Wow, Nick Kolakowski is back for a fourth go ’round with my questions. I’m a major fan, and really enjoy these. I hope you do, too. Be sure to check out my take on his upcoming novel, Rattlesnake Rodeo earlier today.
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| When New York City went into lockdown, I threw myself into writing and editing. It became my coping mechanism, to such a degree that I had to step away a bit a few months later. First I poured my energy into “Lockdown,” a charity anthology of horror and crime stories that I co-edited for Polis Books; proceeds went to support BINC, which is helping booksellers through this weird time. With that completed, I finished work on “Absolute Unit,” a horror novella coming out next year from Crystal Lake Publishing; I’d started writing it last year, well before the pandemic, but it has some uncomfortable echoes with what’s happening now—mass infection is a big theme. By that point, I was pretty fritzed out, so I started trying to balance out the schedule; less writing, more actually getting outside. |
| It felt good! With contemporary crime fiction, you don’t have quite the same pressure of world-building as you do with sci-fi and dystopian fiction. That being said, I did struggle with the plot of “Rattlesnake” a bit—for the longest time, I had the first two-thirds written, but couldn’t figure out a way to end it that really came together. |
| The Wilburys were the inspiration for the name. And there was a lot of temptation to unleash him in a particularly messy/funny/creative way. What held me back was, of all things, Hannibal Lecter.
Specifically, when I was writing “Rattlesnake,” I was also watching both Hannibal Lector movies, and what I noticed was that Hannibal was a more effective character the less he was shown doing. He’s an incredibly powerful character in “Silence of the Lambs,” but aside from talking, he doesn’t do terribly much beyond his brief escape at the end; his power comes from his reputation. In the sequel, by contrast, he’s doing lots of things, and that drains the mystique from the character; he becomes something of a hammy joke. So that curbed my impulses to do something grand with Monkey Man. Sometimes I think I resisted that impulse a little too much, though. Someone who dresses like that is no doubt capable of some freaky shit. |
| Nope! In so many thrillers, there’s this cliché of a civilian character (whether the wife, daughter, husband, etc.) who falls apart completely under stress, and I wanted to steer away from that as hard as I could. Janine’s ability to deal with the situation, I felt, also gave some additional nuance to Jake and Frankie—they’re so tough that they can’t grasp that someone like Janine, who doesn’t have any criminal or combat experience, might be totally adaptable to a hard situation; it’s a huge blind spot that reveals something about their egos. |
| I’m not sure there’s a risk in it. This summer, I read S.A. Cosby’s “Blacktop Wasteland” and David Heska Wanbli Weiden’s “Winter Counts,” both excellent thrillers/mysteries that take place in areas not well-trod by most crime fiction (rural Virginia and a Native American reservation, respectively). Both of those books have tons of esoteric detail about those locations, and it adds a lot of nice texture to the narrative. I look at “Rattlesnake” (and “Boise Longpig Hunting Club”) the same way—a substantial portion of the audience is never going to go to Nyssa or any of those towns along the Snake River; they’re never going to swing by Fanci Freez, which has some of the nation’s finest milkshakes; but hopefully all the detail gives them a sense of place. |
| “Absolute Unit,” a horror novella told from the perspective of a sentient parasite living inside the body of a corrupt health inspector, is the next one (mid-2021)! Then after that, there’s another novella, “Payback is Forever,” that should come out from Shotgun Honey in late 2021. The latter is my attempt at a classic Chandler-style thriller, although there’s a contemporary twist to it that the audience will hopefully never see coming. |
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Rattlesnake Rodeoby Nick Kolakowski eARC, 162 pg. Read: September 8, 2020 |
In 2018, I read my first book by Nick Kolokowski, Boise Longpig Hunting Club, which is pretty much everything you think it is from the title. In the two years and change since then, I’ve read five other books by Kolokowski—well, six now. That alone should be an indication of what I think about his stuff.
