Category: Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller Page 139 of 153

I swear this isn’t turning into all Evanovich all the time (if for no other reason, than I haven’t read any more). Just needed to clear out a backlog yesterday.

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Explosive Eighteen

by Janet Evanovich
Series: Stephanie Plum, #18

Mass Market Paperback, 320 pg.
Bantam, 2012

Stephanie Plum novels are starting to remind me of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? — a couple of real, flesh and blood people, surrounded on every side by cartoons. Which can be amusing enough, I guess, but I’m afraid it’s going to go too far one day soon.

The best part of this book — both in terms of Stephanie the crime fighter and Stephanie the one angle in a triangle — takes place entirely prior to this novel — but its impact shapes a lot of this one. That’ll make sense if you read the book, otherwise, sorry.

Still, there’s a lot to like in this one — there’s an ambition to the story that’s not common to the Plum books. Between the FBI and the various criminal enterprises represented, this could be a compelling gritty story in another series. Evanovich is at her best when balancing the serious with the silly — and in the main story, she achieves that this go ’round.

Of course, the amount of Joyce Barnhardt in this one is enough to put me off, and Lula’s plot is dumber than normal. Vinnie skews more towards the criminally stupid than the disgusting, so I think that’s a plus. But on the whole, the parts of this that have nothing to do with the aftermath of Hawaii and her flight home, drag this one down.

I spent a good deal of time while reading this trying to figure out what Joe or Ranger see in Stephanie — or vice versa. I got no closer to an answer than I have before. But really? There’s so little between these people.

Still, fun enough to justify the time.

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3 Stars

Dusted Off: Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich

By HCNewton

On December 16, 2013

In Authors, Fiction, Janet Evanovich, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Stephanie Plum

Lean Mean Thirteen

by Janet Evanovich
Series: Stephanie Plum, #13

Mass Market Paperback, 330 pg.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 2008

In the 14th book, many series are showing their age, getting annoyingly repetitive/derivative…and just dull. Not Stephanie Plum (‘tho you could make the case that some of the earlier books did). Really, really good read–fun, complicated case. Not too slapstick-y (there is still slapstick–it is a Plum book)–no time at a mortuary (yay!), even Joyce adds something to the storyline (which she hasn’t done in ages).

Action, laughs, a wee bit o’ character development–all in all, a solid Plum adventure. One of Evanovich’s best.

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4 Stars

Dusted Off: Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich

By HCNewton

On December 16, 2013

In Authors, Fiction, Janet Evanovich, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Stephanie Plum

Twelve Sharp

by Evanovich
Series: Stephanie Plum, #12

Mass Market Paperback, 322 pg.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 2007

Best Plum in a long while (not that Eleven on Top was all that bad), and I’m so relieved. I’d really started to get tired of the series’ schtick. But this time out, we got some good character development; one of the best bad guys in a long, long time; less of the annoying aspects of the books; and enough laughs to remind me why I started reading these books in the first place.

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4 Stars

Dusted Off: To the Nines by Janet Evanovich

By HCNewton

On December 16, 2013

In Authors, Fiction, Janet Evanovich, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Stephanie Plum

To the Nines

by Janet Evanovich
Series: Stephanie Plum, #9

Mass Market Paperback, 320 pg.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 2004

There’s no such thing as a bad Stephanie Plum book (at least this far in the series, with the possible exception of Visions of Sugar Plums), but there have been a few that were less-good. This is not one of them, possibly the best since One for the Money.

There’s real tension here, and plenty of genuine laughs (including the grossest visual I’ve read in months). Some of the long-term story lines get some actual advancement as well (finally!). There should be more to say, but I can’t think of it. This is Evanovich at her best–which is a heckuva lot of fun.

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4 Stars

Dusted Off: High Five by Janet Evanovich

By HCNewton

On December 16, 2013

In Authors, Fiction, Janet Evanovich, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Stephanie Plum

High Five

by Janet Evanovich
Series: Stephanie Plum, #5

Mass Market Paperback, 317 pg.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 2000

One part Spenser, one part Lucy Ricardo, that’s the recipe for success that got Evanovich & Stephanie Plum to book #5 and it served them well here, too.

I found the mystery this time around more satisfying than most of this series’ cases have been–and the antics (while plenty amusing) are slightly less madcap than usual (which is a good thing).

Hive Five delivers a great mix of twists and turns, a little romance, plenty of laughs. Great read.

