Authors - The Irresponsible Reader

DETAILS:
Publisher: Red Dog Press
Publication Date: November 25, 2022
Format: eBook
Length: 151 pages.
Read Date: November 28-29, 2022

I’d enjoyed snooping around people’s lives. Poking at their secrets and unearthing dirty little details that earned me my payday. It wasn’t honest work, but it was fun.

Mostly.

The beatings weren’t, and I’d taken a few in my time.

Asked the wrong question to the wrong person. Asked the right question to the wrong person. Wisecracked at an inappropriate time. My crooked nose and the waxy scar on my cheek would be the lasting reminders.

What’s Little Ghost About?

Irving Ash is a Denver PI on rough times. His divorce is about final, this most recent romantic relationship (note the distinction) is over, and thanks to some recent headlines, he’s having a hard time getting work. He’s about to be evicted from his office, and it probably won’t be long before he’s out of a home, too. On the plus side, his cat, Cleo, seems to like him.

A friend connects him with a job. Well, not really a friend, an acquaintance. Okay, technically the bartender of his regular stop—Ash calls him an “enabler.” This may be out of the goodness of his heart, but it’s more likely that he’d like Ash to be able to pay his growing tab. The job is doing security work for Roxie Pictures—a porn studio (the owner, Gordon Rock, describes their work as “art…Beautifully shot videos, made by passionate people for passionate people,”*). Cleo apparently has some qualms about the job, but the pay is good enough he can’t pass on it.

* That sentence alone gives you everything you need to know about the character. You can feel the sleeze dripping off of him. The next sentence of his description will make you want to wash your hands before picking the book up again.

It’s not too long before Ash finds the studio’s biggest star, Brandi Dyvine, in a confrontation with someone. Then she goes missing, potentially kidnapped. Rock’s in love with her and is willing to fork over ransom money—Ash talks him into trying to buy some time instead. Ash figures finding and rescuing her is far more likely to result in Dyvine and Rock not being killed at the end of the transaction.

Ash starts combing through the details of Brandi’s life—and well, things get messy from there. In the world that Ash finds himself in, women and money are the deadliest combination—and he learns that the hard way.

Brother John

Like any good PI who finds themselves near the morally gray areas, Ash has a friend who is far more comfortable in the gray—maybe even the black. The Hawk/Joe Pike/Bubba Rogowski/Mel Frost role.

For Irving Ash, that friend is a man named Brother John. Brother John is the kind of friend you want when things get hard—he’s resourceful, dedicated, and willing to go the extra mile. I’m unwilling to say more about him because Ash should be the one to introduce him to you (I’d just ruin it). But I couldn’t not say something about him.

So let me say this—I’ll be the first backer for a Kickstarter for a novella or two about Brother John before Ash moved to town (or be the first to pre-order). I don’t see McDonald doing that, but if he did…

Pesky Britishisms

I really hate to pick at these nits. Truly. But my biggest fear when I heard that McDonald was going to write this was that it was going to sound like someone from the British Isles pretending to be an American. Sadly, that fear was realized.

And I get it—we still owe a debt for Dick Van Dyke’s Bert. I’m not sure how much longer we need to atone for this (but it’s a while)—and there are several other lesser offenses we need to make up for, too.

But, no one in the US uses a biro to make notes on pages of A4, gets aspirin from a chemist, or plugs an address into a car’s sat nav. (there are smaller examples, but let’s stick with some of the more egregious ones). Do I—like many/most readers–know what’s being said there? Sure. But when I come across something like that it jars me, takes me out of the moment. And I really don’t like that when I’m enjoying the moment so much. I was in Ash’s head, I was fully invested, and then McDonald slips and throws ice water on my face. Yes, I’m able to get back into the moment, back into Ash’s voice, etc.—but this whole experience would’ve been so much richer if I didn’t have to get back into it, but could’ve just stayed there.

Now, this all goes away if Irving was someone who grew up in England and moved to the States, eventually to Denver, instead of going to University or something along those lines. Then these slips are character moments, not the jarring errors they become as he’s a guy from the East Coast who moved to Denver.

Is any of this that big of a deal? Not really. Is it unforgivable? Of course not. Did I lose some appreciation for the novel because of it? Yes. It’s something that could’ve been explained away, or reduced with another editing pass or two. When the rest of the novel is so good, the tiny flaws really stand out.

So, what did I think about Little Ghost?

‘So, what’s the plan?’

‘Whoever it is has Brandi, I’m sure of that. So, we hit them, and we hit them hard.’

‘Revenge?’

‘Absolutely.’

‘I love revenge,’ Brother John smirked.

I know I was supposed to think of classic PI types when I read this novel—and I did to an extent. But really what this made me think of more than Chandler or Hammett was Stephen Mack Jones and Walter Mosley’s Down the River Unto the Sea.* Both of those were very much in the classic PI mold, but incredibly contemporary, too. That’s what Irving Ash felt like to me, a 21st-Century PI, and regular readers know what kind of catnip that is to me.

* I also want to mention Michael Koryta. I’m not sure why, every example I can think of from Koryta fails to match up. But I can’t shake the feeling that Little Ghost shares some DNA with something he did or would write.

I saw the bigger elements of the final reveal coming—but not all of them, and the ones I missed were the more important and disturbing ones (if you ask me). So I was able to feel good about myself and be taken unawares at the same time. I really can’t ask for more than that. Along the way, McDonald hit me with at least four moments where I couldn’t believe I read what was on the page, and had to go back to verify. After the second moment, it became clear to me that McDonald wasn’t playing around, no punches were going to be pulled here.

