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
Sunday, July 31, 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
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Perfect Medicine?
Kevin’s Corner
The concept of electronic medical records (EMR) is often touted as a way to save costs and lives while preventing human errors. As authors have repeatedly pointed out, an over reliance in computers and technology can have grave if not disastrous consequences for all. Neurosurgeon Allen Wyler explores both ideas and blends them together to create an interesting, occasionally graphic, read.
Dr. Tyler Mathews works at the Maynard Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. A hospital that never could have afforded the technology on its own became a test site for the Med-InDx Electronic Medical Record system. Everything about the patient is recorded into the system and according to the company, human error has been eliminated. The system is perfect and will save thousands of lives while speeding medical care. But as Dr. Tyler Mathews knows, it has taken a life.
Dr. Mathew’s patient, a young man suffering from epilepsy, received far more radiation than he should have reducing his brain to mush. As Mathews pushes the hospital management to investigate an error that seems to have vanished, his own medical expertise comes into question. Could he have made the mistake? He soon realizes he didn’t because he begins to hear of other similar treatment errors. Other cases where infallible records where changed, treatment was compromised, and patients died. The deaths may not stop there as someone is seeking the final solution to shut down Dr. Tyler Mathews permanently.
I’m not a big fan of novels purported to be medical thrillers as often then seem to cross over into the horror genre. However, in this case, while there are a couple of scenes that are rather graphic involving patients, they aren’t gratuitous and are used to push the story forward. As such, they are necessary and while they may make those of us who have had lots of medical problems a bit squeamish, the primary focus is on the mystery of why things are happening. That core mystery is very good and done very well.
With realistic detailed characters, plenty of scene description and an excellent premise, the author has created a twisting tale of greed, deception, and the low value some would place on human life. Written by a man who has been there and clearly done that, the author details the risks of such technology and the consequences should the technology fail while providing an excellent mystery read.
Deadly Errors
By Allen Wyler
Forge
www.tor.com
ISBN 0-765-31311-1
Hardback
$24.95 US
$36.00 Canada
ARC—Scheduled Publication July 2005
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 concept of electronic medical records (EMR) is often touted as a way to save costs and lives while preventing human errors. As authors have repeatedly pointed out, an over reliance in computers and technology can have grave if not disastrous consequences for all. Neurosurgeon Allen Wyler explores both ideas and blends them together to create an interesting, occasionally graphic, read.
Dr. Tyler Mathews works at the Maynard Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. A hospital that never could have afforded the technology on its own became a test site for the Med-InDx Electronic Medical Record system. Everything about the patient is recorded into the system and according to the company, human error has been eliminated. The system is perfect and will save thousands of lives while speeding medical care. But as Dr. Tyler Mathews knows, it has taken a life.
Dr. Mathew’s patient, a young man suffering from epilepsy, received far more radiation than he should have reducing his brain to mush. As Mathews pushes the hospital management to investigate an error that seems to have vanished, his own medical expertise comes into question. Could he have made the mistake? He soon realizes he didn’t because he begins to hear of other similar treatment errors. Other cases where infallible records where changed, treatment was compromised, and patients died. The deaths may not stop there as someone is seeking the final solution to shut down Dr. Tyler Mathews permanently.
I’m not a big fan of novels purported to be medical thrillers as often then seem to cross over into the horror genre. However, in this case, while there are a couple of scenes that are rather graphic involving patients, they aren’t gratuitous and are used to push the story forward. As such, they are necessary and while they may make those of us who have had lots of medical problems a bit squeamish, the primary focus is on the mystery of why things are happening. That core mystery is very good and done very well.
With realistic detailed characters, plenty of scene description and an excellent premise, the author has created a twisting tale of greed, deception, and the low value some would place on human life. Written by a man who has been there and clearly done that, the author details the risks of such technology and the consequences should the technology fail while providing an excellent mystery read.
Deadly Errors
By Allen Wyler
Forge
www.tor.com
ISBN 0-765-31311-1
Hardback
$24.95 US
$36.00 Canada
ARC—Scheduled Publication July 2005
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, June 05, 2005
Finding the Truth
Kevin’s Corner
One of the recent trends of the last couple of years I have noticed is the high number of books using the concept of offshoot Mormon groups doing bad things. While some authors take the idea in different directions, most seem to use the same basic template. An abusive man physically strong in stature with a deep voice leads the group, the abused women (often sisters from the same family) are all fearful and married to the man and the children are abused. Everything is done in the name of religion, which allows the author to lecture the reader about the evils of religion gone amok. This is exactly what Nevada Barr does in her latest offering, “Hard Truth.”
Newly married Ranger Anna Pigeon has been assigned to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Beyond the usual park problems, the staff has been severely stressed by the recent disappearance of three young girls while in the park from a nearby breakaway Mormon sect. The girls, with their youth leader, were left in the park while other members of the group hiked out. The young girls disappeared and despite constant searches and investigations into everyone’s background, especially the youth leader, the three girls have not been found.
Then two of the girls stumble out of the woods at the Sprague Lake Handicamp and straight into the arms of a paraplegic and her elderly Aunt. Heath, a climber, has been confined to a wheelchair since falling and receiving severe injuries approximately nine months earlier on Longs Peak. Despite the fact that she is lucky to even be alive according to everyone else, she doesn’t think so. Mad at the world for her injury and her own body for failing to heal so that she can walk again, she has slid into a deep angry depression that even her no nonsense Aunt, Gwendolyn Littleton, can’t get her out. But when confronted by two children, clearly deeply traumatized on a physical as well as an emotional level, Heath is forced to reassess her life.
Coming from opposite ends of the spectrum in personality and motivation, Heath and Anna have a tenuous working relationship as they begin to investigate what happened. Heath exploits the bond she made with one child while Anna exploits her position as District Ranger to investigate a case that the sect does not want investigated in any way. A third child is still missing and both Anna and Heath wonder if she is still alive. What happened out there in the woods? And for Anna, she also wonders why the return of the children has coincided with other strange events in the park.
