drags on day after day with no easy answers. Despite the occasionally travelogue feel to the series, the reads are complex and feature realistic characters and multiple interesting storylines. As noted, this is one of those series best read in order from the beginning with The Territory and Scratchgravel Road.
  

Wrecked

Tricia Fields

http://www.triciafields.com

Minotaur Books (Thomas Dunne Book)

http://www.minotaurbooks.com

2014

ISBN# 978-1-250-02137-3

Hardback (also available in e-book and audio)

320 Pages

$29.99

Material supplied the good folks of the Plano Texas Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2014