The Savage Day by Jack Higgins

Jack Higgins is like reading comfort food. It is well written, action packed with a variety of interesting characters. This is one of a series (do I detect a pattern in some of my reading?) with Simon Vaughan as the main character.

This is set during “The Troubles” in Northern Island. Simon was busted as an arms trafficker in Greece and now the British army has recruited him to act as an arms trafficker for the IRA.

His mission is to recover stolen gold bullion that the IRA is using to finance its terrorism operations. This will not be a simple matter. The IRA is highly factional and Simon is caught between two factions. Both hold an interest in the bullion and both will ruthlessly kill to get it.

The story is set in Belfast and outlying areas in Northern Ireland. The story is a bit dated given that troubles have subsided in recent years but it is still an interesting read.

This is not a long book, nor is it a literary masterpiece. It is just a damn good story from a damn good storyteller.

Hidden Killers by Lynda LaPlante

This is the second book in the Jane Tennison thriller series. As you may know, Jane Tennison is the main character in the Prime Suspect series and was played brilliantly by Helen Mirren in the series.
The Tennison thriller series is focused on her early career in the Metropolitan police in London.

This time, Tennison has been transferred to Bow Street from Hackney after a successful undercover operation in which Tennison, dressed as a prostitute, helped catch a potential rapist.

She has now graduated from a probationary constable to a detective and is still dealing with the fallout from her first detective opportunities at Hackney where her boss Bradfield and a female colleague and mentor who were both killed while trying to bust and armed robbery in progress.

I am not going to say much about the story because LaPlante does a brilliant job of unfolding the crimes, the investigation and the solve. What she does equally as well, if not better, is to create interesting characters – both main and peripheral.

Each character, from Tennison’s family, to each detective to the criminals and supporting actors are all written so well that you feel like you know them intimately. This makes you invested in the story. I loved Prime Suspect and Helen Mirren brought Tennison to life so well, that it is hard to imagine anyone else playing her if they decide to bring this to the screen.

Let’s hope they do and let’s hope there are many more Tennison thrillers on the horizon so we can enjoy reading great stories about her long and illustrious career.

News of the World by Paulette Jiles

This was a short but interesting little read. Set in Texas during Reconstruction, a man who travels the land reading news articles at public gatherings, has an orphan girl who was kidnapped by the Kiowa, foisted upon him to return her to her aunt and uncle.

The little girl was taken at age 6 and at age 10 has gone fully native Kiowa. She remembers little English or German (her native tongue) and an aunt and uncle who live south of San Antonio, have commissioned people traveling the road to bring her back.

The news reader is an old man now and he and the girl bond through their travels and travails through the newly opened western territories. Along the way they encounter highwaymen, cowboys, merchants, the military and various townspeople.

Each encounter assists them or hinders them in their goal to get to Castroville, Texas. The little girl turns out to be handy and resourceful and the relationship blossoms along the trails and roads of Texas.

This is not a long book but one I found charming and entertaining. If anything, it may have ended a little abruptly but I encourage readers to pick this one up if the old west and reconstruction era America interest you.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

This book was a whole lot of fun and I have a very soft spot for it for the following reasons: the author is a fellow Monash University Alumni, it is set in Melbourne Victoria with a side trip to Moree New South Wales (a place in the outback that is remote but amazing) and the main character is autistic without that being a negative.

Don Tillman is a professor at a university in Melbourne. From the character development, it is obvious to the reader that he is some OCD and autistic tendencies and while that definitely has an impact on the things that happen to him and the way he behaves, he does not let that define him.

Into his life stumbles Rosie. A research assistant at the same university she is on a personal quest to discover who her father is. She meets Don because his best friend has shown Rosie Don’s questionnaire which he developed in an effort to find a wife or partner.

Rosie and Don don’t immediately hit it off as romantic companions but there are definitely some hints that it could go in that direction but that will depend on Don’s ability to be flexible which is difficult due to his OCD and autism.

They do find common ground however in Rosie’s quest. Don agrees to help her find and genetically test the candidates who Rosie believes may be her father. It is a wonderful quest that takes the two of them on a journey – both to find Rosie’s paternity and to find each other.

I was excited to discover that there is at least another book in the series and I am very much looking forward to reading it. I think readers will enjoy this book and it’s a great one for book clubs too!

Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Kortya

Maybe it’s just me but I found this book sophomoric. There is almost no character development and there are a number of inconsistencies and descriptions that make no sense or lead the reader to incorrect conclusions – and not in the twist in the plot sense.

A 14 year old witnesses two hit men murder some people and throw them into a quarry in Indiana. Fast forward - a man and his wife who run an Outward Bound type of Wilderness school in Colorado are approached by a law enforcement Fed to hide the boy until the trial.

Quickly fast forward, a group of boys arrive; the wife is attacked and severely injured while the group is out, by the hit men. They burn down the house but miraculously the wife survives.

Suffice to say, these kinds of unbelievable events continue to happen. Characters are introduced and quickly drop out of the story without being developed. The wife, although severely burned and injured gets up out of her hospital bed to assist the boy and a mentally tormented storm jumper who managed to get her whole platoon burned.

I just don’t enjoy books where characters are underdeveloped and which are largely plot driven. That is where this book falls for me. Too many strange and wild jumps in logic and believability. And the hitmen? Ultimately identified as Australian by someone who has obviously no understanding of the accent.

There are other things of this nature but I leave it to you to decide if this is something you want to pick up.

The Burning Wire by Jeffery Deaver

Once again I was gifted with a book that is part of a series. This time it is the series about Lincoln Rhyme, a forensic crime scene investigator who is also a quadriplegic confined to a wheelchair. He has free movement of his head and part of his right hand at this point in the series.

An unknown perpetrator who has expertise with live electrical equipment has created a giant arc flash using high voltage lines that has killed one person. The New York forensic team led by Lincoln Rhyme is brought in to help catch the mad man.