This isn’t the first time Nevada Barr has considered the concept of pure evil and no doubt won’t be the last. Once again she tries to define it, to show its human face, to explain it, and deal with an evil that is almost perfect in its ability. As such, much of what she has written before, Molly’s lectures and advice, etc. is dusted off and placed before readers once again. This lends a certain redundancy to the work, as much of what is in this novel seems to have had the identifying names changed and little else.
Because of that fact, some factual location errors, and the for the most part stereotypical characters, the read is average at best. While the tale itself is interesting and does hold reader attention, the noted flaws remain prevalent from start to finish. Of course, like everything else in life, your experience may vary.
Hard Truth
By Nevada Barr
www.nevadabarr.com
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
www.penguin.com
ISBN 0-399-15241-5
Hardback
$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 of the recent trends of the last couple of years I have noticed is the high number of books using the concept of offshoot Mormon groups doing bad things. While some authors take the idea in different directions, most seem to use the same basic template. An abusive man physically strong in stature with a deep voice leads the group, the abused women (often sisters from the same family) are all fearful and married to the man and the children are abused. Everything is done in the name of religion, which allows the author to lecture the reader about the evils of religion gone amok. This is exactly what Nevada Barr does in her latest offering, “Hard Truth.”
Newly married Ranger Anna Pigeon has been assigned to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Beyond the usual park problems, the staff has been severely stressed by the recent disappearance of three young girls while in the park from a nearby breakaway Mormon sect. The girls, with their youth leader, were left in the park while other members of the group hiked out. The young girls disappeared and despite constant searches and investigations into everyone’s background, especially the youth leader, the three girls have not been found.
Then two of the girls stumble out of the woods at the Sprague Lake Handicamp and straight into the arms of a paraplegic and her elderly Aunt. Heath, a climber, has been confined to a wheelchair since falling and receiving severe injuries approximately nine months earlier on Longs Peak. Despite the fact that she is lucky to even be alive according to everyone else, she doesn’t think so. Mad at the world for her injury and her own body for failing to heal so that she can walk again, she has slid into a deep angry depression that even her no nonsense Aunt, Gwendolyn Littleton, can’t get her out. But when confronted by two children, clearly deeply traumatized on a physical as well as an emotional level, Heath is forced to reassess her life.
Coming from opposite ends of the spectrum in personality and motivation, Heath and Anna have a tenuous working relationship as they begin to investigate what happened. Heath exploits the bond she made with one child while Anna exploits her position as District Ranger to investigate a case that the sect does not want investigated in any way. A third child is still missing and both Anna and Heath wonder if she is still alive. What happened out there in the woods? And for Anna, she also wonders why the return of the children has coincided with other strange events in the park.
This isn’t the first time Nevada Barr has considered the concept of pure evil and no doubt won’t be the last. Once again she tries to define it, to show its human face, to explain it, and deal with an evil that is almost perfect in its ability. As such, much of what she has written before, Molly’s lectures and advice, etc. is dusted off and placed before readers once again. This lends a certain redundancy to the work, as much of what is in this novel seems to have had the identifying names changed and little else.
Because of that fact, some factual location errors, and the for the most part stereotypical characters, the read is average at best. While the tale itself is interesting and does hold reader attention, the noted flaws remain prevalent from start to finish. Of course, like everything else in life, your experience may vary.
Hard Truth
By Nevada Barr
www.nevadabarr.com
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
www.penguin.com
ISBN 0-399-15241-5
Hardback
$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
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Book Reviews
I am very pleased to announce that I am now supplying book reviews to the Vacant Funhouse. My reviews are up at http://vacantfunhouse.com/reviews.html and currently cover:
The Devil's Right Hand by J. D. Rhoades
The President's Assassin by Brain Haig
Tonight, I Said Goodbye by Michael Koryta
Cut And Run by Ridley Pearson
Eight Of Swords by David Skibbins
Bullets by Steve Brewer
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 Devil's Right Hand by J. D. Rhoades
The President's Assassin by Brain Haig
Tonight, I Said Goodbye by Michael Koryta
Cut And Run by Ridley Pearson
Eight Of Swords by David Skibbins
Bullets by Steve Brewer
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, May 17, 2005
Working The Story.....
Kevin’s Corner
Another day, another box of tissue and then some gone. The battle continues and so does the reading. Back to the world of mystery fiction, sub-genre: cozy, we go.
A Confidential Source
By Jan Brogan
http://www.janbrogan.com/
Mysterious Press
http://www.mysteriouspress.com/
April 2005
ISBN # 0-89296-007-8
Hardback
338 Pages
$24.95 US
$33.95 Canada
For reporter Hallie Ahern the road to redemption has taken her to Rhode Island and the Providence Morning Chronicle. She works out of a county bureau office in South Kingston and spends her days covering school boa4rd meetings, retyping press release and police reports, and other lightweight but needed articles. She still dreams of the big story but the big story blew up in her face once before and she constantly worries it could happen again.
Dreams are what got her into trouble in the first place. Dreams that caused insomnia so severe that she became addicted to sleeping pills. And addiction she still fights and is very careful not to give into again. That battle quickly becomes harder when the owner of The Mazursky Market, Barry Mazursky, is gunned down while she is in the small convenience store. While she did not see the shooter put the bullet into Mazurky’s brain, she knows exactly who did it. Moments before a large man in a parka had cursed her when she saw his face and there is no doubt he killed Mazursky.
While she cared deeply about Mazursky and felt him to be a friend as she wrote in the paper for a lead story, the facts are that she really knew very little about him. After praising him extensively in print, it slowly becomes clear that Mazursky hid dark secrets. Assigned to continue to work the case by the editorial staff of the paper, she begins to discover pieces of information while asking why the police are stonewalling the case. Links to political corruption and a coming referendum of gambling appear and it seems many of the characters are using Hallie for their own ends. As she investigates, Hallie figures out this wasn’t a simple robbery gone wrong, but a public execution designed to send a statement to certain individuals. She realizes this could her chance to break back into the big leagues and claim total redemption for her past sins. That is, if she doesn’t miss the warning signs and get herself killed.