What’s Rattlesnake Rodeo About?
This is the sequel to Boise Longpig Hunting Club, taking up minutes after it. Spoilerly talk about BLHC—bounty hunter, Jake; his sister, Frankie (a gun smuggler); and ex-wife/fiancé, Janine (who has nothing to do with criminals); are kidnapped by a group of super-wealthy people, and set loose in an Idaho forest while they’re being hunted. Jake and Frankie are a lot more resourceful than anyone expected—and Janine has depth that no one expected—and they end up killing all the hunters.
We rejoin them in this book headed back to Boise. They have a number of emotions and thoughts running through their minds at this time—as they should—the most prominent of them is: how are we going to get away with this? There’s no way that they didn’t leave all sorts of DNA, fingerprints and other sorts of evidence behind that’ll make forensic techs happy. And there will be scores of techs, investigators, agents and what have you at the crime scene—very rich, very important people died up there and someone is going to have to pay for that. Oh, and Frankie wants fries. You work up an appetite fighting for your life.
Karen
They quickly learn about one person who not only has links to the Longpig Hunters, evidence about Jake and Frankie’s involvement, and a reputation to make people quake in their boots. Like Prince, Madonna, or Hawk (to bring it back to crime fiction), she’s known by one name: Karen.
Quick aside: I wonder if in early drafts, she was called something like Margo or Helen, but given, well, all of 2020, Kolakowski decided to go back and change it. Or did he have enough foresight months ago to go with that?
Back to the book: Karen offers them a deal, they do one incredibly horrible task for her, or she ruins the lives and reputations of Jake, Frankie, and Janine. They have no choice…they have to find an Option C.
Gunfights, treachery, and (obviously) rattlesnakes ensue.
Frankie and Her Troops
In almost every novel I’d normally read, Frankie and her employees would be the targets of the protagonist, not their ally. But I’ve gotta say, for a bunch of gun-running criminals, benefiting from the miseries of others (and being a means to innocents being killed at the hands of their customers), they’re a lot of fun. There’s a fun sense of camaraderie and some good banter among them. They’re a pretty effective squad, too. Kolakowski could write a pretty entertaining series featuring these guys. And not just because they’re led by a man who always wears a rubber gorilla mask.
Which is fitting, considering how cool their boss is. Spenser has Hawk, Kenzie and Gennaro have Bubba, Elvis Cole has Joe Pike, Walt Longmire has Henry Standing Bear, Joe Pickett has Nate Romanowski, Sunny Randall has Spike, and Jake has Frankie. The “not-bound by the same laws and ethics that the series protagonist is” so that the protagonist can keep his/her nose clean and still get the job done. They’ll cut the corners, they’ll take and make the shots that no one else will, they’ll be the ones to use lethal force when their friend just can’t bring themselves to do it—and they won’t feel guilt (at least not enough to interfere with their ability to get things done).
Frankie is, as far as I know, the only female lethal sidekick, in crime fiction. Through grit, determination, skill, and panache—Frankie is what ultimately keeps her brother and sister-in-law breathing. It’s just fun to see a female in this role, particularly one that fits. I could never see Sunny Randall go toe-to-toe with some of the dudes she needs to without Spike (or Jesse, or Richie, or Richie’s family)—but I can see Frankie (like Lori Anderson or Charlie Fox) do it without blinking.
The Setting
I’ve talked a little about this in the other book, but it’s fun for me to see the region I’ve lived my whole life in depicted so well in these pages. I enjoy anyone finding a way to bring a crime novel to life outside of Boston, NYC, New Jersey, Chicago, Miami or LA—Elmore Leonard, Jason Miller, Craig Johnson, C. J. Box, Darynda Jones, and G. M. Ford have/continue to do a good job of that, but there needs to be more*. Kolakowski brings my corner of the world into that fold (Jayne Faith did it in Urban Fantasy, and Wesley Chu set a Tao book near where the climax of this novel took place). It’s nice not having to use my imagination much when picturing a scene, at the same time—if I’d never been anywhere near this place, Kolakowski depicts it well enough that someone from Michigan, Mississippi, or New Mexico would have no problem seeing what he’s going for.