A second story arc involves a character named The Watchmaker who it seems was already developed in a previous Rhyme novel. In this part of the story, Rhyme is acting as an advisor to police in Mexico City who believe the Watchmaker is working in tandem with corrupt politicians and police as well as drug cartels.

As the book progresses, the perpetrator continues with an increasingly more gruesome series of murders that have the team running all over New York trying to catch him. A corporate utility company believes they are targets because they are trying to create a monopoly on the grid.

Alternative energy inventors and groups believe they may be the target because they are trying to create energy sources that offer lower prices or potentially free energy. The city is in the grip of fear….

This was a pretty action packed novel and kept moving. It is an action packed vacation read or when readers need a break from reading more literary novels. A good potboiler with current eco interests.

American Pastoral by Phillip Roth

This novel is a literary character study about an American man growing up in post-World War II New Jersey. Seymour “Swede” Levov grew up the son of a Jewish immigrant glove maker. His nickname was earned by being the blond haired, blue eyed high school heart throb that was a star on the football, baseball and basketball teams.

After high school, Swede leaves and joins the Marines. It is the very end of World War II and instead of storming the beaches in Europe or the Pacific, Swede becomes the star of the Marine baseball league. He meets a gentile girl but his parents dissuade him from marrying her.

He returns to Newark, New Jersey to learn the ropes in running his father’s glove factory from the ground up. He meets an Irish Catholic beauty pageant winner who has established her local identity as Miss New Jersey and failed to grab the Miss America Crown.

They have a daughter, Merry, born during the post-war baby boom. An only child, she is brought up in the suburban/semi-rural landscape outside of Newark – sheltered and protected from the urban environment and brought up as a typical suburbanite. She is showered with every advantage an only child can have.

As with every teenager, as Merry grows up, she begins to distance herself from her parents and their values and ideals. This part of the story takes place in the mid to late 1960’s against a backdrop of anti-war protests and political unrest. Merry starts to disappear on frequent trips to New York City despite being underage and against her parents’ wishes.

As the story unfolds, it turns out Merry has joined the Weathermen and through her radicalization, she bombs her local suburban grocery store/post office, killing a man who was the local doctor. Her parents are mortified and the story then becomes about how they are ostracized or pitied by other community members and their breakdowns – both personal and marital.

This is a slowly unfolding character study so readers should be advised to give it time and attention and not look for a big payoff. This is a thought piece. If I had to offer a comparison, it might be the 1970’s set “The Ice Storm.”

I enjoyed this book and recommend it for those who enjoy Mad Men era stories. This is an American classic.

The Burning Room by Michael Connelly

Somewhere along the way someone gave me a Michael Connelly book to read and it sent me into the world of LAPD cop Harry Bosch. Forewarned is forearmed – this is one in a series. I did not start at the beginning and have read two or three novels with this character. It is not necessary to start at the beginning as enough information seems to emerge through the books so that you can piece it together. However, if you are a reader that gets sucked into series’, then be ready.

A mariachi band member was shot several years earlier in the Mariachi Plaza in Los Angeles. The bullet has been lodged in his spine and this has prevented the LAPD from being able to solve the shooting. The guitarist has now died and the cold case unit with Detective Harry Bosch and Detective Lucia Soto is now on the case.

The unfolding story has a backdrop of local Los Angeles politics which of course lead the higher ups in the Department to both cover asses and ward off the detectives on the case. There are also racially sensitive issues that emerge as the focus is on the Latino community both from a political perspective and a criminal perspective.

One of the things I enjoy about the Bosch novels is that they are set in Los Angeles and the author delves deeply into both neighborhoods and the surrounding county. This is interesting for the reader because it expands the normal setting of LA based books into the nooks and crannies that the average visitor would not normally see.

The other thing is that the character of Harry Bosch has been developed over a long period. With series books, this means that long standing characters develop depth and dimensions that don’t happen in single, one off books. Harry has depth.

In one sense, this is a typical police procedural. But it is one with some bulk behind it due to its presence in the series. Just a great, entertaining piece of crime fiction.

Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane

If the author’s name is not immediately familiar, this is the man who wrote “Mystic River”. This is the third or fourth Lehane novel I have read and each one is incredibly gripping and well written. This novel is part of a series featuring Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro, two private eyes who have grown up, live and work in the same working class Boston neighborhood.

In this book, a psychiatrist believes she is being targeted by the Irish mob when she receives a picture of him in the mail. She is not the only one being threatened however. After she hires Patrick and Angie, more letters and more pictures appear and part of the sleuthing involves figuring out how everything connects.

Angie and Patrick are supported by a variety of interesting characters. Bubba is a childhood friend who is an enforcer and he is someone to be feared if you are on the wrong side of him. Phil is Angie’s ex-husband. An abusive alcoholic he appears to have changed his ways and is making a re-appearance in Angie’s life.

Several people who have read the book found it quite frightening. Some said it gave them nightmares. I think it taps into our primal fear about someone being able to get into our house and us not knowing. It also taps into that fear of someone finding out all about us and then threatening those who we consider close or vulnerable.

Lehane is a great neo-noir writer. Every book I have read by him has done nothing but whet my appetite for more writing by this author. Additionally, he sets his stories in the Boston area and knows the landscape, people and nature of the characters that inhabit the place inside out. To me, this is an important factor because it makes readers feel as if they also know the place.

Highly recommend.

Native Tongue by Carl Hiassen

Very reader needs one author who they can have in their book pile who provides a laugh or a lighthearted read when necessary. Carl Hiassen has become that author for me. I do not discriminate – I have read both his novels for adults and those for young adults. Both are great for adults and young readers and provide some levity in these strange and troubled times.

A pair of rare blue tongued voles have disappeared from a Florida Keys wild animal/amusement park run by a disreputable, shady owner. A group of local blue haired eco-conservationists are on the warpath and want justice for the missing voles.

Joe Winder, formerly a serious investigative journalist, now hating his job as public relations maven at said park, is fed up with the park, his bosses and the very light public relations releases he is forced to write. Additionally, Joe happens to love the local environment and does not want it further eradicated for golf courses.