Rich in detail and with somewhat stock characters, this novel works forward very slowly as Hallie pulls the pieces together. As in many cozy style novels, the pace is slow and the mystery is an ongoing theme but often not primary. Such is the case here, as Hallie deals with possible romantic entanglements with a handsome District Attorney among others, her own addictive personality, relationship issues, both professional and personal, and her ongoing debate with herself over her own past failures and triumphs. Hallie is a complex persona who seems to shift back and forth, waffling between the responsibilities of adulthood and a wishing for simpler things. With the focus so scattered across so many themes, the first two hundred pages of this novel read like an elaborate setup piece.
But the final seventy-five to one hundred pages make the wait worth it as the novel begins to go. As the pressures rapidly mount, Hallie spends less wasted time with doubt and self-recriminations and becomes real to the reader as she reacts to the considerable forces allied against her.
Those familiar with the background political history at the state and local level in Rhode Island will appreciate this novel more than others. No doubt heavily based on real life people at high levels of State and local government, this cozy encourages speculation as to who the fictional characters are based on. That fact as well as the rich details in setting work well and make this novel come alive for the reader.
All in all, this is an enjoyable read that follows her first novel, “Final Copy.” This novel is not a sequel and easily works well as a stand-alone or as a possible series start. That of course, is up to the author, but I hope that she will bring back Hallie for another adventure soon.
A big thank you to Renee Supriano of the Time Warner Book Group for providing a review copy. It is appreciated!
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
Another day, another box of tissue and then some gone. The battle continues and so does the reading. Back to the world of mystery fiction, sub-genre: cozy, we go.
A Confidential Source
By Jan Brogan
http://www.janbrogan.com/
Mysterious Press
http://www.mysteriouspress.com/
April 2005
ISBN # 0-89296-007-8
Hardback
338 Pages
$24.95 US
$33.95 Canada
For reporter Hallie Ahern the road to redemption has taken her to Rhode Island and the Providence Morning Chronicle. She works out of a county bureau office in South Kingston and spends her days covering school boa4rd meetings, retyping press release and police reports, and other lightweight but needed articles. She still dreams of the big story but the big story blew up in her face once before and she constantly worries it could happen again.
Dreams are what got her into trouble in the first place. Dreams that caused insomnia so severe that she became addicted to sleeping pills. And addiction she still fights and is very careful not to give into again. That battle quickly becomes harder when the owner of The Mazursky Market, Barry Mazursky, is gunned down while she is in the small convenience store. While she did not see the shooter put the bullet into Mazurky’s brain, she knows exactly who did it. Moments before a large man in a parka had cursed her when she saw his face and there is no doubt he killed Mazursky.
While she cared deeply about Mazursky and felt him to be a friend as she wrote in the paper for a lead story, the facts are that she really knew very little about him. After praising him extensively in print, it slowly becomes clear that Mazursky hid dark secrets. Assigned to continue to work the case by the editorial staff of the paper, she begins to discover pieces of information while asking why the police are stonewalling the case. Links to political corruption and a coming referendum of gambling appear and it seems many of the characters are using Hallie for their own ends. As she investigates, Hallie figures out this wasn’t a simple robbery gone wrong, but a public execution designed to send a statement to certain individuals. She realizes this could her chance to break back into the big leagues and claim total redemption for her past sins. That is, if she doesn’t miss the warning signs and get herself killed.
Rich in detail and with somewhat stock characters, this novel works forward very slowly as Hallie pulls the pieces together. As in many cozy style novels, the pace is slow and the mystery is an ongoing theme but often not primary. Such is the case here, as Hallie deals with possible romantic entanglements with a handsome District Attorney among others, her own addictive personality, relationship issues, both professional and personal, and her ongoing debate with herself over her own past failures and triumphs. Hallie is a complex persona who seems to shift back and forth, waffling between the responsibilities of adulthood and a wishing for simpler things. With the focus so scattered across so many themes, the first two hundred pages of this novel read like an elaborate setup piece.
But the final seventy-five to one hundred pages make the wait worth it as the novel begins to go. As the pressures rapidly mount, Hallie spends less wasted time with doubt and self-recriminations and becomes real to the reader as she reacts to the considerable forces allied against her.
Those familiar with the background political history at the state and local level in Rhode Island will appreciate this novel more than others. No doubt heavily based on real life people at high levels of State and local government, this cozy encourages speculation as to who the fictional characters are based on. That fact as well as the rich details in setting work well and make this novel come alive for the reader.
All in all, this is an enjoyable read that follows her first novel, “Final Copy.” This novel is not a sequel and easily works well as a stand-alone or as a possible series start. That of course, is up to the author, but I hope that she will bring back Hallie for another adventure soon.
A big thank you to Renee Supriano of the Time Warner Book Group for providing a review copy. It is appreciated!
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, May 05, 2005
Searching For The Sound
Kevin’s Corner
The battle to get well continues. Strep has laid siege to this family and while the kids bounced back really fast, the wife and I haven’t. Among other things to have fallen by the wayside the last couple of weeks was my writing schedule. That wasn’t good especially with the fact that in two more weeks, my boys will be home for the summer. Yep, mid- May and they are out. Theoretically, they go back in August but that decision isn’t final thanks to the Sate Legislature, which is fumbling around with the issue of school finance. They can’t get anything done there but they seem to have figured out that some cheerleading routines are obscene. The only thing obscene to me is the fact that they are still messing with school finance and haven’t got the job done yet.
I haven’t managed to do much but read a few books. Some of those reviews you will see elsewhere and I hope to make that announcement I have been promising real soon. In the meantime, I have an offering from the vast world known as non-fiction to offer. I don’t do reviews on very many non-fiction books but this one is definitely worth it.