* I don’t pretend that’s an exhaustive list, still feel free to add others I should get to know.
So, what did I think about Rattlesnake Rodeo?
You could feel the dread coming off of Jake and Frankie as they thought about the police and (probably) feds coming for them after surviving the last novel, you could feel their hatred (for Karen) and revulsion for their task for her, and you could sense the chaos, smell the smoke, and taste the air from the big scenes at the end of the novel. There are significant portions of this novel you experience as much as you read. You’ve gotta love that.
There was one death that totally caught me unprepared and left me stunned. The violence felt a little more grounded than the genre demands, but Kolakowski knows when to loosen the reins and let things go a little over the top. Which is just fun.
At the same time, there’s a great sense of enjoyment to this novel—to the characters, what they do, and how they go about it. It’s the kind of action novel that gets your fists pumping as much as anything else.
Just the fact that the novel starts with the trio worried about all the evidence they left behind made this a winner—how many characters in novels worry about that sort of thing? Add in the characters—from the oddity of Monkey Man, to the implausibly competent Frankie, to the quiet strength of Janine, to the terror that is Karen—and the great balance of tones, and you’ll see why Kolakowski is my favorite US indie Crime Novelist.
I strongly recommend Rattlesnake Rodeo, whether or not you read BLHC first, it’s a fun ride.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from the author in exchange for this post and my honest opinion, I appreciate the opportunity.
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Silent Biteby David Rosenfelt eARC, 304 pg. Read: September 16-18, 2020 |
Wow. Andy Carpenter #22. That’s hard to believe. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I started reading these (I think back in the single digits). But all-in-all, it’s been a fun ride. How’s this one stack up?
What’s Silent Bite About?
When Andy and his family return from a holiday cruise (a novella describing that in more detail than we got here would quickly become a fan favorite, no doubt), he’s got a bunch of messages from Willie Miller. A friend, and former cellmate, of Willie’s has been arrested for murder. Both Willie and his friend, Tony Birch, want Andy to take the case and clear him. Andy wants nothing to do with a problematic looking case*, but Willie’s a friend—and Andy’s son, Ricky, has pointed out that Willie does stuff for Andy all the time. Also, Tony has a dog that’s miserable without him around.
* or any case, really.
The murder victim is one of the witnesses against Birch for the manslaughter charge that put him in prison with Willie years ago. At the trial, Tony threatened to kill him (and a few others) for turning on him, after years in a gang together. But upon his release from prison, years before this new murder, Tony had turned his life around—he owned and operated a fairly successful auto repair garage, and had no interest in criminal activity again. So why seek vengeance now?
And why be as utterly stupid with the murder weapon as the prosecution wants people to believe?
But then another witness against Tony in the original case turns up dead, and things start looking really bad for him. So it’s up to Andy and his team to save the day.
Zoey, the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever
I really don’t have much to say about Zoey, Tony’s dog, but I’ve never heard of her breed before—and I don’t feel too bad about that Andy hadn’t seen one before. If your day could use a little lift, take a minute or two to scroll through some pictures online. Cute dogs.*
* That’s a tautology, I realize.
The New Associate
In most of his cases, Andy Carpenter utilizes an associate to do the ugly detailed work, filing motions, looking up pertinent case law, and so on, while Andy goes around visiting people, investigating, getting saved from certain peril by Marcus Clerk, and being snarky and clever in court. He started with Kevin Randall, who owned a laundromat and gave legal advice to those who couldn’t afford it. He eventually moved on and Hike Lynch moved in—largely, I think because Hike is a more entertaining character than Kevin. Well, Hike isn’t around for this one and he suggests Eddie Dowd step in.