Into the mix drop two inept burglars and a character I have written about in previous blogs, Skink. Skink is a former Florida governor who became disgusted with big business, development and the destruction of the environment and has become a renegade who lives off the grid and becomes part of many adventures.

As it turns out, the man who owns the wildlife park is in the Witness Protection Program and has decided to buy up what he considers swamplands in order to develop golf courses to make more money. The problem with Francis X. Kingsbury is that he never quite left his mob lifestyle behind and now he has all kinds of people on is tail looking to get even.

This is a fast paced story with many laughs. At no time do you feel a lag in the story. One of the strengths of Hiassen as an author is his ability to create wonderfully colorful characters and to keep the story rolling. So grab this one and take a reading vacation in the Florida Keys with swamp dwellers.

I appreciate your patience new readers!!!

I would like to thank those of you who have already started reading some of my reviews. I actually have many more to upload but I think this is sufficient for tonight. In addition to approximately 100 reviews I have written and will upload, I have nine new books just read and will be posting those soon. Much sooner than my last promise to get going on this project!!

Thank you for taking the time to read my reviews and I look forward to hearing recommendations for new reads or for suggestions as to books that you might like to see reviewed. I hope to bring you lost of information and ideas on all thinks bookish as well as the reviews.

It is the perfect time of year to grab your book, a hot drink, a cat or dog, a good blanket and curl up and read. So many books, so little time!!!

The Last Testament of Bill Bonnano by Bill Bonnano and Gary Abramowitz

So immediately upon finishing “Casino”, I wanted more mob so I started in on this book immediately.  It was very different from what I was expecting but it was refreshing in a wholly different way.

Joseph Bonnano, Bill’s father, was one of the original men who set up the Commission which, for want of a better description, is the oversight committee for organized crime in New York City.  Bill was brought up in this environment and the book focuses on the early days – as told to Bill by is father – and the mob heyday in the 1960’s that Bill himself participated in as a fully made man.

What makes this book so fascinating and a departure is that Bill goes to great lengths to provide the reader with detailed background as to Cosa Nostra in Sicily and parts of Italy.  He covers its roots, how it worked and what it meant to the community as well as showing the time it was brought to the United States by immigrants.

This part of the book is an amazing history and really brought to life those early days and the political and social unrest that made organized crime and protection possible in Sicily and Italy. Like most migrants, they simply brought those traditions with them and re-created the system with an Americanized twist.

The second half of the book goes into deep detail about how the Commission worked historical decisions that were made and the players involved. The work of OC and the structure has definitely been perverted by media and writers. Not in a malicious way but in an attempt to explain how this secret society operates.

Many myths are dispelled and I often thought about Tony and the guys from The Sopranos quoting and misappropriating ideas from The Godfather movies and other mob staples that have contributed to the myth making. Bonnano sets the record straight and explains that even mob guys, copy from the world of literature and film to add to the mystique.

Finally, and most interestingly, Bonnano describes the ceremonial aspects of Cosa Nostra. Becoming a “made man”, initiations, meetings and other points of interest. This is the most comprehensive description of these events that I have read. I was hooked with the history but so glad I stayed for the big finale.

For Mob-o-philes, a good pick up!!

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond

I think a majority of us today are trying to figure out what is going on politically and socially and how we got to this place in history. A wonderful independent bookstore in Seattle called Third Place Books has started to recommend a book each month to readers wanting to explore these questions. ”Évicted” was the first of these books.

This book examines renters from different ethnicities, with different issues who are all subject to eviction or have been evicted multiple times. The city being examined is Milwaukee, Wisconsin but the conditions that prevail there, are the same as in most large cities.

The system is definitely set up to benefit landlords and because of that, landlords have become expert at rorting their tenants, making a lot of money doing it and leaving renters in situations where it can be all but impossible for them to recover and receive housing.

In one instance, a landlord buy sub-standard housing makes cosmetic changes and rents to low income holders who have guaranteed social security, section 8 vouchers or other means that they can exploit. They refuse to fix problems and use non-bonded contractors to do jobs. When a tenant complains or attempts to hold back rent in an effort to remedy the issues, they are often evicted.

It shows tenants being denied housing based on the number of children they have; past evictions; criminal records; credit checks which the poor have absolutely no chance of passing as well as a host of other reasons.

Many of those forced into low income housing have generational poverty they are trying to overcome, criminal histories, poor credit and live hand to mouth. Most of the people in this book spent time at local shelters, sometimes using up all the time a shelter would allow before being forced back into the streets.

Although the book is somewhat depressing, I can say that if you have never been in this predicament, this is a good book to read to gain some insight into one of the areas that we have all become acutely aware of: homelessness. It also gives insight to the mentality of slumlords and how this sub-standard housing fosters poor and ghettoized neighborhoods.

We should be able to fix these problems. But first we need to educate ourselves about what the issues are and then be prepared to acknowledge our role in these issues before we can fix them. It is worth exploring.

Casino by Nicholas Pileggi

I knew the minute Sharon Stone threw those chips in the air in the movie Casino that I was going to love this movie. That love affair has never ended and then the book popped up on Bookbub and I was thoroughly excited! So much so that I bought the book, watched the movie, read the book and then watched the movie again.

One main difference is that the book actually uses all the real names of the individuals. This allows the reader to set off exploring more about the real people online and pull up pictures to match names and faces. Of course, you can always use Pesci, DeNiro and Stone as the faces and still be ok.

This is essentially the story of Las Vegas post Bugsy Siegel and pre-current day corporate Vegas. Although money to build and fund the casinos initially came through corrupt union bosses and organized crime, it has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. But in the glory days, it was organized crime, primarily out of Los Angeles and Chicago, who owned Vegas.