Searching For The Sound: My Life With The Grateful Dead
By Phil Lesh
Little, Brown And Company
April 2005
ISBN # 0-316-00998-9
Hardback
338 Pages
$25.95 US
$34.95 Canada
In non-fiction, the literary voice of the person who actually lived the life rings truest. While outsiders may scratch and pick at the surface while writing thousands of words on the subject, there is nothing like the story told from the inside. That certainly is true in this book written by the bass player for the band.
While the book does open with background on his early days and long before joining the legendary band, the primary focus of the work is on his experiences on stage and off. He details the inner workings of the band from an economic standpoint as well as his personal relationships with the band members. Along the way he not only explains what it was like to make music but the background of the songs and what they really mean. He takes his personal life story forward to the tragic death of Jerry Garcia as well as his own critical health problems. As such, the book becomes a retrospective look at the highs and lows of one’s own life and the role one played, good and bad, in the end result. He articulates in great detail the day-to-day experiences of the band, which ultimately shaped its sounds for nearly forty years.
For fans of the band, this book provides a detailed and honest look written in the way only a true insider could. Covering the highs and the lows, the author explains all in an easy confessional style that enlightens but never talks down to the reader. Instead, it is almost as if he is sitting beside you in some small club somewhere as he tells what happened and why. Humor and compassion for himself and his band members make this work by Phil Lesh one worth reading.
A big thank you to Renee Supriano of the Time Warner Book Group for providing a review copy. It is appreciated!
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
The battle to get well continues. Strep has laid siege to this family and while the kids bounced back really fast, the wife and I haven’t. Among other things to have fallen by the wayside the last couple of weeks was my writing schedule. That wasn’t good especially with the fact that in two more weeks, my boys will be home for the summer. Yep, mid- May and they are out. Theoretically, they go back in August but that decision isn’t final thanks to the Sate Legislature, which is fumbling around with the issue of school finance. They can’t get anything done there but they seem to have figured out that some cheerleading routines are obscene. The only thing obscene to me is the fact that they are still messing with school finance and haven’t got the job done yet.
I haven’t managed to do much but read a few books. Some of those reviews you will see elsewhere and I hope to make that announcement I have been promising real soon. In the meantime, I have an offering from the vast world known as non-fiction to offer. I don’t do reviews on very many non-fiction books but this one is definitely worth it.
Searching For The Sound: My Life With The Grateful Dead
By Phil Lesh
Little, Brown And Company
April 2005
ISBN # 0-316-00998-9
Hardback
338 Pages
$25.95 US
$34.95 Canada
In non-fiction, the literary voice of the person who actually lived the life rings truest. While outsiders may scratch and pick at the surface while writing thousands of words on the subject, there is nothing like the story told from the inside. That certainly is true in this book written by the bass player for the band.
While the book does open with background on his early days and long before joining the legendary band, the primary focus of the work is on his experiences on stage and off. He details the inner workings of the band from an economic standpoint as well as his personal relationships with the band members. Along the way he not only explains what it was like to make music but the background of the songs and what they really mean. He takes his personal life story forward to the tragic death of Jerry Garcia as well as his own critical health problems. As such, the book becomes a retrospective look at the highs and lows of one’s own life and the role one played, good and bad, in the end result. He articulates in great detail the day-to-day experiences of the band, which ultimately shaped its sounds for nearly forty years.
For fans of the band, this book provides a detailed and honest look written in the way only a true insider could. Covering the highs and the lows, the author explains all in an easy confessional style that enlightens but never talks down to the reader. Instead, it is almost as if he is sitting beside you in some small club somewhere as he tells what happened and why. Humor and compassion for himself and his band members make this work by Phil Lesh one worth reading.
A big thank you to Renee Supriano of the Time Warner Book Group for providing a review copy. It is appreciated!
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Laughing Hurts!
Kevin’s Corner
Back in the land of the living thanks to antibiotics. Well, sort of living, at least. Strep throat can really do a number on you especially when one does not know one has it. Apparently, there is some new strain of Strep that does not make your throat hurt nor does it show up as white patches in the back of the throat. Instead, confirmation comes by way of the old swab at the back of the throat. As my doctor puts it, this is not good for patients who have “a heightened gag reflex.” There has to be a better way to test the patient.
Enough about that. If you are looking for a quirky mystery, I have just the book in mind for you. This recent release titled “Watch Your Back!” by Donald E. Westlake was my first exposure to his wild world. The novel combines humor with off the wall characters and a madcap caper to pleasantly entertain readers.
Watch Your Back! A Dortmunder Novel
By Donald E. Westlake
Mysterious Press
April 2005
ISBN # 0-89296-802-8
Hardback
310 Pages
$24.95 US
$33.95 Canada
John Dortmunder and crew are not happy they can’t meet in the backroom of the O.J. Bar & Grill as usual. Everyone around knows they meet there to plan their jobs, but they can’t because outsiders have taken over. Outsiders that, beyond their strange taste in clothes, have the regulars quaking in fear and the barman, Rollo, scanning the want ads. The outsiders have to be dealt with and Dortmunder has to figure out a way.
He also has to figure out a way to deal with a proposition from Arnie Albright. Arnie is their usual fence and has just returned from having his attitude adjusted on an island resort. While it could be questioned whether the intervention worked, there is no mistaking the genius of Arnie’s proposed target.
While on the island resort, he met an incredibly rich and obnoxious man by the name of Preston Fareweather. Mr. Fareweather, beyond being obscenely rich and a pitiful human being (even Arnie thinks he is a jerk) is hiding from his five angry ex-wives and their process servers. Instead of being at home in New York in his penthouse apartment dealing with the problems he has created, he is on the island laying waste to the various gold digging trollops who decide to spend time with him. Arnie proposes Dortmunder and crew should take down Fareweather’s penthouse and for steering them the work, he wants thirty percent.
It’s a great deal and despite being almost too good to be true, one that Dortmunder and crew can’t resist. So, they split their time with planning the job and working on how to handle the problem at the O. J. While Dortmunder may feel that everything is under control, before long it is very clear that things aren’t, if they ever really were. Madcap hijinks ensue as both storylines gradually weave together with a definite sense of poetic justice.