Eddie used to play for the Giants, but a knee injury ended that career, so he went to law school. He speaks almost entirely in sports phrases (spike the ball, put me in, pitch in, and so on). It’s fairly ridiculous, but when done right, it’s pretty funny. He’s a nice change from the Eeyore-like character that Hike had been. I’m not sure if he’ll be back, or if Hike will return—I’ll be glad to see him if he is, even if it seems like the joke about his figures of speech will get old. I have faith in Rosenfelt. I’d have thought that Hike’s extreme pessimism or Kevin’s hypochondria would.
So, what did I think about Silent Bite?
I thought the identity of the killer was pretty obvious, but Rosenfelt’s execution of the reveal and of keeping Andy from seeing the solution all along sold me. I can’t be more descriptive of that because I don’t want to tip anything. It was a great conclusion to a really solid legal thriller, that comes with all the canine affection, snappy dialogue, some clever courtroom action, and a solid plot. Pretty much what the doctor ordered.
Once we got The K Team this year, with Muzzled as well, I didn’t figure we’d have a Holiday Andy Carpenter book. Then when I saw this was coming, I worried it wouldn’t live up to the other Holiday books in this series. I kept being wrong about this book—we got it and it wasn’t a let-down. Rosenfelt managed to give us three strong novels in 2020 (hey, look, 2020 didn’t wind up in a disaster on one front!)—that right there, folks, is a sign of a professional.
Whether you’re new to the world of this would-be retired criminal defense lawyer and are in the mood for a witty and sharp legal thriller, or if you’re familiar with Andy and his associates—this will entertain you. You’d do well to give this a shot.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for this post—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, opinions are my own.
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Next to Last Standby Craig Johnson Hardcover, 320 pg. Read: September 23-25, 2020 |
I placed my hands on my hips and stared at the recently departed. It was true that he wasn’t a man I particularly liked, but fate had brought him in contact with me and now he was dead wand that made me partially responsible….
“Earth to Walt.” I turned and looked at her as she smiled. “So, you’re getting pissed, huh?” She stood beside me, toeing a tuft of grass. “There’s always a point where you start taking it personally. I like that part because that’s when shit starts happening, and I like it when shit starts happening.” She turned her face toward me, listening as I clenched my fists, like a cinch being tightened ion a saddle. “So, is shit about to start happening?”
“I believe so.”
What’s Next to Last Stand About?
An elderly resident at the Veterans’ Home of Wyoming (“The Sailor’s & Soldier’s Home of Wyoming”) dies of an apparent heart attack—which saddens, Walt, he liked Charley Lee Stillwater (and Cady loved the man). But what gets him coming back is the fact that among his possessions is a shoebox full of hundred dollar bills. Ten thousand of them, in fact. Where does a man like Charley Lee come up with that? And is there a clue among the surprising amount of books about art, art history, and General Custer in his room?
And the presence of a million dollars does cast a little doubt on the heart attack if only to be thorough. That’s a great motive to kill someone—or at least the beginning of one. Things develop from there as they tend to when Walt gets curious. He ends up involving art experts from all over the state (and even the world)—experts who may be more interesting than the art they’re discussing.
I want to spend more time at The Sailor’s & Soldier’s Home—I liked both the staff and the residents we spent time with. The souped-up motorized wheelchairs were great, and the people in them were even better. I just hope we don’t need another semi-suspicious death to get Walt back there.
The Custer material really serves as an excuse for Henry Standing Bear to sound off about Custer and the battle of Little Big Horn. I’d love to hear a few history lectures from Henry, the little bits we got here were enough to make me want more. Walt, Vic, and Henry (with an assist from Lucian) also give their (almost universally negative) opinions about all the movies made about the man and event. The Custer, Little Big Horn, and cinematic material alone is worth the effort to read this book.*
* Of course, with Johnson’s style, there’s not a lot of effort involved, so that may come across as faint praise.