McDonald has crafted a compelling story with a central character that will get you invested and hoping he’ll come out on top–even while he’s doing things that most of the time you’d find abhorrent. The writing is crisp and terse–McDonald gets his money’s worth out of each syllable. Ash is a damaged man, and you can sense it–and you can see when it gets worse, just because the text isn’t verbose, doesn’t mean you’re not going to find a lot of emotion and depth in the scenes. McDonald has given us both.

This says something about his talent. If you gave this to me without an author’s name on it and told me it was someone I’d read before, I don’t know that McDonald would be in my first five guesses. I think that’s true of his DI Erika Piper series, too–I wouldn’t have picked the Stonebridge Mystery author for those. So far, that’s three distinct voices and styles he’s displayed in three subgenres. You’ve got to wonder a little what he’s not capable of at this point.

I strongly encourage PI fans to pick this up–and soon. Maybe if enough of us do it, we can convince him to keep this from being a stand-alone.

4 Stars

I Have Far Too Many Things to Say about Wistful Ascending by JCM Berne (But I Try)

By HCNewton

On November 29, 2022

In Book Tour, Fiction, JCM Berne, Science Fiction, The Hybrid Helix

Wistful Ascending

by JCM Berne

DETAILS:
Series: Hybrid Helix, #1
Publisher: The Gnost House
Publication Date: September 5, 2020
Format: eBook
Length: 395 pg.
Read Date: November 24-28, 2022

A Word About this Post

If I approached this novel the way I typically would, you wouldn’t read it. I wouldn’t blame you, because I wouldn’t either. It would just be too long to bother with. There’s just too much that I want to talk about here. So I’m going to do this differently, I’ll provide a little setup, give a couple of pros and cons in bullet points (many of these bullet points would be 2-3 paragraphs otherwise), and then a wrap-up thought.

There’s still a good chance that this is going to be too long, but I tried.

What’s Wistful Ascending About?

For some time, Rohan was one of the most feared warriors in the il’Drach Fleet. As a human/il’Drach Hybrid, he had powers and abilities beyond what most are capable of—flight, super strength, speed, stamina, healing, etc. He tires of that way of life and retires to the space-station Wistful, just outside the empire, and gets a fairly menial job. Work, a couple of beers, and sleep—before starting it again the next day. That’s the kind of life he wants.

And it works for a while. Then a previously dormant wormhole opens up and refugees from the other side of the galaxy (or further) show up. Then scientists from the Empire arrive to study that wormhole. Dangers, soldiers, spies, and assassins are suddenly all over Wistful and Rohan is called upon to defend his home, his friends, and himself.

The Cons

This is going to be a short list:
bullet The Title. Yeah, it’s fitting. But it’s not really an eye-catcher, is it?
bullet The Prologue is one of those action-packed intros that stops just before something major happens before giving us “X Hours Earlier,” “Y Days Before,” etc. Twelve Days, in this particular case. I don’t get the appeal of this kind of introduction, and while I can’t say that I’ve never seen it done well, the percentage is pretty low. I don’t understand why writers keep going back to that device, someone must like it.

The Pros

Basically everything else.

However accurate, that’s probably not that helpful. So let me share some highlights.
bullet In the tradition of William Munny, John Rambo, John Wick, Clay Cooper, and countless others, you have a man of war, a man of violence who has made a conscious decision to leave that to pursue a quiet life, a peaceful life—a life of no notoriety. Then circumstances compel them to return (hopefully temporarily) to that life they had forsaken. Who doesn’t like this kind of story?
bullet Before he joined the il’Drach Fleet, Rohan was a super-hero on earth—or tried to be, he apparently didn’t get much attention due to being on the weaker side. Which is just a great idea for an origin. If nothing else, it makes Rohan instantly accessible to the reader—we get his humor, his references, and have heard stories like his before. Also, by “weaker” think Invincible/Mark Grayson compared to Omni-Man/Nolan Grayson. So technically weaker, but not a major downgrade. Also, hold on to that Invincible comparison—we’ll be coming back to it.
bullet So his father was an alien, but his mother was from India and she relocated to Canada when he was very young. That’s a lot of cultures to draw from, it explains his tastes in food—and it keeps Rohan from being a Clark Kent/Mark Grayson/etc. clone.
bullet Not only does Rohan have nifty superpowers (as do some of his opponents)—the way that Berne describes their use is just fantastic—really. If it’s not the best description of super-powers in prose that I’ve read in the decades I’ve been reading them, it’s so close as to be negligible (and I’m too lazy to dig up the couple of contenders that I’m thinking of to do the comparison).
bullet Beyond that—his explanation for the source of the powers in the metaphysical sense? Think of the Force in episodes 4-6, and then do a better job of explaining it.
bullet (there’s a later explanation of how those abilities manifest themselves in the Hybrids that’s pretty clever, too)
bullet There are kaiju. Or kaiju-esque creatures.
bullet Wistful, the space station Rohan lives on and works for, is the kind of multi-species hive of activity and commerce that’s catnip for Space Opera/SF junkies. And the alien races/cultures that are represented there are well-designed and interesting. Really, if Berne gave us an illustrated guide to his aliens, I’d snap it up.
bullet Wistful is a sentient space station (I’m on a roll with these lately), who actually has legal jurisdiction over the solar system she occupies. Can be a party to treaties, etc. How cool is that?
bullet It’s not just space stations, either. Ships of a certain size are sentient, too. They grow and develop. They have wills and desires of their own—for example, there’s a ship that got tired of being a troop transport and changed themselves (with the appropriate approvals, etc., I’m sure) into a science vessel because they wanted to learn and explore. I’d take a novel just about that ship.
bullet The explanation behind the way the ships/stations act and have sentience, etc. in contradistinction to those of other cultures is interesting and fits in with the world that Berne created so well.
bullet I don’t know how I’ve made it this long in this list (which is longer than I anticipated and makes me all the more certain I shouldn’t have tried a traditional post) without mentioning the humor. Think Jim Butcher. Think Invincible. Think Peter Parker at his best. Think MCU’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Think Nicholas Eames. You get that humor throughout the novel and it’s shown through all the characters in some way (at least those not trying to kill someone at the moment), but it’s particularly expressed in Rohan’s point of view and the way he talks to himself.
bullet But more particularly Rohan’s banter with just about everyone—it’s almost at the level of the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League
bullet Most of the characters—from Wistful’s security chief to the staff at Rohan’s favorite place to get breakfast are so well-developed and distinctive, with such interesting points of view and characteristics that you almost want every scene to be twice as long just to spend time with them.
bullet This is related to the depiction of super-abilities. But these fight scenes are dynamite. One of the problems a lot of writers have with Superman, for example, is when someone like him lets loose and say punches a guy—bad things happen. I remember an old DC role-playing game when I was a kid—no one wanted to be Supes because it was too easy to kill someone. Now, people like Robert Kirkman embraced that, and the pages of Invincible (I told you to hang on to that) are dripping with blood, gore, bits of bone, and the debris of buildings/mountains everywhere. We get the same kind of power on display here with the same kind of consequences (also, several displays of Rohan not letting that happen).
bullet Related to those fights. Seriously. Don’t make Rohan angry. You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry (he sure doesn’t—see the first bullet point in this list)
bullet One more Invincible note—doesn’t that cover kind of look like Chris McGrath did a take on a Ryan Ottley cover? I don’t know who the cover artist was, but I loved it.
bullet Lastly, aside from the Prologue issue (which is my personal taste, but it’s my blog so I get to call it an issue), the way Berne plotted this thing, constructed the story, doled out information, and everything else along those lines was so well done, so impressive that you have to believe that he’s been at this a long time.