Fans of Donald E. Westlake no doubt know and appreciate what is in store in this entertaining read. For those who don’t care for a strong amount of humor, to the point of madcap variety at times, this read is definitely not appropriate. For everyone else, this is an enjoyable and entertaining novel that will have you chuckling from start to finish.
A big thank you to Renee Supriano of the Time Warner Book Group for providing a review copy. It is appreciated!
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Back in the land of the living thanks to antibiotics. Well, sort of living, at least. Strep throat can really do a number on you especially when one does not know one has it. Apparently, there is some new strain of Strep that does not make your throat hurt nor does it show up as white patches in the back of the throat. Instead, confirmation comes by way of the old swab at the back of the throat. As my doctor puts it, this is not good for patients who have “a heightened gag reflex.” There has to be a better way to test the patient.
Enough about that. If you are looking for a quirky mystery, I have just the book in mind for you. This recent release titled “Watch Your Back!” by Donald E. Westlake was my first exposure to his wild world. The novel combines humor with off the wall characters and a madcap caper to pleasantly entertain readers.
Watch Your Back! A Dortmunder Novel
By Donald E. Westlake
Mysterious Press
April 2005
ISBN # 0-89296-802-8
Hardback
310 Pages
$24.95 US
$33.95 Canada
John Dortmunder and crew are not happy they can’t meet in the backroom of the O.J. Bar & Grill as usual. Everyone around knows they meet there to plan their jobs, but they can’t because outsiders have taken over. Outsiders that, beyond their strange taste in clothes, have the regulars quaking in fear and the barman, Rollo, scanning the want ads. The outsiders have to be dealt with and Dortmunder has to figure out a way.
He also has to figure out a way to deal with a proposition from Arnie Albright. Arnie is their usual fence and has just returned from having his attitude adjusted on an island resort. While it could be questioned whether the intervention worked, there is no mistaking the genius of Arnie’s proposed target.
While on the island resort, he met an incredibly rich and obnoxious man by the name of Preston Fareweather. Mr. Fareweather, beyond being obscenely rich and a pitiful human being (even Arnie thinks he is a jerk) is hiding from his five angry ex-wives and their process servers. Instead of being at home in New York in his penthouse apartment dealing with the problems he has created, he is on the island laying waste to the various gold digging trollops who decide to spend time with him. Arnie proposes Dortmunder and crew should take down Fareweather’s penthouse and for steering them the work, he wants thirty percent.
It’s a great deal and despite being almost too good to be true, one that Dortmunder and crew can’t resist. So, they split their time with planning the job and working on how to handle the problem at the O. J. While Dortmunder may feel that everything is under control, before long it is very clear that things aren’t, if they ever really were. Madcap hijinks ensue as both storylines gradually weave together with a definite sense of poetic justice.
Fans of Donald E. Westlake no doubt know and appreciate what is in store in this entertaining read. For those who don’t care for a strong amount of humor, to the point of madcap variety at times, this read is definitely not appropriate. For everyone else, this is an enjoyable and entertaining novel that will have you chuckling from start to finish.
A big thank you to Renee Supriano of the Time Warner Book Group for providing a review copy. It is appreciated!
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Thursday, April 14, 2005
One Door Closes.....
Kevin’s Corner
Well, it has been an interesting couple of weeks to say the least. They say that when one door closes another opens. That idea, along with a maintenance free air conditioner, a lifetime warranty, compassionate conservatism, and a few other things was something I never really believed in.
But, I could be wrong.
I truly hope I am. I’m not quite ready to make any announcement yet, but hopefully, what has been discussed by e-mail will actually happen. When I am surer of things, hopefully by the end of the month if not sooner, I will announce the details.
In the meantime and probably for now on, I intend to post a review here from time to time. No, this blog is not going to be exclusively reviews. I still intend to ramble on as I have been and comment about other things in the world today. But, reviews will appear here occasionally and I think that works along with everything else.
First up is Jeffrey Cohen’s book “A Farewell To Legs.” You may have heard about Jeff, as he is heavily involved in the Mystery Morgue review site as well as a few other things. Jeff may be half a country away from me but we share a major thing in common. No, it isn’t the fact we are both over forty and worry about premature balding or the fact that our wives get annoyed at times with our sense of humor. We are both stay at home Dads.
Contrary to what you would see on daytime talk shows we are two guys that not only are fully involved with our kids, but know how to use major household appliances. That’s right, we know how to cook and clean and do it very well. Something that comes through in his fiction writing and something that I really appreciate. Jeff writes with the voice of experience and his writing brings back fond, and not so very fond at all, memories of my own experiences. If you haven’t read any of his stuff, you really need to take a look.
A Farewell To Legs: An Aaron Tucker Mystery
By Jeffrey Cohen
Bancroft Press
2003
ISBN # 1-890862-29-0
Hardback
In this sequel to “For Whom The Minivan Rolls,” Aaron Tucker is once again called on to investigate a death. Louis Gibson, head of a right wing conservative group that stridently preached family values has been found dead in the bed of his mistress, Cheri Bratton. His wife, who was the dream of every guy she knew in high school when she was known as Stephanie Jacobs is still an attractive knockout twenty-five years later. Now known as Stephanie Jacobs Gibson, the new widow gets the news of her husband’s death at the twenty-five year High School Reunion. What better setting for an alibi is there than being in front of your old classmates when you find out?
Because of his previous history covered in the first book, Stephanie gets it in her head just hours after the murder to have Aaron investigate the crime and write about it for the editor she knows of a large and prestigious publication. After confirming with the editor how much the publication will pay, freelance writer Aaron Tucker reluctantly aggress and begins digging into the case.
At the same time, he deals with other storylines involving his activities as a stay at home Dad, the joys and perils of pet ownership when kids are involved, stink bombs at school, embezzlement and politics. Some of it is a very nasty business indeed and combined with the murder case, makes him a target. Before long, Aaron begins to wonder which party is just furious with him and which wants him removed permanently.