Next to Last Stand in relation to the Rest of the Series
There’s a new staff member for the Absaroka Sheriff Department, and at least one member of the current staff is preparing to leave (how many is yet to be determined). Johnson either has big plans, or he’s writing himself into a corner where he’ll have to make some. I’m pretty curious about it either way.
But the bigger tie to the rest of the story is where this stands in relation to Depth of Winter. I enjoyed The Western Star, and thought the conclusion was a doozy. This led into Depth of Winter, which was good, but…wasn’t a Walt Longmire book. Land of Wolves focused on Walt’s recovery and was closer to what I expect in a Longmire book. Walt’s not back at 100%, physically or mentally. But he’s closer to it than he was in Land of Wolves, close enough that the book gets closer and closer to a typical Longmire read the further we get. Something about this case sparked whatever it was in Walt that he’d allowed to grow dormant since the last chapter of The Western Star.
It’s never really spelled out—it’s just obvious to those of us who’ve spent 16 books (plus the short stories) with the Sheriff. I’m not looking for the series to stagnate. I appreciate that every book in the series has a different feel than the others, and I don’t want that to change. I want Walt, Vic, Sancho, and the rest to develop. But there’s something about every non-Depth of Winter novel that remains quintessentially the same—I was more than a little worried that Johnson had left that behind in favor of the guy who took on a small army in Mexico. I’m glad to see I was probably worried about nothing.
The Return of an Old Friend
Lonnie Littlebird—Chief of the Cheyenne Nation and Tribal Elder—is back! It’s been too, too long since his smiling presence has graced this series. Um hmm, yes, it is so.
I’ve got nothing more to say about him, but as always, I perked up when I saw him. I just enjoy him (and am looking forward to hearing George Guidall’s narration of the audiobook, I like his Lonnie Littlebird).
Well, I guess I know what the Next Book is About?
There’s this subplot involving Henry Standing Bear, Tribal Police Chief Lolo Long (from As the Crow Flies, Dry Bones, and maybe a short story), Lolo’s niece, and Walt that looked like it was going to be a major part of this novel. And then it just…went away. I’m not talking about being unresolved, it was simply dropped with 150 pages to go.
Now that I stop and think for a minute, there was another subplot that didn’t get adequate resolution…maybe it’s setting the stage for something else, too?
I think Johnson’s too good to just drop stuff without a good reason (ditto for the editorial staff at Viking). I just can’t see the reasoning from here.
So, what did I think about Next to Last Stand?
“You do realize that being so conversant with wounds that you can estimate the amount of stitches needed to retain vital organs is not normal, right?”
I laughed. “What’s normal in this line of work anyway?”
“Good question.”
Abandoned storylines aside, I liked this so much. The world and characters we know and love have almost been absent—or at least not fully present—since 2016’s An Obvious Fact. But they’re all here, and it felt so good to be back. But even without that sense of relief, this was a fun book—had we got this book without the Mexico trip trilogy (for lack of a better name), I’d have enjoyed it as much. Clever mystery, great characters—both the guilty, the victims, and everyone else—with a conclusion that’s as entertaining as it is satisfying. I was in hog heaven.
Would this work as a jumping-on point to the series, or even to read as a stand-alone? Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Johnson’s strong on that point, you can jump on at almost any point and feel at home. You technically could read this as a stand-alone, but it’d be like eating just one Lays Potato Chip, I bet you cant. I’m already counting down the days until Walt Longmire #17, and there are too many of them.
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, opinions are my own.
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The Inheritance Gamesby Jennifer Lynn Barnes eARC, 372 pg. Read: September 11-12, 220 |
What’s The Inheritance Games About?
We begin by meeting Avery, a high school junior on a mission. She’s determined to get through high school without drawing a whole lot of attention (good or bad), to fly just under everyone’s radar—but to do so in a way that’ll pick up enough in scholarships to get to college and get to a stable and lucrative career (in actuarial science). Once she’s there, she can take time to breathe, time to relax. But not until then—now it’s about studying, working, and hopefully getting to help out the older sister that she lives with.