Okay, I lied. I have one more point:
bullet Talking bears in space. Well, an alien species that happens to look like sentient, talking bears, who have the strength of large bears, and enjoy catching/eating fish. So….close enough. I’ll say it again: talking bears in space.

So, it’s pretty clear already, but what did I think about Wistful Ascending?

I want to say more—believe it or not. I don’t think I’ve captured how excited I was reading this and am now while trying to talk about it.

I was talking to a friend about Wistful Ascending the other day, or maybe I was just trying to—like with this post, I struggled. I said, “It’s like he’s doing “Scenes from a Hat” from Who’s Line is it Anyway?, but instead of transitioning from one idea to the next, it’s like Berne takes each idea as it’s pulled out and adds it to the story. He says ‘Yes, And’ to everything.—’Sentient Space Station? Okay. Golden-Age Super-Hero Sidekicks who’ve become old scientists? Fine. Kaiju? Sure thing!'” I’d honestly love to know what he thought wouldn’t work in this novel.

And the maddening thing, the thing I can’t wrap my brain around is that it somehow all works. Because that was my friend’s first reaction—”oh, that’s just way too much for one book, the guy needs to edit.” I had to say no, it somehow all comes together just fine, “I don’t understand how, but it’s working great. I’m loving it. I want to become his new best friend.”

And readers, I was at the 52% point when we had that chat. I still didn’t know everything he could do with the book. I wasn’t kidding when I listed two things as cons to this book. I couldn’t think of anything else that I didn’t like.

I’m not saying this is the best thing I’ve read this year (but it might be). I’m definitely not suggesting everyone’s going to relish it the way I did. But, boy howdy, this hit all the right spots for me. I couldn’t get enough of this. And yeah, I want to be JCM Berne’s new friend.

Nevertheless, it’s getting 4.5 stars from me because of the Prologue, because I round up for Goodreads and Amazon, and because I like to give an author room to get more stars as a series progresses and they get better at their craft. And if that half a star dissuades anyone from reading the book, they weren’t paying attention to anything I said above.

4 1/2 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

My thanks to Escapist Book Tours for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the novel) they provided. The opinions expressed by me are honest and my own.

BOOK SPOTLIGHT & GIVEAWAY: Wistful Ascending by JCM Berne

By HCNewton

On November 29, 2022

In Book Tour, Fiction, JCM Berne, Science Fiction, The Hybrid Helix

I’m very pleased to welcome the Escapist Book Tour for JCM Berne’s Wistful Ascending to The Irresponsible Reader this morning! In addition to this little spotlight post, my take on the novel will be coming along in a bit. Be sure you scroll down to the bottom of this post for the Giveaway! But first, let’s start by learning a little about this book, okay?

Book Details:

Book Title: Wistful Ascending by JCM Berne
Series: Hybrid Helix
Publisher: The Gnost House
Release date: September 5, 2020
Format: Hardcover/Paperback/Ebook/Audiobook
Length: 395 pages
Genre: Science-Fantasy/Superhero/Space Opera
Intended Age Group: Adult

About the Book

Retired from a career as a weapon of mass destruction for the Imperial Fleet, Rohan wants little more than decent coffee, a chance for romance, and a career that doesn’t result in half a galaxy shuddering at the mention of his name.

When a long-dormant wormhole opens near his employer, the sentient space station Wistful, the Empire takes renewed interest in the system. As scientists and spies converge, Rohan struggles to protect his friends and his peaceful life without again becoming the type of monster that can’t have either.

Book Links

Amazon ~ Goodreads

About the Author

JCM Berne has reached middle age without outgrowing the notion that superheroes are cool. Code monkey by day, by night he slaves over a hot keyboard to prove that superhero stories can be engaging and funny without being dark or silly.