Everyone that was in the first book makes a repeat appearance here and very little new ground is covered in terms of character development. What also isn’t covered is a detailed description of the first book. Unlike many sequels, this sequel can be safely read and enjoyed out of order with the first book. In short, one can safely read this book and go back later and hunt down the first book.
While not nearly as funny as the first book, this novel provides another very enjoyable read. For fellow stay at home Dads, Jeffrey Cohen writes with the clear authority of someone who has lived in the trenches. His characters, regardless of occupation are real people and come alive for the reader in every sense of the word. That fact, coupled with his creation of another mystery within a mystery that features a few sudden twists at the end, make this novel another very worthwhile read from him.
So, there you have it. Another author to consider and one that I think you will enjoy. More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Well, it has been an interesting couple of weeks to say the least. They say that when one door closes another opens. That idea, along with a maintenance free air conditioner, a lifetime warranty, compassionate conservatism, and a few other things was something I never really believed in.
But, I could be wrong.
I truly hope I am. I’m not quite ready to make any announcement yet, but hopefully, what has been discussed by e-mail will actually happen. When I am surer of things, hopefully by the end of the month if not sooner, I will announce the details.
In the meantime and probably for now on, I intend to post a review here from time to time. No, this blog is not going to be exclusively reviews. I still intend to ramble on as I have been and comment about other things in the world today. But, reviews will appear here occasionally and I think that works along with everything else.
First up is Jeffrey Cohen’s book “A Farewell To Legs.” You may have heard about Jeff, as he is heavily involved in the Mystery Morgue review site as well as a few other things. Jeff may be half a country away from me but we share a major thing in common. No, it isn’t the fact we are both over forty and worry about premature balding or the fact that our wives get annoyed at times with our sense of humor. We are both stay at home Dads.
Contrary to what you would see on daytime talk shows we are two guys that not only are fully involved with our kids, but know how to use major household appliances. That’s right, we know how to cook and clean and do it very well. Something that comes through in his fiction writing and something that I really appreciate. Jeff writes with the voice of experience and his writing brings back fond, and not so very fond at all, memories of my own experiences. If you haven’t read any of his stuff, you really need to take a look.
A Farewell To Legs: An Aaron Tucker Mystery
By Jeffrey Cohen
Bancroft Press
2003
ISBN # 1-890862-29-0
Hardback
In this sequel to “For Whom The Minivan Rolls,” Aaron Tucker is once again called on to investigate a death. Louis Gibson, head of a right wing conservative group that stridently preached family values has been found dead in the bed of his mistress, Cheri Bratton. His wife, who was the dream of every guy she knew in high school when she was known as Stephanie Jacobs is still an attractive knockout twenty-five years later. Now known as Stephanie Jacobs Gibson, the new widow gets the news of her husband’s death at the twenty-five year High School Reunion. What better setting for an alibi is there than being in front of your old classmates when you find out?
Because of his previous history covered in the first book, Stephanie gets it in her head just hours after the murder to have Aaron investigate the crime and write about it for the editor she knows of a large and prestigious publication. After confirming with the editor how much the publication will pay, freelance writer Aaron Tucker reluctantly aggress and begins digging into the case.
At the same time, he deals with other storylines involving his activities as a stay at home Dad, the joys and perils of pet ownership when kids are involved, stink bombs at school, embezzlement and politics. Some of it is a very nasty business indeed and combined with the murder case, makes him a target. Before long, Aaron begins to wonder which party is just furious with him and which wants him removed permanently.
Everyone that was in the first book makes a repeat appearance here and very little new ground is covered in terms of character development. What also isn’t covered is a detailed description of the first book. Unlike many sequels, this sequel can be safely read and enjoyed out of order with the first book. In short, one can safely read this book and go back later and hunt down the first book.
While not nearly as funny as the first book, this novel provides another very enjoyable read. For fellow stay at home Dads, Jeffrey Cohen writes with the clear authority of someone who has lived in the trenches. His characters, regardless of occupation are real people and come alive for the reader in every sense of the word. That fact, coupled with his creation of another mystery within a mystery that features a few sudden twists at the end, make this novel another very worthwhile read from him.
So, there you have it. Another author to consider and one that I think you will enjoy. More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Monday, March 28, 2005
Turning the Page.....
Kevin’s Corner
Welcome back to Kevin’s Corner. It’s been a few weeks since the last update and I am sorry about that. It has been one thing after another, some good and some bad. Actually, more bad than good but enough of that.
As you may have read elsewhere, the Blue Iris Journal has gone on hiatus. This was a surprise for me especially as I had been accepting books for review for BIJ. Obviously, until I am informed exactly what is going on and what the timetable is, I won’t be accepting any more books for the site. I apologize again to those writers who were counting on a review there. I am truly sorry and I certainly would not have been accepting your book for review if I had known. All I can say is that I am sorry and will do everything I can to place the reviews elsewhere.
Below are two reviews I had written for BIJ that after two weeks still have not appeared and I have no idea when or even if they will. Obviously, here isn’t as visible as BIJ, but they are still fine books and should be visible for your consideration. They are somewhat opposite ends of the spectrum: a cozy style novel and a noir style novel. Both are very good in their own way and I hope you enjoy them.
First up, the noir style novel and a very good book.
361
By Donald E. Westlake
Hard Case Crime
www.hardcasecrime.com
2005
ISBN # 0-8439-5357-8
Paperback
208 Pages
$6.99 US
ARC—SCHEDULED RELEASE MAY 3, 2005
It is a hot July in the early sixties and 23-year-old Ray Kelly is coming home from his stint in the Air Force. He reunites in New York City with his dad, Willard Kelly, Sr. who seems a little nervous and off with him but Ray just puts it down to Ray being gone several years. Both have changed thanks to the passage of time as well as Ray’s military service. He isn’t the boy who went off to serve any longer and comes home a man. After a few hours sightseeing and spending the night in the City, they start the long drive home. Thirty-eight miles outside of NYC, a tan-and cream Chrysler pulls alongside of them and the passenger starts shooting. His dad tries to tell Ray something and then dies sending the car straight into a bridge support.