Lefty Rosenthal was a handicapper, bookmaker and odds man, trusted by the mob to go out to Vegas and run the Stardust and Hacienda Hotels. The first part of the book introduces Lefty and his background as well as his best friend, Tony Spilotro, a well-known Chicago mobster.

After Lefty moves out to Vegas, he meets Geri McGee (aka Ginger) a well-known casino hustler and escort who works the punters as they come in to Vegas. Lefty fell for her hard and Geri, understanding the potential of a wealthy “sponsor”, let him. This despite her undying love for her ex-boyfriend, baby daddy Lenny.

Tony Spilotro was sent to Vegas to keep an eye on Lefty and to secure their interests in the casino. But Tony, cut free from his leash and keepers in Chicago, became a one crew crime spree. Bringing in his own people, he did burglaries, murders, jewelry heists, armed robbery, loan sharking etc. The town was his for the taking and he took it all – including Geri.

The movie closely followed the book so it will not disappoint film fans. In fact, it will enhance the viewing experience and make you want to watch it all again – twice!

Tennison by Lynda LaPlante

I have been on a reading binge with no end in sight. I am currently off my feet and have limited movement so I turned to my first love, books, to provide a mental escape from my physical prison. I also realized that I was “behind” in my goal for number of books read this year and suddenly put pressure on myself to catch up.  So for those who follow my blog, expect a barrage!!

I am sure many of you immediately recognize the name Tennison (as in Jane Tennison) as being the main character in LaPlante’s series of books turned to tv shows “Prime Suspect” which stars Helen Mirren. If you haven’t seen it, here is my shameless plug for Britbox. This online service curates all British television and has the whole “Prime Suspect” series available.

LaPlante has gone back to show us how Tennison became the cop and woman we know and love. This is very exciting because it takes us all the way back to the early 1970’s when Tennison was fresh out of the academy and at her first posting in Hackney.

Tennison is still green and in uniform when she becomes seconded to the major crimes unit and becomes involved with unraveling both a murder and an armed robbery. There is only one other woman working with Tennison and she acts as a mentor and sounding board for Tennison.

As usual, she is battling both the villains and the powers that be that believe women should not be part of the argy bargy in police work. As the story opens, Tennison is living with her parents and soon to be married sister in Maida Vale. We get a sense of her family and how they feel about her being a cop as well as starting to glimpse the kind of child she was – and we all know that Jane Tennison must have been a stubborn little so and so!

LaPlante does an amazing job recreating both the neighborhoods and the characters that populate her novels. In Tennison, this is an opportunity to answer all those questions we had about her career prior to the first “Prime Suspect” case that many of us discovered by seeing Helen Mirren inhabit the role.

We also get to see how Tennison started out obsessed with her work and how her personal and professional life often crosses boundaries. One thing I can assure readers is that Jane is as feisty and difficult as ever but we also see some of the things that influence her privately. 

After I finished this book, I went and bought two more. Yes, throw your book pillows at me now – it IS a series and therefore, if you are addicted like me, you have more reading in front of you! I am delighted to make the acquaintance of Tennison again and the superb writing keeps the pages turning. Five stars. 

Leadbelly by John Silvester and Andrew Rule

On a personal level, I love this book. On a reviewer level, I think the book needs to be updated and cleaned up a little. I’ll explain.

The gangland wars that took place in Melbourne, Australia between 1994-2004 were in a sense, movements by the next crew to take over and run the Melbourne underworld. This underbelly has a fascinating history and provides some of the background as to the how’s and why’s events unfolded as they did.

The Carlton Crew, who had taken over from the Richmond Crew, was the controlling force in Melbourne throughout the 1980’s. But all underworld stories in Melbourne start with the Painters and Dockers union and it is worth doing a little background because it is fascinating.

This book covers the demise of the Carlton Crew and the rise of “The New Boys”. The book is cobbled together from what was then current crime stories being published in local papers. In some cases, the names have been left out as court cases were still being heard when the book was written.

In that sense, it seems a bit pulpy and also unevenly written. The book also changes stylistically at one point and seems like there was some last minute add-ons to merely fill the book. There is more than enough information to write volumes on the goings on in Melbourne’s underworld so I think the book was pushed out quickly.

Time now then to go back and finesse the book putting in facts, names and other material that had to be left out at first print. If you want to treat yourself to the dramatized stories that the book tells, checkout the Australian series “Underbelly”. There are several seasons which are online or I found on Netflix. It will make the book more sensible.  However, it is still great crime stuff that hasn’t been over told in multiple books….yet.

To Funk and Die in L.A. by Nelson George

I was ecstatic to read another D. Hunter mystery. D is not just an average investigator. He works security for high profile clients, is a sometime music producer and an all-around interesting guy.

This time, he leaves his home confines in Brooklyn to head out to Los Angeles. His grandfather has just been killed and D goes out for the funeral, to help his Aunt and young cousin settle the estate and to figure out why his grandfather was killed.

As far as D knows, Big Danny Hunter is just a well-known grocer in Crenshaw and one of the last black businessmen in an area that is changing its profile. He once owned a nightclub that hosted an array of black performers including one known as Dr. Funk. Think a combination of Prince, George Clinton etc. Dr. Funk is now a recluse and people are trying to find him.

As D delves into why his grandfather was murdered, he finds out more about Danny than he bargained for. Danny, in addition to his business interests runs a loan sharking business and acts as a protector for Dr. Funk. When Funk goes to big Danny’s wake, D’s nephew You Tubes an impromptu performance by the recluse. This puts D in the eye of the storm as people descend on him to locate Funk for a futuristic music project.

After I read the first D Hunter mystery, I was impressed. I hadn’t realized that I had seen Nelson George on Unsung where he frequently guest stars as a music historian. I love how he weaves his musical knowledge into these mysteries and makes it work. It would seem difficult to do but he does it well.

D Hunter is also an interesting character. Not your average PI but at the same time, he has all the hallmarks of one that make them great fodder for the mystery genre. If you haven’t read any Nelson George, do it. You’ll be glad you did.