Linktree ~ Author Website ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Facebook ~ Free short story

Giveaway

Prize: An eBook, Audiobook, or Paperback Copy of Wistful Ascending!
Starts: November 24, 2022 at 12:00am EST
Ends: November 30, 2022 at 11:59pm EST
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Direct link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/79e197ac70/

My thanks to Escapist Book Tours for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the novel) they provided. The opinions expressed by me are honest and my own.

PUB DAY REPOST: Flight Risk by Cherie Priest: Two Missing Persons Bring the Team Back Together for this Winning Sequel

By HCNewton

On November 15, 2022

In Cherie Priest, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Flight Risk

by Cherie Priest

DETAILS:
Series: Booking Agents Series, #2
Publisher: Atria Books 
Publication Date: November 15, 2022
Format: eARC
Length: 320 pg.
Read Date: October 20-21, 2022

What’s Flight Risk About?

Grady and his daughter lose their dog while visiting Mt. Rainer—but never fear, they find him—much to their relief. They’re not at all relieved by the fact that when he’s found, he’s carrying a human leg in his mouth. While it’s a different jurisdiction, it’s soon determined that the (probably dead) man missing a leg is/was a Seattle resident, so Grady handles that end of the investigation.

At the same time, Leda is approached by a man to find his sister. This is a major step up for Leda’s psychic consulting—since the news coverage stemming from the events in Grave Reservations, she’s been hired to find a few missing things (mostly successfully), but a person that’s been gone for a month is a significant case. She takes it on with some hesitation, and several caveats toward the brother that she might not find anything, and he might not like what she is able to find.

Naturally, there’s a connection between both missing persons, and Grady and Leda team up again.

Leda’s having a hard time making headway, at first, with her case, and calls in the woman who’d offered to mentor her for some help. Almost immediately the medium demonstrates that this was a wise choice and that she’s the real deal. As she works with Leda, providing a nudge or two, she hints that Leda may discover other abilities as she grows as a psychic—which will be interesting to watch, for sure.

Det. Grady Merritt

Flight Risk features a lot more of Grady on his own (still plenty of Grady with Leda and Grady with everyone else, don’t worry) doing police work. It’s good to see him plugging away at things and interacting with his partner (who I hope we get more time with in the future—Sam and Niki would be a fun team-up).

He doesn’t strike me as a super-cop like Bosch or Ballard—but he’s the kind you hope our police departments are full of—decent guys who are dedicated to their jobs, driven by curiosity and a sense of duty. He just happens to be pretty lucky and he now has a psychic friend who can lend a hand. I enjoy reading about this kind of police detective*, it gives me hope.

* I’m still devouring books about Bosch, Ballard, Washington Poe, and other super-cops, don’t get me wrong.

Niki

Leda’s best friend Niki is, of course, back. In Grave Reservations, Niki essentially pushed Leda to take risks, to persevere in the investigation, and so on. Then, when she accompanied Leda and Grady when they were investigating, she could be relied upon to go a little further than Leda, and would carry the comedic weight in her scenes.

Here in Flight Risk, she has the same roles. But Leda’s more confident now and doesn’t need her friend egging her on quite as much either on-stage or in her office. She is still a little more “out there” when she rides along with Grady and her friend, but I think she’s more restrained there, too.

I might be a little off here, and if I revisit this next year, I’ll wonder what I was thinking here. But right now, Niki seems to be the weak link in this book, not bringing quite enough to the plot or to the comedy. A toned-down Niki is more grounded, more realistic—absolutely. But if she’s not being Lula to Leda’s Stephanie Plum, I’m not sure what purpose she’s serving. I should stress, I don’t think Priest shouldn’t have her around, nor do I want her to be as goofy as Lula (the world doesn’t need another one)—but we just need her to be a little less restrained.

The Law of Interconnected Monkey Business

So, anyone who’s read a mystery novel before will be pretty sure that there’s a tie between Grady’s and Leda’s cases are going to be connected. Obviously, if you read the above section or the description on the back of the book or on the online store of your choice, you’ll know that, too.

That’s not what I want to talk about—it’s the way that Priest combined these two cases and got Leda and Grady to work together again. I honestly expected that this series would be Grady bringing cases to Leda, either on his own or because he’s instructed to, when the SPD comes up against a tough case. But that’s clearly not going to be the case.

There’s going to be flexibility—even possibly some times when Grady comes into things pretty late in the game (I can’t see leaving the police out of a book entirely). The fact that Priest stayed away from the structure of the first book already is an encouraging sign and shows that this isn’t going to be a cookie-cutter kind of series, but that she’s going to bring something new each time.

So, what did I think about Flight Risk?

I have to say this one was a tough one to write about—I almost felt like I could copy and paste what I said about Grave Reservations here. If you liked that novel, you’ll dig this one—having introduced the characters and world, Priest (and the readers) can focus more on the mysteries, and the book is better for it.

The mysteries were well-designed and executed, with the psychic clues/impressions/whatever along the way pointing Grady and Leda in the right direction, but not giving them so much that they don’t have to work out things for themselves (with one notable exception). This is the way to do a Psychic Detective novel. The red herrings and false trails were particularly well-done and I enjoyed seeing our protagonists dealing with them.

We got a better sense of all the supporting characters, as one would expect/hope, and I enjoyed them all. This is really a pleasant little universe that Priest has given us and I hope we get to hang out with these characters for a good while to come.