Ray barely survives and days later, reunites with his brother Bill in the hospital. The family soon suffers a second devastating loss when Bill’s wife, a woman Ray had only spoken to on the phone a couple of times and never met, is killed in a car accident. Or could it be something else entirely? Before long, the brothers find out that Willard Kelly, Sr., their dad, had a very shady past that may have gotten him as well as Bill’s wife killed and the killers may not be through until the entire family is wiped out. While Bill clearly from the start fluctuates on the idea of paying the killers back in kind, Ray wants vengeance. Not just for his Dad, Bill’s wife, and to protect Bill’s young daughter. He wants it for himself and to ease the pain just a little of two broken ankles, the loss of his right eye, and the pain that grips his very soul. Ray considers himself adrift without a home or reason for being other than vengeance.
What follows is a dark incredibly twisting tale of double cross and revenge as the brothers go after those responsible. In this re-release of a classic noir novel by Donald E. Westlake by Hard Case Crime, Ray is a complex character driven by his primal need for vengeance, yet not liking the idea or himself too much. He attempts to quell his inner demons through repeated bouts of drinking as he tries to not only ignore and repress doubts as to what he must do, but how he will go on once his mission is finished. It is a harsh world he lives in with limited choices which is clearly reflected in the limited prose.
Unlike a James Lee Burke novel, which can tend towards the noirish and often contains elaborate prose descriptions; this novel features a stark, clipped writing style that steadily moves the action forward. Scene descriptions are limited to the bare essentials and what is described is only done so in terms of story content. Every word used is used to carry the minimum hard-hitting impact for the reader.
This is a dark and violent novel and very good stuff. Much like their recent release of “Kiss Her Goodbye” by Allan Guthrie which could also be labeled by some as nothing more than a vengeance novel, this read features a hero deeply troubled yet following his own code of honor to finish off what others have started. Family means a lot and respect has to be earned—own way or another.
And the cozy is below and this was/is also very good:
Now You See Her
By Cecelia Tishy
Mysterious Press
www.mysteriouspress.com
2005
ISBN # 0-89296-796-X
Hardback
$23.95 US
$34.95 Canada
Regina Cutter had it all and then it was gone. Her wealthy husband dumped her in favor of a trophy wife and suddenly her years of effort, sacrifice and support for his career and their marriage didn’t matter. Gone were the club memberships, the private plane, and all the other perks and trappings of wealth and power. But, she still had her paranormal ability.
She went back to Boston and moved into her recently departed Aunt’s home. She shares custody of her Aunt Jo’s dog, affectionately known as “Biscuit,” with a rough character that rides a Harley and goes by the name Stark. And just like her Aunt did for years, she unofficially consults with the Boston Police Department in the form of Detective Frank Devaney. As the novel begins, he has a strange case for her.
Devaney, pressured for a quick arrest and conviction, may have sent an innocent man to prison for a murder he did not commit. The victim was Peter Wald, the son of a very prominent politician. The accused killer was Henry Fraiser; a man with no connections and who still to this day claims to be innocent. He may very well have been nothing more than the wrong man in the wrong place at the time. The crime happened years ago during the cocaine years when crime was out of control, the police were overworked and stressed, and everything no matter how small turned into deadly violence. Initially, Regina does not pick up anything and then as he goes to leave, she gets a sensation that is almost to the point of an image for her which gives Devaney an idea to pursue.
But, Regina isn’t content to just tell the good detective what she sees and feels. Before long, she is actively sticking her nose into the case, asking questions of everyone and walking the old neighborhood where the crime took place. At the same time, she is also assisting a good friend of hers that sold a house that may or may not be haunted. The buyers are not happy and are very well connected and the outcome of their unsatisfaction could be a financial disaster for all involved. And then, what about the weird scuffling sound Regina heard in the thick fog the other night? Was a man attacked?
Author Cecelia Tishy (also the author of the Kate Banning mystery series) pulls the various threads all together in a Sue Grafton style work and creates an atmospheric read that is very enjoyable. Despite lots of self-doubt, Regina Cutter is an enjoyable character realistically drawn and full of promise. The secondary characters, in particular Stark and Devaney, seem at times a bit stereotypical, but clearly they have the possibility to become realistically drawn individuals. If this becomes a series, the pieces are certainly there to more fully develop these characters and others.
Coincidence does seem to play a strong role in the book whether in the form of the paranormal at just the right time or in the main story where something happens at just the exact right moment. However, that fact along with the fact that the paranormal plays a very small roll, much less than one would expect from reading the jacket copy, are minor quibbles and nothing to really weaken the overall enjoyable read. The result of the work is an interesting and enjoyable novel that may have too little paranormal content for those very interested in the sub-genre while having too much for those readers who simply aren’t interested in anything paranormal.
So there they are. A big thank you to Hardcase Crime for sending 361 and a big thank you to author Cecelia Tishy for sending her book, Now You See Her. A big thank you goes out as well to Del T. for all the help in getting books to review. All is appreciated.
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Welcome back to Kevin’s Corner. It’s been a few weeks since the last update and I am sorry about that. It has been one thing after another, some good and some bad. Actually, more bad than good but enough of that.
As you may have read elsewhere, the Blue Iris Journal has gone on hiatus. This was a surprise for me especially as I had been accepting books for review for BIJ. Obviously, until I am informed exactly what is going on and what the timetable is, I won’t be accepting any more books for the site. I apologize again to those writers who were counting on a review there. I am truly sorry and I certainly would not have been accepting your book for review if I had known. All I can say is that I am sorry and will do everything I can to place the reviews elsewhere.
Below are two reviews I had written for BIJ that after two weeks still have not appeared and I have no idea when or even if they will. Obviously, here isn’t as visible as BIJ, but they are still fine books and should be visible for your consideration. They are somewhat opposite ends of the spectrum: a cozy style novel and a noir style novel. Both are very good in their own way and I hope you enjoy them.