And then a mysterious—and obviously stinking rich—stranger shows up and tells her to get on a plane to Texas where she needs to be at the reading of a last will and testament. She knows no one in Texas, has never heard of the deceased, and can’t think of why she needs to be there. But hey, it’s a free trip for her and her sister (and she’s curious about the will).
The deceased is Tobias Hawthorne, a billionaire. With a B. He was the richest man in Texas and among the richest in the world. It turns out that he’s left almost everything to Avery. If she can live in his mansion (the word mansion doesn’t seem to cover it, but English doesn’t have a word that’d actually describe the place) for a year.
The difficulty in that lies in the rest of the household—there’s the staff who don’t seem all that welcoming, Hawthorne’s daughters and son-in-law who clearly resent the interloper, and Hawthorn’s four grandsons (all around her age) who were the presumptive heirs before she came along.
Avery and the grandsons (and, actually, pretty much everyone in the world once the story breaks) just want to know one thing—why her?
The Characters
I’ve been thinking all week about how to talk about the characters in this book, and I think the best way to get a handle on them is to think of them in three tiers (and as soon as I write that sentence, I think of a way to separate them into four, or maybe five, so admittedly, there are problems with this approach, but I’m sticking with it),
Tier One is simple: Avery and the four Hawthorne grandsons—Nash, Grayson, Jameson, and Xander. They aren’t as all well-drawn as the others (Avery, in particular), but any time they’re around, the reader and the scene focuses on them over everyone else. The novel is about them, everyone else is a supporting character. More than the other Tiers, each of these characters has an obvious goal, an obvious storyline, a motive to find out what Hawthorne was doing with this will. They’re three-dimensional characters (Nash could use some more definition, though). It’s hard to like them all consistently, but you can’t help but be curious about each of them.
Tier Two consists in Libby, Avery’s sister; Oren, her security chief; Alisa, the lawyer/primary contact with Hawthorne’s law firm (and Nash’s ex, but that’s another story); and Max, Avery’s best friend (who she only communicates with via text and telephone throughout the novel). It occurs to me that this group consists of people that Avery trusts (maybe she should, maybe she shouldn’t, but they haven’t given her a reason not to). We know them a little better than the rest, but the focus on them isn’t as great as it is on the Tier One characters. Of these, I really wanted more time with Max—and hope that the story will allow more interaction with Avery and Max in the sequels.
Tier Three is everyone else—people from their schools, consultants/employees of the estate, and well, anyone else who shows up. Most of these are little more than names and titles—some are filled out a little bit, but few are more than a two-dimensional sketch. If they get more than two dialogue lines, they’re interesting, and you typically want to know more about them and hope that Barnes finds an excuse to use them some more (with the exception of Libby’s boyfriend, who you just hope never to hear from again, every time he makes an appearance). Some of these may be trustworthy, but you have almost no reason to trust anyone on this Tier (Libby’s boyfriend is the exception—you have absolutely no reason to trust him). This is an interesting quirk of this world—there are precious few people that the sudden-heiress can trust, everyone has an agenda dealing with her, usually a hidden one.
Of course, looming over everything is the specter* of Tobias Hawthorne. As he’s dead, I don’t count him as a character. But his personality, his achievements, his machinations govern everything. As Xander notes (and Avery frequently remembers), even if she’d manipulated Tobias into this, she’d find he was manipulating her all along.
* Not literally, this isn’t that kind of book.
You take the large cast of characters that this represents, using them all (particularly Tier Three) as pieces of the puzzle themselves–and all of them providing multiple clues of various quality to the big question, and the word “complex” almost doesn’t cover the nature of this puzzle.
A Thought about Genre
I keep seeing references to this as a thriller. It is absolutely not a thriller. There are moments that could be seen as belonging to that genre, but they’re so brief that they don’t count.