Flight Risk would be a good introductory novel for this series as well as a pleasant continuation for those who read Grave Reservations—it’s light(ish) fun with a dash of the supernatural to enliven the mystery, the combination of police and amateur detectives working together is a tried and true way to make things entertaining—and Priest uses it well. This novel hit the spot for this reader, and I look forward to another case or two soon. I definitely recommend this one to you.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Atria Books via NetGalley in exchange for this post that reflects my honest opinion—thanks to both for this.

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

Gardens by Benedict Jacka: A Quick, Action Packed, Visit to the World of Verus

By HCNewton

On November 4, 2022

In Alex Verus, Benedict Jacka, Fiction, Urban Fantasy

Gardens

by Benedict Jacka

DETAILS:
Series: Alex Verus, #12.1
Publication Date: October 31, 2022
Format: eBook
Length: 123 pg.
Read Date: November 3, 2022

What’s Gardens About?

This takes place about four months after Risen, and definitely should not be read by anyone who hasn’t read it (I’m not going to spoil anything though). We do get to catch up with the world of Mages, the Council, and the state of things with Adepts post-Risen, but we do so from a different perspective and with a largely new group of characters (they ultimately interact with some people we know though).

These characters are Daniel, Jess, and Emmanuel. They are youngish adepts with a little experience in thievery (although they really don’t like using that term) and are looking to expand. They’re hired by a mage to join a crew of others for a job to “retrieve” an object.

The object is in the possession of a mage, who they are told will be away from home for quite some time. All they need to do is open a lock (through an interesting application of wind magic that I don’t think I’ve seen before) and find the thing. Assuming they can get along with the other group of adepts hired for this job (which is clearly going to be an issue from the get-go), it sounds like an easy job.

But if it was an easy job, why would Jacka give us a novella about it?

So, what did I think about Gardens?

I had so much fun with this. It satisfied my desire to know more about this world and how things look after that fantastic finale—but was a different kind of story in it. Just not getting it told in Alex’s voice, but from a third-person narration, gave it a different feel immediately. Also, Jacka says that this is “a slightly different (but overlapping) genre to urban fantasy,” so that different feel is multiplied.

With all due respect to Jacka, I think it’s still UF. It is a darker form of it than we’re used to from him, though. But that’s just splitting hairs, and there are much better things to do with this novella.

Primarily we ought to just read and enjoy it—this is exactly what a heist-gone-wrong story told in the Verus-Verse should be. There’s in-fighting, double-crossing (maybe triple-crossing), lies, deception, unrequited love, and people in way over their head. Especially as we’ve been colored by Alex’s attitudes toward Adepts, it’s easy to forget what a great gulf there is between even a strong Adept and a Mage. Gardens does a great job of fixing that misapprehension. It’s a fast read with plenty of action—pound for pound, more than Jacka usually gives us, and I am here for it.

Is this a must-read for Alex Verus fans? No, not especially. But my friends, you will be missing out. You will be so glad you took an hour or so for this. This is definitely a must-not-read for people who haven’t read Risen (and if you haven’t read Risen, you likely haven’t read anything else in the series—which is something you should fix).

4 Stars

PUB DAY REPOST: Racing the Light by Robert Crais: Spooks Spooking. Detectives Detecting. Killers Killing.

By HCNewton

On November 1, 2022

In Elvis Cole/Joe Pike, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Robert Crais

Racing the Light

by Robert Crais

DETAILS:
Series: Elvis Cole, #18
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: November 1, 2022
Format: eARC
Length: 368 pg.
Read Date: October 12-14, 2022

What’s Racing the Light About?

The essence of the case is that Elvis is hired by the mother of a young man who has gone missing to find him. This is pretty par for the course for Elvis Cole—a missing persons case.

Here’s what makes this distinct: the mother has money—she pays a generous retainer in cash (so generous, Elvis gives some back) and you get the impression that it wouldn’t be difficult for her to add a few more thousand. Before she walks into the office, two people come in and do a security sweep. Adele Schumacher believes her son, Joshua, has been taken by government agents for his investigation into Area 51 for his podcast. So, yeah, not a typical day in the office.

The podcast is called In Your Face with Josh Shoe, and it’s frequently about government corruption, conspiracies, and whatnot—but they’ve branched out to things like interviewing a porn actress. His childhood friend/podcasting partner, Ryan, tells Elvis that Josh is trying to move to more mainstream topics (Ryan doesn’t seem on board with this, for what it’s worth). Ryan shares Adele’s theory for Josh’s absence, Josh has been taken because he returned to Area 51 and found something.

But Elvis starts to find evidence that Josh is investigating something he didn’t tell Ryan about—Elvis can’t figure out what it is, sadly, but he starts to figure out who Josh might be interviewing for this story. And one of them has gone missing, too. Is this tied to his disappearance or did the twenty-something self-employed and single guy just flake off for a few days?

It’s not long before Elvis starts to think he’s not the only one looking for Josh and he enlists help from Joe Pike (who brings in Jon Stone). If those two get on board, you know things are about to get dangerous.

Pike and Stone

The problem with getting to know the PI’s more lethal/less-hung-up-about hurting people friend/sidekick/partner better is that it’s harder to keep them feeling dangerous and mysterious—it maybe even gets to the point where they stop being quite as prone to violence as they once were, and their charcoal-gray hats get a little closer to white. With Joe Pike getting some novels of his own, a lot of his sharp edges have been dulled for fans, so it was nice that Crais brought along Jon Stone so when Pike couldn’t be ruthless and cold-blooded, there’d be someone who could.