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4 Stars

Blades of Winter by G.T. Almasi

By HCNewton

On December 12, 2013

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Science Fiction

Blades of Winter by G.T. Almasi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If we didn’t already have a term, “kickass female protagonist,” someone would have to invent it to discuss this book. Almasi’s Alix Nico — a 19-year-old bionically enhanced superspy is everything you want in a heroine — smart, sassy, and reckless — she’s an adrenaline junkie, a crack short, and has the beginning of a drinking problem. Equal parts Juno MacGuff, Jaime Sommers (Wagner, not Ryan), and Syd Brystow.

The action kicks off during the first sentence and really doesn’t stop until the last couple of pages. There are a couple breaks for agency briefings and hospital recovery times following a mission, true — but otherwise, it’s flying around the world, running/driving down alleyways and shooting up bad guys.

ExOps is the well-oiled covert machine that Alix works for — as her mother does, and her father did. All her life, really, had revolved around this — her schooling, her family and now her career — her rivals, friends, and boyfriend/partner are all part of this. By and large, the ExOps characters are stock characters, but Almasi’s put enough individuality to them to make them well-rounded. Alix is a prodigy of sorts, shooting up through the ranks faster than most — and sometimes cutting a few corners to do that — which leads to a lot of scrutiny from her mentor, colleagues and superiors. She’s too valuable to be wasted, too green to be fully trusted, and too reckless to be left to her own devices.

As great as the bionically-enhanced fight scenes are, as much as I dig the characters — the thing that seals the deal on this book for me is the setting. He starts with a World War II where Germany has a lot more success, which leads to a different kind of Cold War — between the U. S., Greater Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Nationalist Republic of China(!). This “Shadowstorm” (catchier name than Cold War, don’t ya think?) propels intense scientific progress — particularly as it relates to weapons and spycraft development. So by the early 1980s (where we pick up the action), the weapons and related tech far surpass our own. Yet it feels pretty 80’s-ish. I’m not sure how Almasi does that (beyond references to Reagan — actually, I really liked the whole presidential history we’re given here), but I’ll take it.^* Despite the world taking on a literally different shape, it still feels like reality. Most alt-histories I’ve run across feel like parodies of reality, this feels like the real thing.

This novel is told with wit, verve and panache — a fun read that I immediately passed on to my teenage sons. Hope that Almasi has a few of these in his tank.

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^*(okay, sure, some of the slang seems more Twenty-Teens than Alt-80’s, but, eh, in the moment you buy most of it — that’s enough)

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4 Stars

Shake Down by Joel Goldman

By HCNewton

On December 11, 2013

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

Shake Down

by Joel Goldman
Kindle Edition, 397 pg
Amazon Digital Services, 2011

Goldman’s pulled off what so many try, and so few succeed: a new (and worthwhile) angle on a procedural that raises it above the masses.

He doesn’t do it with story — I think that’s an almost impossible task — he pulls it off with character. It’s the easiest, and the most effective — characters will stick with you a lot longer than stories. FBI Agent Jack Davis is one of those characters that’s taken up residence in the back of my brain.

Jack’s not doing well — his wife is divorcing him, his adult daughter is doing everything she can to call into question the term “adult” — in recovery (again), dating an undercover FBI agent of dubious character (in Jack’s mind, anyway), he’s still morning the murder of his son years before, and he’s barely hanging onto his career until he can retire with full benefits.

Even this is familiar ground — Jack’s dealing with some sort of undiagnosed neurological disorder causing uncontrollable shakes, momentary blackouts and confusion. And he has to keep this quiet, because the instant the FBI catches a whiff of this, he’s out of a job.

So how does Jack deal with this while investigating a number of drug-related murders? Particularly when it becomes clear to Jack (if not anyone else) that these murders are far beyond simple turf battles. Well, that’s his challenge.

Goldman clearly did a lot of homework for this one — particularly on microexpressions as indicators of truth-telling/lying, and Kansas City history — and it shows. Frequently clumsily. His info-dumps didn’t detract too much from the story, but they sure didn’t add to it.

The procedural part was solid, if uninspired, the requisite twists and turns — ditto for the plot and suspense — basically, the skeleton was there. The flesh he put on it, the characters — not only Jack and his family, but his fellow FBI agents, the suspects, criminals, and bystanders — they brought life to this, and made it better than the sum of its parts.