This is a puzzle, this is a mystery, this is a mental exercise, a riddle. It’s practically a cozy (closer to one than it is a thriller, anyway).
That’s not a criticism of anything but the marketing. But anyone walking into this should not be expecting pulse-pounding tension, breakneck speeds (although it is generally fast-paced), and nail-biting action. This novel about the characters, it’s about figuring out motives, and the meaning of various acts.
So, what did I think about The Inheritance Games?
I picked this up just to read a chapter or two in order to get a flavor for it, then I was going to put it down for the evening, and pick it up again the next day. I ended up reading 30% of it before I had to stop—and read almost another 20% that night. It’s engaging, it’s smooth, it’s so, so, readable.
The pages just melt away and you get swept up in the story—as outlandish as it is. Without any effort, you not only suspend your disbelief, but you put a gag on it and stuff it in a closet somewhere.
There’s a definitive end, a puzzle is solved, and there’s a sense of resolution. Which is immediately replaced with the next puzzle and a promise of more to come in the sequel. So while I don’t think you can call it a cliff-hanger, you can definitely see the cliff just ahead on the path.
I’m a little annoyed that I saw The Westing Game referenced a few times in the marketing for this book. Because I really wanted to talk about the way that this had a similar feel to The Westing Game and be able to come across as insightful to do so, Instead, I’m just part of the echo chamber. Still, there’s a very Westing Game-vibe to The Inheritance Games, and as there are few books that I consider as clever, as well constructed, and as readable as Raskin’s book, that’s a high compliment.
This is just a fun, fun read. Pick it up.
My thanks to The Write Reads for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials they provided via Penguin Random House Children’s UK and Netgalley.
I’m very pleased today to welcome The Ultimate Blog Tour for The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. This Tour Stop consists in this little spotlight post and then my take on the novel coming along in a bit. Let’s start by learning a little about this novel, okay?
Book Details:
Book Title: The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Format: Hardcover/Ebook
Length: 384 pages
Book Blurb:
A Cinderella story with deadly stakes and thrilling twists, perfect for fans of One of Us is Lying and Knives Out.
Avery Grambs has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why–or even who Tobias Hawthorne is. To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man’s touch–and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes.
Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a con-woman, and he’s determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather’s last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK ~ Amazon US ~ Waterstones ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Indie Bound ~ Bookshop
My thanks to The Write Reads for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials they provided.
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Far from the Treeby Rob Parker, Warren Brown (Narrator) Unabridged Audiobook, 8 hrs., 53 min. Read: August 11-13, 2020 |
What’s Far from the Tree About?
I’ve tried several times to try to come up with a summary, and I just can’t without ruining something. So, let’s just appropriate the Publisher’s Summary, shall we?
Brendan Foley has worked to balance the responsibilities of a demanding job and a troublesome family. He’s managed to keep these two worlds separate, until the discovery of a mass grave sends them into a headlong collision. When one of the dead turns out to be a familiar face, he’s taken off the case.
Iona Madison keeps everything under control. She works hard as a detective sergeant and trains harder as a boxer. But when her superior, DI Foley, is removed from the case, her certainties are tested like never before.
With stories of the Warrington 27 plastered over the news, they set out to solve the crime before anyone else. The local constabulary is small and under-funded – Brendan knows they can’t crack this case alone, and he’s not letting a rival force take over. Not with the secrets he fears are lurking. Their investigations lead them into the murky underworlds of Manchester and Liverpool, where one more murder means little to drug-dealing gangs, desperate to control their power bases.
But as Madison steps into the ring for the fight of her life, the criminals come to them. It’s no coincidence that the corpses have been buried in Foley’s hometown. The question is, why? Foley might not like the answer….
Is There Anything I can Add to That?