He gets to be that guy here—he’s helpful (very), resourceful, and mercenary. He pitches in because Pike pushes him to—not because he cares about Elvis or the fate of Josh. But what he does, he does well. (and is amusing for the reader throughout)

Pike is also not quite the active presence in this book that he has been lately—so when he does show up and act, it makes it feel a bit more super-human. Crais really upped his game with Pike in this novel and it allows him to steal almost every scene he’s in. Naturally, the phone calls between Pike and Cole are still fun to read—if you can write an entertaining conversation with one party being nearly-monosyllabic, you’ve got a gift.

Lucy and Ben

Lucy and Ben come by for an almost-unannounced visit to ensure that Elvis can’t give his full attention to the case. Which sounds snarky and may not be wholly fair of me. But it’s not wrong.

I enjoy the character of Ben and the way he interacts with Elvis—and continue to do so. I appreciated and believed what he was going through—both on his own and with his mother—at this stage of life, and Crais’s portrayal of this was one of the (many) highlights of this novel. It was also a good way to remind the reader just But Lucy has bothered me for a while now (although I was initially a fan), and I’m not certain that this book alleviates that (nor do I think Crais is altogether worried about it). I’m going to reserve judgment on this appearance for now. I did like Cole’s response to her visit and presence (when it didn’t take him off of his game, although I thought that was a nice touch).

So, what did I think about Racing the Light?

I need to spend some time thinking about this idea, but while reading this book I started to think of some notable first meetings between a PI and their client—like The Big Sleep, The Doorbell Rang, God Save the Child, and The Judas Goat*—and how those meetings can be a bellwether for the rest of the book. If the meeting seems pretty good/typical, the rest of the book will be, too; if the meeting catches your attention, the rest of the book will be of a higher quality.** The first meeting between Elvis and Adele Schumacher definitely fits—it’s not your standard meeting (the presence of her personal security helps). Right away, I could tell this was going to be a better-than-usual Elvis Cole novel. There’s not much that can beat that, in my book.

* This is a list generated in a rush, and I know I’ve left off some big ones, but as indicated, this is a theory-in-progress, I might work it out fully later.
** It’s likely that a better book is going to be better from the first chapter, and I just like the idea of creating a litmus test.

My opinion never wavered from that point on—this is some of the best writing Crais has given us in a long time—there are some passages/sentences/phrases I’ve had to read a few times just because I enjoyed them so much. I’m going to have a hard time limiting myself when quoting from the book once I get the hardcover. I’m already looking forward to a re-read of this somewhere down the road.

Along those lines, there’s one passage following a conversation between Elvis and Josh’s father that I’d believe Crais stole from one of the earliest Robert B. Parker novels. It’s not often that I get a reminder of the shared DNA between Elvis and Spenser. I appreciate what distinguishes the two more than their similarities, but it’s good to see the family resemblance is still there—it’s what attracted me to both characters (and their authors!).

We see the return of some characters that Crais hasn’t used in a while, too—which adds to the overall feeling of this novel hearkening back to earlier Elvis novels more than the last few. Another of the ways this book shines is in the supporting characters, not just that many from the old gang are back, but characters for this book. We get to know a couple of people connected to the missing persons really well, they’re well-fleshed out, and you can’t help feeling empathy for them and connected to them. For example, there’s a man who lives in Griffith Park who’s a witness to part of a cover-up—we get four chapters from his perspective. And I like him enough already that I’d read a short story/novella just about him.

I’ve probably gone on more than long enough at this point, let me wrap it up.

New readers will find plenty to enjoy here as well as well-established fans should. Obviously, newcomers won’t get all the character moments that come from the buildup of 17 previous novels, but that doesn’t mean they won’t walk away with a sense of them. Don’t let the existence of those novels dissuade you, see them as an added bonus of backstory you can explore if you get into these characters.

I don’t see how long-term fans aren’t going to relish this novel. Racing the Light doesn’t carry the emotional heft of L.A. Requiem or The Last Detective (primarily because those books explored the characters of Elvis and Pike in depths that Crais can’t repeat), but in terms of plot, pacing, and character this is their equal. I haven’t been this excited about a Robert Crais novel since The Promise.

I’m telling you, readers, don’t miss out on this one.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from PENGUIN GROUP Putnam via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.

5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

Flight Risk by Cherie Priest: Two Missing Persons Bring the Team Back Together for this Winning Sequel

By HCNewton

On October 26, 2022

In Cherie Priest, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Flight Risk

by Cherie Priest

DETAILS:
Series: Booking Agents Series, #2
Publisher: Atria Books 
Publication Date: November 15, 2022
Format: eARC
Length: 320 pg.
Read Date: October 20-21, 2022

What’s Flight Risk About?

Grady and his daughter lose their dog while visiting Mt. Rainer—but never fear, they find him—much to their relief. They’re not at all relieved by the fact that when he’s found, he’s carrying a human leg in his mouth. While it’s a different jurisdiction, it’s soon determined that the (probably dead) man missing a leg is/was a Seattle resident, so Grady handles that end of the investigation.

At the same time, Leda is approached by a man to find his sister. This is a major step up for Leda’s psychic consulting—since the news coverage stemming from the events in Grave Reservations, she’s been hired to find a few missing things (mostly successfully), but a person that’s been gone for a month is a significant case. She takes it on with some hesitation, and several caveats toward the brother that she might not find anything, and he might not like what she is able to find.

Naturally, there’s a connection between both missing persons, and Grady and Leda team up again.

Leda’s having a hard time making headway, at first, with her case, and calls in the woman who’d offered to mentor her for some help. Almost immediately the medium demonstrates that this was a wise choice and that she’s the real deal. As she works with Leda, providing a nudge or two, she hints that Leda may discover other abilities as she grows as a psychic—which will be interesting to watch, for sure.