I’ll be back for more.

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3 Stars

Concourse by S. J. Rozan

By HCNewton

On December 10, 2013

In Authors, Fiction, Lydia Chin & Bill Smith, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, S. J. Rozan

Concourse

by S.J. Rozan
Series: Lydia Chin & Bill Smith, #2

Hardcover, 280 pg.
Minotaur Books, 1996

I was pretty enthused to grab the second book in the Lydia Chin/Bill Smith series — Lydia’s voice and character was so strong, and her interaction with her sometimes partner Bill was not your usual P.I. partner/friend/sounding board fare. You add in the strong possibility of another case in/around Chinatown? This really had the look of a series I could sink my teeth into.

And almost immediately, that all came to a crashing halt. The voice wasn’t quite right, the interactions the first person narrator had with the other character didn’t fit Lydia — ohhhh, it dawns on me — Concourse is from Bill’s point of view. Huh. Whaddayaknow?

After the initial confusion and mental gear-shifting, I settled in for a good read. This is a gloomier, darker read than China Trade. Bill doesn’t have the same fight, the same ambition that Lydia does — and a whole different set of demons to deal with. Some of which we see here: Bill’s called in to help a former mentor/father figure with problem that’s resulted in the death of another member Bill’s surrogate family. He takes an undercover role in the investigation and calls in Lydia to uncover what she can about the parties involved from the outside.

What follows is a twisted path down real estate, NYC politics, revenge, the dark side of charity, the way the elderly are treated, and a touch of redemption. There’s a few punches thrown, some gun play, a lot of booze. Your basic ingredients for what this is — a solid PI novel.

The thing that’s kept me thinking is the Lydia/Bill relationship/dynamic. It felt a little different this time, coming from Bill’s perspective. But the core was the same. It was pretty clear in China Trade that Bill’s feelings for Lydia go beyond the flirtation she’s determined to see them as, but it was still nice to see that fully — he’s serious about her, but is willing to wait for her to come around. However playful it seemed for her, it’s not for him (again, I was pretty sure of that last time). It makes his flirtation a little less enjoyable, a little more sad.

In the end, I have a better perspective of the two of them as characters, a fuller picture. After years of seeing Elvis Cole and Joe Pike in the Elvis Cole series, Robert Crais really only gives us the same looks at the same characters in the books told from Pike’s perspective (this is nothing negative about Crais, it’s only a thought I had now, and in a moment of leisure I might come back to and further develop). So for Rozan to pull this off is quite an accomplishment.

I don’t know who will be telling the tale in the next book — I’ll hopefully figure it out a bit more quickly — and I don’t care, either way, I’m looking forward to it.

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3 Stars

Dusted Off: Cherry Bomb by J. A. Konrath

By HCNewton

On December 9, 2013

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

Cherry Bomb

by J.A. Konrath
Hardcover, 290 pg.
Hyperion, 2009

If you thought Rusty Nail was taught, action-packed, and gut-punchingly grisly, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. This picks up a couple of days afterwards and jumps into action almost immediately. Konrath seems determined to pick apart his heroine, to destroy her mind, soul, and body the way one of his serial killer characters would. And the series — and maybe Jack herself — is better off for it

I don’t know what to say about this that doesn’t veer into spoiler-territory, so I’ll just leave it as this–I lost sleep over this book, there was no way I was going to wait to finish this — and anyway, given the adrenaline this induced, it’s not like I could sleep anyway.

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4 1/2 Stars

Dusted Off: Rizzo’s Daughter by Lou Manfredo

By HCNewton

On December 9, 2013

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

Rizzo’s Daughter

by Lou Manfredo
Hardcover, 304 pg.
Minotaur Books, 2012

Not the best of the Rizzo books, but it’s still one of the most compelling and honest (and brutal) books I’ve read this year.

Manfredo has never shied away from the ethical gray areas — this time he dives in further than before (and honestly, maybe veers to the more black than gray area).

The mini-cases that are featured here, alongside the two major cases, as perhaps more interesting than their counterparts and once again give you insight into the world of the NYPD as much as they give you something interesting to read. The procedure is authentic, the violence isn’t dazzling as it is in similar books, which makes it more brutal and more real.

Even though this wasn’t my favorite, what Manfredo has set up for the two Rizzos in blue can’t come fast enough for me. So glad I stumbled onto this series.

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3 Stars