Slow Horses by Mick Herron

Finally, a new focus for the spy genre! The Slow Horses referred to as spies, that during their training, on missions or for other reasons have been deemed unfit for James Bond style duty and have been farmed out to Slough House to bide their time doing document dumps and other administrivia until their retirement.

River Cartwright, one of the main characters is a particularly bitter slow horse. His grandfather was a big mucky muck in MI-5 and River was set to follow in his footsteps. Now relegated to Slough House, he blames his failure on another recruit who may or may not have had an agenda to get rid of River.

Joining him at Slough House, away from the Regency Park HQ is a variety of interesting failures. His boss Jackson Lamb appears to be merely riding it out. But is he? Slovenly, gross and all around jackass, he might also be brilliant. He knows his spy craft. Ho the technology man, Min Harper the milquetoast, Louisa Guy the angry woman, Struan Loy the office jokester, noisy Kay White and supposed alcoholic Catherine.

Nothing is as it seems though. Not even to the slow horses themselves. A journalist, marginally involved with British Nationalist interests, is tailed by the slow horses in what they consider to be a useless and frustrating training exercise. But is it?

That question is asked constantly throughout the book and it is almost impossible to decipher what is really going on. Based on snoopy Ho, you get one story about why each player has been placed in Slough House. Bu you are also privy to each player’s personal viewpoint.

The story does unfold kind of slowly – and not in the metaphoric sense. However, wants it gets galloping, it really engrosses you. My only frustration? It ended in a “read the next book to find out” fashion. I hated that. It means I have to read the next one to find out the end of the story. Arrrrrrrghhhhhh! 

The Long Count by J.M. Gulvin

This was a very interesting story. It is set in the late 1960’s. Texas Ranger John Quarrie is a returned vet from Vietnam. He has been called out to travel to another town to look into a crime.  Along the way he, comes across a suicide. The town is anxious to close the case but Quarrie believes it is murder not suicide.

The dead man is a WWII veteran and the man’s son, Isaac, has just got back from his third tour of Vietnam and does not believe his father was murdered either.  In addition to this, a local asylum for the criminally insane has burnt to the ground and Isaac’s twin half-brother, Ishmael, is missing.

The action from here is full of twists and turns that take place in both Texas and Louisiana. Quarrie is busy running back and forth as well as returning to his home where his young son is being cared for by friends and family as Quarrie is widowed.

The pacing of the book is not hurried which is great because there are a lot of little details to unravel. Even so, there is anticipation and things that pop up that make you consistently re-evaluate what you think you understand about what’s happening.

I read this book reasonably quickly but the print is small in the paperback edition. If you are reading this on your Nook, Kindle or other e-reader, you will have no problem adjusting the font.

A solid 3-4 star thriller and crime procedural.

Great Movies II by Roger Ebert

Why oh why did I find the second book first? The story of my life. Now I have to backtrack and read Book one too. The book is a collection of essays by Ebert discussing some of the greatest movies of all time.

This is not a second tier ranking after the films discussed in book one. It is simply a compilation of essays from Ebert based on his watching and re-watching of many of these films as well as reviews by he alone and those he worked on with Gene Siskel.

One thing I love about Ebert is the emotion he writes with when discussing these films. His true love for the medium as well as his deep knowledge of all things film comes across in his writing.

The movies cross eras, genres and nationalities. From France to China, from Japan to Italy, from the United States and Kingdom’s to Russia, Ebert covers so many films that you are inspired yourself to seek out some of the more difficult to find titles.

Streaming has opened film buffs to a bevy of opportunities to see films that would have been restricted to their home countries or only available to true film buffs in obscure, hard to find places. Netflix, Hulu and others have opened doors not just to great movies but also great directors and character and leading actors who have not worked in the United States.

Roger Ebert’s untimely death was a huge loss for all of us. His love and warmth regarding films just pours out onto the page and you as a reader fall in love with film as you read. It is like having Ebert beside you bringing detail and ideas to your attention as you both eat popcorn with a tall coke and get lost in celluloid.

The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo

As my readers know, I have fallen hard for this author and his main character Harry Hole. Harry continues his off again-on again affair with the bottle and his own demons as well as rubbing everyone he meets the wrong way.

I had a hard time putting this one down. In fact, another all-nighter was pulled when I got halfway in and just could not put the book down. So be warned – late nights ahead. Get your flashlight or nook under the blankets and prepare for a wild and thrilling ride.

Somewhere in Croatia, there is an assassin known as “The Little Redeemer”. He has been deeply affected by war crimes against Croatian’s during the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the ethnic cleansing that occurred. He is on the hunt for a member of the Salvation Army with ties to the region.

The Salvation Army in Oslo plays a central role in this story. The homeless shelter, the hierarchy of the Army and the officers housing provide the base for most of the action. Right from the beginning it is difficult to tell who in the army is involved, how and why. Quite frankly, it does not get resolved until the end which is what made this so compelling to read.

Nesbo continues to add depth not to just Harry but many of the usual supporting characters as well. Beatte Lon, the woman who never forgets a face as well as other officers and new characters. One of the things that I love about local writers describing their cities, they are prone to reveal the underbelly.

I think people outside of the region view Scandinavia in general with a poetic vision of egalitarianism, low crime and problem free society. Nesbo dispels it but even at its lowest ebb, one can easily see that a society that takes care of its own is still better than those in which many of us live. That being said, drugs and prostitution as well as homelessness and alcoholism are oft discussed in Nesbo’s books.

The interesting idea of redemption is explored here. From the Christian Army beliefs, it is fiery rhetoric but something that one has to rely on in the abstract. From Hole’s and The Little Redeemer’s position, it is an event that is active, direct and required to even the scales of justice.

Scandinavian Noir opened with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series but I am so

happy that it brought us Harry Hole. And yes, I have another two in the queue. Sigh! 