Det. Grady Merritt

Flight Risk features a lot more of Grady on his own (still plenty of Grady with Leda and Grady with everyone else, don’t worry) doing police work. It’s good to see him plugging away at things and interacting with his partner (who I hope we get more time with in the future—Sam and Niki would be a fun team-up).

He doesn’t strike me as a super-cop like Bosch or Ballard—but he’s the kind you hope our police departments are full of—decent guys who are dedicated to their jobs, driven by curiosity and a sense of duty. He just happens to be pretty lucky and he now has a psychic friend who can lend a hand. I enjoy reading about this kind of police detective*, it gives me hope.

* I’m still devouring books about Bosch, Ballard, Washington Poe, and other super-cops, don’t get me wrong.

Niki

Leda’s best friend Niki is, of course, back. In Grave Reservations, Niki essentially pushed Leda to take risks, to persevere in the investigation, and so on. Then, when she accompanied Leda and Grady when they were investigating, she could be relied upon to go a little further than Leda, and would carry the comedic weight in her scenes.

Here in Flight Risk, she has the same roles. But Leda’s more confident now and doesn’t need her friend egging her on quite as much either on-stage or in her office. She is still a little more “out there” when she rides along with Grady and her friend, but I think she’s more restrained there, too.

I might be a little off here, and if I revisit this next year, I’ll wonder what I was thinking here. But right now, Niki seems to be the weak link in this book, not bringing quite enough to the plot or to the comedy. A toned-down Niki is more grounded, more realistic—absolutely. But if she’s not being Lula to Leda’s Stephanie Plum, I’m not sure what purpose she’s serving. I should stress, I don’t think Priest shouldn’t have her around, nor do I want her to be as goofy as Lula (the world doesn’t need another one)—but we just need her to be a little less restrained.

The Law of Interconnected Monkey Business

So, anyone who’s read a mystery novel before will be pretty sure that there’s a tie between Grady’s and Leda’s cases are going to be connected. Obviously, if you read the above section or the description on the back of the book or on the online store of your choice, you’ll know that, too.

That’s not what I want to talk about—it’s the way that Priest combined these two cases and got Leda and Grady to work together again. I honestly expected that this series would be Grady bringing cases to Leda, either on his own or because he’s instructed to, when the SPD comes up against a tough case. But that’s clearly not going to be the case.

There’s going to be flexibility—even possibly some times when Grady comes into things pretty late in the game (I can’t see leaving the police out of a book entirely). The fact that Priest stayed away from the structure of the first book already is an encouraging sign and shows that this isn’t going to be a cookie-cutter kind of series, but that she’s going to bring something new each time.

So, what did I think about Flight Risk?

I have to say this one was a tough one to write about—I almost felt like I could copy and paste what I said about Grave Reservations here. If you liked that novel, you’ll dig this one—having introduced the characters and world, Priest (and the readers) can focus more on the mysteries, and the book is better for it.

The mysteries were well-designed and executed, with the psychic clues/impressions/whatever along the way pointing Grady and Leda in the right direction, but not giving them so much that they don’t have to work out things for themselves (with one notable exception). This is the way to do a Psychic Detective novel. The red herrings and false trails were particularly well-done and I enjoyed seeing our protagonists dealing with them.

We got a better sense of all the supporting characters, as one would expect/hope, and I enjoyed them all. This is really a pleasant little universe that Priest has given us and I hope we get to hang out with these characters for a good while to come.

Flight Risk would be a good introductory novel for this series as well as a pleasant continuation for those who read Grave Reservations—it’s light(ish) fun with a dash of the supernatural to enliven the mystery, the combination of police and amateur detectives working together is a tried and true way to make things entertaining—and Priest uses it well. This novel hit the spot for this reader, and I look forward to another case or two soon. I definitely recommend this one to you.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Atria Books via NetGalley in exchange for this post that reflects my honest opinion—thanks to both for this.

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

REPOSTING: From the Mailbag: Reading the Wolfe Books for the First Time

By HCNewton

On October 24, 2022

In Authors, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin, P-U, Rex Stout

With the earlier post about Fer-de-Lance, it seemed like a good day to repost this, too. I apparently sampled a paragraph or two from the Fer-de-Lance write-up I shared earlier, too. Sorry for the repetition.

I received this email in response to my Happy Birthday, Archie! post last week.

Soooooo, each year you post this, each year I say I’m going to start…just put a request in for Fer-de-Lance, the first of the Nero Wolfe books, right?

Thanks for the question! This is a tricky one for me, and one that I’ve thought too long about already. I’m going to write for the person already interested in the series, and not to convince you to read them—this is practical advice only, no incitement.

Short answer: Maybe.

Longer answer (which I’ll still try to keep under control, because I tend to be hard to stop on this subject, and some of this is adapted from other things I’ve written. Also, because if I start fact-checking some of this, I’ll find myself spending hours, even days, on this, so I might make some minor errors)^*:

Rex Stout’s Fer-de-Lance is the first of 40+ books (novels or short story collections) featuring the exploits of private investigator Archie Goodwin (2 parts Huck Finn, 1 part Philip Marlowe) and his eccentric employer, Nero Wolfe (1 part Sherlock Holmes, 1 part Mycroft Holmes)—yes, I am one of those who think that Archie’s the main character in the mis-nomered Nero Wolfe Mysteries. It makes perfect sense to start with Fer-de-Lance and read chronologically. I did it myself a couple of years back for the first time (I’ve been reading these books for about 30 years now, and its odd that it took me so long), and I picked up subtle nuances, little callbacks and references that I’d missed before. There are almost no story or character arcs that go beyond a book (exceptions are noted below), and (most of) those that do, are easy enough to pick up and don’t spoil too much. Yes, there are introductions of new characters, a character death or two, but by and large you can dip in anywhere and not notice.