First up, the noir style novel and a very good book.
361
By Donald E. Westlake
Hard Case Crime
www.hardcasecrime.com
2005
ISBN # 0-8439-5357-8
Paperback
208 Pages
$6.99 US
ARC—SCHEDULED RELEASE MAY 3, 2005
It is a hot July in the early sixties and 23-year-old Ray Kelly is coming home from his stint in the Air Force. He reunites in New York City with his dad, Willard Kelly, Sr. who seems a little nervous and off with him but Ray just puts it down to Ray being gone several years. Both have changed thanks to the passage of time as well as Ray’s military service. He isn’t the boy who went off to serve any longer and comes home a man. After a few hours sightseeing and spending the night in the City, they start the long drive home. Thirty-eight miles outside of NYC, a tan-and cream Chrysler pulls alongside of them and the passenger starts shooting. His dad tries to tell Ray something and then dies sending the car straight into a bridge support.
Ray barely survives and days later, reunites with his brother Bill in the hospital. The family soon suffers a second devastating loss when Bill’s wife, a woman Ray had only spoken to on the phone a couple of times and never met, is killed in a car accident. Or could it be something else entirely? Before long, the brothers find out that Willard Kelly, Sr., their dad, had a very shady past that may have gotten him as well as Bill’s wife killed and the killers may not be through until the entire family is wiped out. While Bill clearly from the start fluctuates on the idea of paying the killers back in kind, Ray wants vengeance. Not just for his Dad, Bill’s wife, and to protect Bill’s young daughter. He wants it for himself and to ease the pain just a little of two broken ankles, the loss of his right eye, and the pain that grips his very soul. Ray considers himself adrift without a home or reason for being other than vengeance.
What follows is a dark incredibly twisting tale of double cross and revenge as the brothers go after those responsible. In this re-release of a classic noir novel by Donald E. Westlake by Hard Case Crime, Ray is a complex character driven by his primal need for vengeance, yet not liking the idea or himself too much. He attempts to quell his inner demons through repeated bouts of drinking as he tries to not only ignore and repress doubts as to what he must do, but how he will go on once his mission is finished. It is a harsh world he lives in with limited choices which is clearly reflected in the limited prose.
Unlike a James Lee Burke novel, which can tend towards the noirish and often contains elaborate prose descriptions; this novel features a stark, clipped writing style that steadily moves the action forward. Scene descriptions are limited to the bare essentials and what is described is only done so in terms of story content. Every word used is used to carry the minimum hard-hitting impact for the reader.
This is a dark and violent novel and very good stuff. Much like their recent release of “Kiss Her Goodbye” by Allan Guthrie which could also be labeled by some as nothing more than a vengeance novel, this read features a hero deeply troubled yet following his own code of honor to finish off what others have started. Family means a lot and respect has to be earned—own way or another.
And the cozy is below and this was/is also very good:
Now You See Her
By Cecelia Tishy
Mysterious Press
www.mysteriouspress.com
2005
ISBN # 0-89296-796-X
Hardback
$23.95 US
$34.95 Canada
Regina Cutter had it all and then it was gone. Her wealthy husband dumped her in favor of a trophy wife and suddenly her years of effort, sacrifice and support for his career and their marriage didn’t matter. Gone were the club memberships, the private plane, and all the other perks and trappings of wealth and power. But, she still had her paranormal ability.
She went back to Boston and moved into her recently departed Aunt’s home. She shares custody of her Aunt Jo’s dog, affectionately known as “Biscuit,” with a rough character that rides a Harley and goes by the name Stark. And just like her Aunt did for years, she unofficially consults with the Boston Police Department in the form of Detective Frank Devaney. As the novel begins, he has a strange case for her.
Devaney, pressured for a quick arrest and conviction, may have sent an innocent man to prison for a murder he did not commit. The victim was Peter Wald, the son of a very prominent politician. The accused killer was Henry Fraiser; a man with no connections and who still to this day claims to be innocent. He may very well have been nothing more than the wrong man in the wrong place at the time. The crime happened years ago during the cocaine years when crime was out of control, the police were overworked and stressed, and everything no matter how small turned into deadly violence. Initially, Regina does not pick up anything and then as he goes to leave, she gets a sensation that is almost to the point of an image for her which gives Devaney an idea to pursue.
But, Regina isn’t content to just tell the good detective what she sees and feels. Before long, she is actively sticking her nose into the case, asking questions of everyone and walking the old neighborhood where the crime took place. At the same time, she is also assisting a good friend of hers that sold a house that may or may not be haunted. The buyers are not happy and are very well connected and the outcome of their unsatisfaction could be a financial disaster for all involved. And then, what about the weird scuffling sound Regina heard in the thick fog the other night? Was a man attacked?
Author Cecelia Tishy (also the author of the Kate Banning mystery series) pulls the various threads all together in a Sue Grafton style work and creates an atmospheric read that is very enjoyable. Despite lots of self-doubt, Regina Cutter is an enjoyable character realistically drawn and full of promise. The secondary characters, in particular Stark and Devaney, seem at times a bit stereotypical, but clearly they have the possibility to become realistically drawn individuals. If this becomes a series, the pieces are certainly there to more fully develop these characters and others.
Coincidence does seem to play a strong role in the book whether in the form of the paranormal at just the right time or in the main story where something happens at just the exact right moment. However, that fact along with the fact that the paranormal plays a very small roll, much less than one would expect from reading the jacket copy, are minor quibbles and nothing to really weaken the overall enjoyable read. The result of the work is an interesting and enjoyable novel that may have too little paranormal content for those very interested in the sub-genre while having too much for those readers who simply aren’t interested in anything paranormal.
So there they are. A big thank you to Hardcase Crime for sending 361 and a big thank you to author Cecelia Tishy for sending her book, Now You See Her. A big thank you goes out as well to Del T. for all the help in getting books to review. All is appreciated.
More next time and as always feel free to drop me a note at Kevin_tipple@att.net with your comments, observations, and suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
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