Dead Irish by John Lescroart

This book was great. I needed a new author to follow and Lescroart provided me with a new character to puzzle over. Dismas Hardy is a hard drinking, former attorney turned bartender/private eye. Like all the best of his ilk, he is flawed in ways that drive you as a reader crazy but that make his story and motivations far more interesting. He has a complicated relationship with his ex and with himself.

The owner of the bar where he works asks Diz to investigate a case related to a family member. The cops are calling it suicide; the family is calling it murder. And while there are some who have motive, these are not clear cut or at all obvious which complicates the case.

The story is set in San Francisco evoking those old Chandler settings with a modern twist. But I loved the fog rolling in and the tours of neighborhoods where suspects live and work.

This book has a lot of twists and turns and does not forecast the ending so that just a few pages in, you keep changing your suspect list. Right up to the end. Diz’s favorite weapon seems to be a cast iron skillet and frankly, it’s refreshing to see someone bashed over the head the old fashioned way instead of just shot. It lends nostalgia I guess!

The book does start a bit slow. I stuck with it and it picked up fast. It is more character than action driven so it requires a lot of patience to listen to Diz’s inner dialogue. This is the first book in the series so I am guessing that the deeper you go into the series, the more Diz will evolve and that is something important to remember with these series books. Main characters almost never start out fully rounded but become so over time.

I can’t write much more because of the plot twists. But if you love a series with a good flawed main character, this one is for you!

Operation Family Secrets by Frank Calabrese Jr.

Once again I have to beg forgiveness from my followers. Of books, I have read many, of writing, I have done little. I hate myself when I let these reviews back up like this but as all readers and writers are aware….so many books, so little time!

Operation Family Secrets itself is a code name for an FBI operation into the world of La Cosa Nostra in Chicago. Where the New York mob is comprised largely of Italian made men, the Chicago mob is a melting pot of made men. Chicago is well known for its Italian, Sicilian, Polish, Russian, Jewish and Mexican mafia’s in addition to organized multi-generational street gangs whose activities are organized. Add in one of the most notorious hit men Frank (The German) Schweiss and you can see that it is more diverse than some.

Frank Calabrese Sr. is also a notorious hit man. Unlike many of his fellow LCN members who attempt to make enough money to put their children through expensive private schools and colleges in order to steer them away from “the life”, Frank is a paranoid man who only trusts those closest to him – but just barely.

This book is written by Frank Jr. and examines how through his father, he and his younger brother were groomed for “the life” and then immersed in it, much to their chagrin. As his father became more paranoid, Frank Jr., never a true devotee to begin with, tried many times to leave but was always forced back into crime by his father. Finally, Jr. wrote to the FBI after he was incarcerated, endangering himself by wearing a wire to record conversations with his father, himself incarcerated at the same facility.

In a rare unguarded moment for Sr., he outlined his crimes to his son. At times the detail is explicit – at others it is more oblique but with the background, it is easy to read between the lines. Sr’s crew operated out of Chinatown but controlled parts of the downtown entertainment District, Chinatown and Elmhurst. All of the old chestnuts of organized crime are there: loan sharking, extortion, drugs, robbery, jewel theft and the like. And of course, murder.

What I enjoyed most about the book is the look at how most (if not all) organized crime relies on generational participation and how legitimate business’ are busted out (or juiced) until the owner relinquishes them to the mob. This allows the mob to become the owner and establish their own laundry to clean the money as well as give them tax fronts and business” with which to get their medical insurance and provide a sense of legitimacy.

In other words, how the Trump family operates. (Now don’t get crazy if you’re a Trump supporter) I am just pointing out an alternate economic system at work here. And I couldn’t resist the jibe! Trump’s involvement with local mobs in major cities is well known as an adjunct to his “developments”.

Frank Jr. shows remarkable courage in this book. He has the old problem of loving a father but hating the man. Sr. was quite cruel to his children and wife. He was even willing to hide ill-gotten gains at his elderly parents’ home then evict them when he needed to finance his defense.

I hope there are more books about the Family Secrets material from other writers because this is a fascinating glimpse into current mob activities in Chicago which have been more shrouded and lower profile than their New York counterparts.

Trouble Is My Business by Raymond Chandler

Sometimes you just need to get back to basics. Broads, bourbon, gats and gams. And so, in quick need of a good read to keep the roll going, I jumped into this series of short stories with Chandler’s favorite private eye, Phillip Marlowe.

As usual, he has a series of cunning and crazy clients; run ins with the local cops who all like to slap him around and drink his booze and bad guys who want to know what he knows but also want him dead.

Marlowe always survives. The book is divided into for novellas. In the first, he is hired to protect a young wealthy heir from a potential gold digger. This job takes Marlowe into the world of Los Angeles gaming dens. As usual, Marlowe is completely irreverent with his employer but ultimately successful-ish.

The second novella is all about the world of crooked politics. As usual, Marlowe finds himself in a mess of trouble and running afoul of the wrong people while trying to put together the pieces so he can explain what is happening.

The third story is a great chase looking for two incredibly valuable pearls and Marlowe’s attempts to get them and make a profit on the insurance money. In this story, he travels north to Seattle, Olympia and Westport. It was nice to see Marlowe out of his element.

Finally, there is a story about a man murdered in front of Marlowe in a bar who may be an extortionist. As usual, a dame, and Marlowe’s knight complex in saving dames, comes into play and gets him overly involved in something he should have left well enough alone.

With Chandler, you know what you’re getting and it doesn’t matter how many times you read him, it just keeps getting better. This was a very good book for a compendium of novellas. Each one as good as the last. Pour me a rye and bring me a gat.

Story of a Sociopath by Julia Navarro

This is a difficult book to review. It is particularly lengthy and it is told from the viewpoint of the sociopath in the title. By nature, sociopaths are a turn off. This one, Thomas Spencer, is no exception.

Thomas grows up in an upper middle class household. His father is an attorney in a second generation New York law firm. His mother is a nurse who is half Mexican and half American. His younger brother is a lovely person with a personality that all love and a golden future. Thomas is a difficult person from childhood all the way to death.