Yes, read the short story collections when you come across them in the chronology. Even if you’re not a short fiction reader, do it. There are some utter gems tucked away in those (and I spent too much time ignoring them).
The short story collection Death Times Three was published posthumously, but I’m pretty sure they were published in magazines, etc. before the last novel, A Family Affair. Read the collection after Please Pass the Guilt and before A Family Affair. A Family Affair works so, so well as a series finale that it should be treated as one whether or not Stout wrote it as one. It’s oft-debated, but I’m convinced that if Stout lived another year, we’d have had another novel. But he didn’t. So, again, A Family Affair should be the last you read—even if you don’t read chronologically.

In reading about Rex Stout/Nero Wolfe (either by fans or professionals), there’s an oft-quoted line from Walter D. Edmonds that you simply cannot avoid seeing, “I shall never forget my excitement on reading Fer-de-Lance, sprung like Athena perfect form the Jovian brow, fresh and new and at the same time with enough plain familiar things in scene and setting to put any reader at his ease.” Aside from Oliver Wendell Holmes’ margin note (“This fellow is the best of them all.”), there’s nothing that sums up Fer-de-Lance better, sprung like Athena indeed.

It really doesn’t matter how many times you’ve read it, but upon re-reading (and probably even initial reading if this isn’t your first encounter with Wolfe and Archie) you can’t help be struck by how much Fer-de-Lance fits the model of a mature Wolfe novel—almost all the elements are there. These characters are introduced in practically their final format—a little tweak here and there over the course of the first few novels will get them in their final form. The addition of a few other characters will be necessary, but the cast of characters is already over 90% complete. In the first chapter alone we already have Wolfe, Archie, Fritz, Theodore, Fred and Saul presented in a manner fully recognizable to the familiar reader. The story follows a fairly typical route (although the identity of the murderer is revealed far earlier than is the norm), and the essential environmental elements are there—the beer, Wolfe’s eccentric schedule, the orchids, a relapse, the food, a cocky scheme to land a client, an outrageous stratagem for getting that last essential piece of evidence (not that Wolfe needs it to solve the crime, merely to prove he was correct)—the only thing missing is the gathering of the witnesses/suspects/clients for Wolfe to reveal everything in his characteristically dramatic fashion. One recurring thought I had while reading it the last time was that Fer-de-Lance could just as easily have been the fifteenth installment in the series as the first.

If you didn’t understand half of what I wrote above because you’re new to the corpus, well, you’ll get it soon enough. There’s a formula of sorts to Wolfe/Archie novels—violated all the time, despite what we purists like to think, these variations on the theme are some of our favorite moments. You’ll pick the formula up quickly, and find it as comfortable as Wolfe’s nigh-inviolable daily schedule.

So while there is glacial development, the order is almost negligible. I do endorse and suggest a chronological read—but it’s not essential. In fact, I typically recommend The Golden Spiders (#22) or Before Midnight (#25) to newbies before plunging into Fer-de-Lance, they’re among my favorites, and are pretty representative of the fully-developed Wolfe/Archie. A&E used The Golden Spiders as the pilot to their recent series, so I’m not alone in thinking it serves as a good introduction. If you like them in their final form, you’ll have an easier time appreciating Wolfe/Archie in their almost-final form in the early books. Think of the development of Bugs Bunny over the first few shorts as a rough analogue.

Therefore, if your library/used bookstore isn’t sufficiently stocked to do the chronological read, you shouldn’t avoid the series and can dip in wherever you can. It’s like old episodes of Law & Order that you come across on cable. But there are a few things you should read in a certain order for full understanding/emotional impact, and a few others you should read after you’ve acclimated to the world/series a bit, you’ll enjoy/appreciate them more than if they’re in the first five:

The Doorbell Rang (#41)
Too Many Women (#12)—a lot of people think Archie comes off like a cad here, it’s never bothered me, however. Still, if you already like him, you’ll forgive him this.
And Be a Villain (#13), The Second Confession (#15), and In the Best Families (#17)—just seeing the numbers now, surprises me—I’d have thought these were in the 30’s. If Stout had been planning out a 40+ book series, he’d have put them later. Not only should you read them with experience in the series, these three need to be read in this order. There is an omnibus edition in many libraries with these three called Triple Zeck.
The Black Mountain (#24) would be best read after Over My Dead Body (#7), and after you’re acclimated to the world.

A couple of other suggestions:

Some Buried Caesar (#6)—should be read early (but not first) and often.
A Right to Die (#40) should be read only after Too Many Cooks (#5), it’s one of the only times that a non-regular character shows up again. There’s some racially-tinged language in Too Many Cooks that Archie’d grow out of almost immediately. Remember it was originally published in 1938 and cut him a little slack—mostly, be happy that he grows out of it.
And again, A Family Affair should be read pretty much when there’s nothing left.

Granted, these are all only suggestions. But ones made by a passionate fan. Still, at the end of the day, just read these books, you’ll enjoy them.

Maybe sometime I’ll get into the official continuations by Robert Goldsborough in a post like this.

^* Okay, I lied—I pulled up the goodreads page for the series so I could get the numbers on them just to help. But that’s it.

Racing the Light by Robert Crais: Spooks Spooking. Detectives Detecting. Killers Killing.

By HCNewton

On October 21, 2022

In Elvis Cole/Joe Pike, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Robert Crais

Racing the Light

by Robert Crais

DETAILS:
Series: Elvis Cole, #18
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: November 1, 2022
Format: eARC
Length: 368 pg.
Read Date: October 12-14, 2022