As the story opens, Thomas and his brother Jaime are both children. Thomas is adored by his father, despised by the nanny/maid and distant with his mother. He is cruel to his younger brother as well as animals. He is unpleasant in every way but he is the heart of the story and there is little or no reprieve from Thomas.

What is great about this story is that sociopaths are most often shown to be criminals. In this story, the sociopathic tendencies of Thomas, translate into a certain amount of success in his chosen profession – advertising. His methods though, leave a lot of collateral damage in his wake.

As Thomas narrates the story, there are a number of places where he explains how an event played out. But he also gives an alternative narrative, in italics, about what he could have done instead.  Thomas never chooses the correct or pleasing or socially appropriate response however.

As the book proceeds from childhood, to young adulthood, to adulthood, to old age, Thomas becomes increasingly less pleasant and more sadistic. Sadly, he is also the most successful character in the book and as life often imitates art, many of us can see how it works the same in the big wide world.

Thomas destroys lives, including many of those closest to him. He is unable to love although it is something that he desperately seeks and is unable to receive much less understand.

The story takes place in both New York and London with a segue to Madrid that felt incomplete. Strangely, it is the one time in the story that one feels Thomas has found what amounts to him, happiness and peace. It is also the one place in the world where as much as he is able, he abstains from damage.

It is one of those books I can’t stop thinking about so therefore, it must have resonated more than I thought. It is long – almost 900 pages, so it is one with length and depth and requires a commitment of time. If psychological manipulation and gaslighting interest you, and you want to better understand the mind of a sociopath, then this one is for you.

Police by Jo Nesbo

As my blog followers know, I was recently introduced to Jo Nesbo and his character of Harry Hole, a deeply flawed police officer from Oslo, Norway. It was love at first word and now, I am on a mission to read the whole series. I was trying to read these in order but readers know there is a ghost who lives in all houses with books.

Periodically, the ghost of books will misplace or hide the next book in the series, forcing the reader to rip the house apart looking for that book. Unable to find it, you read the one at hand but drive yourself crazy trying to find the other book.

I also have a critic. Her name is Cotton and she is a cat. She is critical of all books. They all have to be shelved or she uses them for potential scratching posts. The more you value a book, the greater the risk that Cotton will scratch the cover for you.

So between ghost and Cotton, I was forced out of order in the series. This novel was a real nail biter too. Police in Oslo are returning to the scenes of unsolved crimes on the one year anniversary and are being systematically slaughtered.

A team is assembled of officers and profilers who have worked with or been associated with or mentored by Harry Hole. Unlike in previous novels, Harry comes into the story a little later and has had a series of events unfold that have changed his life and lifestyle.

It is a real cat and mouse game that the police are playing with the killer. They are also in the game of politics and the higher ups want solutions and results while at the same time, working against the very interests they are working to serve.

Oslo is the backdrop this time. In the other stories I have read so far, Harry has been on the road, solving cases around the world. This time, he is working as a professor at the police training college and advising the force on methods to solve these cases – which he was at first reluctant to become involved in.

Nesbo’s writing is excellent. I haven’t enjoyed a series like this and been so engrossed in some time. I keep coming back for more and I will continue in my quest to find the misplaced book so we I can share another Harry Hole story with you next time. The ghost and the cat, willing.

Lincoln In The Bardo by George Saunders

This is one of those books that sits with you and that you find yourself mulling over and discussing with other people. Your first instinct is to either love it or hate it, but as you keep talking about it, you realize that this is a really good book. And it would have made one hell of a Twilight Zone episode.

The story is set in Washington DC. President Lincoln had a son, Willie, who died of Scarlet Fever when he was in office. It is during the Civil War. There are a series of people who congregate in the cemetery and are there to see Willy laid to rest.

What the reader is aware of is that these people are all dead. They have all died in a variety of different time periods and their language reflects the era in which they died. There are quite a number and they are all involved in some seemingly supernatural fight for their lives.

The Bardo is a Buddhist term. It is the period after death and before rebirth when the soul is disconnected from the physical body and has a series of experiences. Willie and the rest of the individuals are in the Bardo.

The other inhabitants operate as a kind of chorus who keep the story moving and offer explanatory and expository information for the reader. A further interesting aspect the author uses is that he has researched contemporary commentary on how writers viewed many of the events depicted and has used those writings to show that any one event can be viewed and interpreted in a variety of ways.

And, since this is Twilight Zone material…..that is all I will say. Because, as in all good TZ episodes, the twist is always the best part of the story. Book clubs that really want to discuss allegory, theme, exposition and the meat and potatoes of writing will really enjoy discussing this book.

If your book club just wants to drink wine and touch on a book, I challenge you to give this one a go. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Five stars.

The Lawgiver by Herman Wouk

This was a very fun, very easy read with a lot of humor. The story is basically the effort being put forth by a group of people, with various motives, who want to get a movie about Moses made in Hollywood.

The main character is Margo Solovei, a writer who grew up in an Orthodox Jewish household, who attended an orthodox Jewish school and whose rabbi father, is less than thrilled with her life choice to become a Hollywood player.

Like a fascinating web that spins out and out, the story is told through Margo’s correspondence, emails, faxes, meeting notes etc. with different people who have a vested interest in the film or a vested interest in Margo.

The project is being financed by a Yiddish Australian tycoon whose reasons are never entirely clear for making the film. Herman Wouk and his wife are major characters and at the end of the book is a very touching tribute by Wouk to his wife, with her picture. One could almost say she was his muse.

Other characters are Margo’s childhood sweetheart, a friend of a friend who becomes a good friend, producers, directors, charlatans and a reluctant low profile Aussie sheep station owner and reluctant but very good actor.

There was one very entertaining sub-story involving a friend from Jewish School and her orthodox husband and their marital highs and lows. Shirley and Avram were thoroughly entertaining and a much needed break in the wheeling and dealing part of the story that centered on Hollywood.

This is a quick read and an easy one. I actually read it in between other books when I needed a quick break from something heavier. This is a pretty fun read. Three and a half stars.

Return to Summerville: A Thriller by H.L. Sudler

For those that follow my book blogs (ozziesbookblog@wordpress.com and Black and White and Read All Over on blogger.com), you will know that I RAVED about the first book in this series, Summerville. Great news!! Book two lives up to the high bar established by the first book and has all the subtext of the first plus a whole lot more.

When last we left Summerville, a man had been raped on one of the beaches at Rehoboth by a group of men. A woman had also been raped by one of these men.  Obviously, there is a whole lot more to what seems like a conventional, boilerplate legal thriller. Go read my review then return. For the rest of you…..

Sudler explains that these books are a compendium of a series of articles he writes for a small newspaper. For those that love Dickens and Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City, then Summerville is a must read! What I love about Summerville is what I love about Dickens. There are a host of social justice themes and issues that reflect society in the same way Dicken’s wrote about the London of his day.

What I also love is the fodder for book clubs. Some of the themes in Return to Summerville include but are not limited to: relationships with age differences; the issues that arise when someone dates a close friend’s child; unrequited love; losing one’s employment due to sexual orientation; male and female relationships; long held secrets and inter-generational lies; the choices we make in life and the reasons; survival; witness protection; the mob; gangs; relocation; memory…..so many great issues to explore and discuss.

Sudler expands on his inspiration for this type of story. This includes the great old soap Dark Shadows and the book, movie and tv show Peyton Place. That was actually wonderful to read in his own words as there were several points in the novel where I thought “Wow! This is like Peyton Place!”

Now for the good news/bad news. Great books suck you in and just like the first one; I cleared my schedule, read the whole things in a day finishing at 4:30am! Yep, it’s one of THOSE books. I should also mention that like all 5 star books (and this is 5 stars, make no mistake) there is some confronting and sexually explicit material suitable for mature readers. Keep an open mind and you will be rewarded.

The bad news? Sudler left us on a genuine cliff hanger!!!! I almost died when I got to the last page and realized I now have to wait for the next installment in what will be a trilogy. I can hardly wait!!! There is so much here to love and I can’t recommend this author and these books enough. I reiterate, if book stores had this book on the front display, it would be a sellout of major proportions. If Peyton Place could do it, Summerville could easily outsell it several times over. Grab your summer novel but be prepared for a sleepy day after you stay up all night reading it!

Lola by Melissa Scrivener Love

Right now, all things cartel are hot properties. Urban fiction is coming up because it gives voice to the cartel experience. And along came Lola. Set in Los Angeles, it details the rise of the Crenshaw Six, a small time gang of drug dealers with peripheral ties to the cartels.

In a twist to conventional cartel books, and reflecting the stories of real life queen pins, Lola is the first lady to the current gang leader. She was the first lady to the last leader of the Crenshaw Six, who was killed in a previous battle.

She and her partner live in a crappy little house that is the center of activity. Lola has spent a lot of time on the sidelines. She is observationally astute – she not only watches the gangs and how they do business, she watches all the players. She knows who can help, who can hurt and who controls what corners and she is ambitious enough to want to learn more.

In addition to the above, she is also attempting to divert her brother from becoming part of the game. She understands better than most that he is not equipped with enough guts or brains to get the job done. They both grew up in a neighborhood house with their mother, a heroin addict.

Lola helps set up a rip off and then spends the rest of the book dealing with the repercussions, opportunities and possibilities that arise from the events that follow. What sets Lola apart from other books in this genre is that a great deal of time is spent exploring Lola’s inner life and thoughts in her own words.

She is able to reflect on how she grew up, what she learned from all her relationships (familial and romantic) and how these lessons apply to herself, her brother, fellow gang members and even other men and women in the neighborhood.

One thing that creates a lot of tension in this book is that along the way, Lola rescues a neighborhood child who is being systematically abused. This means that Lola is in a bind because as a queen pin, the child becomes a liability due to her need to be protected and as a vulnerability for Lola that can be exploited.

This is a great book because it looks at a world that is written about largely from a male perspective in most books and turns the female mind and psyche to what goes into the decision to enter this kind of life, from a women’s perspective.

It is a new book from a first time author and there were a couple of times in the book where an explanation went a little long but I loved the fresh perspective to a genre that is trendy right now and with a growing list of stories that have similar story lines.

Give this one your attention for a look at the world in which a woman becomes a queen pin. Stay for the great story and it felt open ended so maybe we will see more of Lola as she climbs the ladder to drug lord.

Satori by Don Winslow

Here I continue my new interest in all things Don Winslow.  I was not disappointed by Satori. The main character is an interesting blend of contradictions. His name is Nicholas Hel, although he is western by appearance, he was raised in Japan and considers himself Asian by character and temperament.

He has all the usual spy skills – martial arts training and the ability to kill silently with his bare hands speaks multiple languages and has the James Bond effect on women. But the most interesting thing he really has going for himself is that he is a master strategist who has gained this ability by playing the game of Go.

He is tasked with killing a high level Soviet in China and although his minders think they are sending him on a suicide mission, his ability to look ahead and strategize, means that he has a better than average chance of surviving his mission.

He spends time perfecting his cover as a French arms dealer and proceeds to travel through China, Cambodia and Vietnam as he moves across the live Go board and pits himself against players who are equally canny at strategizing themselves.

Winslow does a great job of researching his subjects and this means that the writing is highly detailed and believable. I am a huge James Bond fan, have read all of Ian Fleming’s books and several of the authors who picked up the Bond franchise.

I have also read the Bourne books and Satori stacks up well against both franchises. In fact, I will happily seek out more books with Nicholas Hel. I will happily read the rest of what Don Winslow has written.

For those interested, this novel is based on Trevanian’s Shibumi. Trevanian was also responsible for The Eiger Sanction, another favorite of mine. So in some sense, you get a two-fer – two good authors, one great character! Check them both out. 5 stars!