Foley’s family is messed up, and he doesn’t do a lot to improve things (actually for most of this book he seems to be making it worse—while trying to help, I should add in his defense). Typically, the families of fictional police are either near-picture perfect or are pretty dysfunctional. Parker starts off making you think it’ll be the former, and then he changes course and leaves dysfunctional in the dust. Still, Foley comes across as the kind of cop you want to read about, the kind that you like to think you can find in police forces all over the world—sure, he needs some marriage counseling and needs to do some serious work when it comes to his kids. But who doesn’t have problems?
Madison’s boxing (and what drives her to it) is a great touch. It’s such a different character choice, and it really works. It gives her the right mix of self-destructive impulses, aggression, and self-discipline. On-duty, Madison’s just as interesting—seeing her torn between loyalty to Foley, devotion to duty, and wanting to solve the crime. She’s a great character, and I really hope that she plays a large role in the next two books.
What About the Narration?
This was an Audible Original, so the Audiobook experience is a big part of it. Brown was a great choice of narrator—he’s the perfect voice for this material. He captured and shaped the tone as he needed to, and gave the right performances for each character.
I can’t help feeling like I need to say more, but I just don’t know what else to say. If I had problems with the performance, I’d probably be able to go on longer, but when a narrator gets it right, like Brown does here, what else is there to say?
So, what did I think about Far from the Tree?
This was just brutal—and I mean that in the best possible way, because I can’t imagine that Parker and Brown were going for anything else. Every time—and I don’t think I’m exaggerating here—that I thought I knew where the story was going, what Parker was trying to do with one of the characters (except maybe Madison), what surprises he had up his sleeve, I was just minutes away from being proven wrong.
It was shocking—repeatedly—it was the textbook definition of gripping, unrelentingly so. Get your hands and ears on this one.
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The Secret of Rosalita Flatsby Tim W. Jackson eARC, 290 pg. Read: August 31-September 1, 2020 |
What’s The Secret of Rosalita Flats About?
Once upon a time, Cal Batten and his family lived on Blacktip Island (a Caribbean Resort island) in a strangely shaped house. At some point, his mother moves back to the mainland, taking Cal with her. Years later, following a divorce and struggling to keep his business alive, Cal’s back on the island. His father, Rhodes, has died and Cal’s come to get things in order and sell the house. Hopefully, he can make enough money to bail out his clock repair business.
Cal hasn’t been on the island in years, doesn’t want to be there now, and honestly hasn’t been in touch with his father enough to care about his death. But maybe, just maybe, some good can come out of things. But before he can get to that, he needs to: find the will and make sure he actually owns anything; make sense of his father’s financial situation (step 1: find out how he made any money); find someone to buy the house/land. None of these things prove easy.
There are plenty of people on the island who remember Cal (some of whom he has vague memories of), but most just know him as the stranger who’s come to sell the house—and either mistrust him as an outsider, or see him as a mark to take advantage of.* There’s a couple of childhood friends—Marina, who doesn’t seem to care that he’s back, and Rafe seems to be jealous of the romantic interest between Marina and Cal. There’s his father’s neighbors, who seem to be the most normal people on the island, there’s the fixit man who has premonitions (and a strange sense of humor) about Cal’s future, an eccentric man who will attack sinners with hammers for God, and a whole lot of people who seem more interested in bilking tourists and anyone else they can out of whatever money they have. Oh, and the world’s most loyal cleaning lady—who refuses to let Cal fire her (she’s been paid in advance for the whole year), and insists on helping him sort through papers and impose order on the house (which she has to break into at least once to do her job).
* Both are probably right to an extent.
Someone doesn’t want Cal to get the answers he’s looking for—and are acting as if Rhodes has some sort of treasure buried/hidden that they want to find first. The house is broken into and searched repeatedly, Cal’s stalked, things are stolen from the house, So now it becomes a race—who will find the will and/or whatever other riches might be left by Rhodes first?
Blacktip Island
Years ago, I read some/most of the books by Tom Bodett about a town in Alaska called The End of the Road. Each book was a collection of short stories about an eccentrics living in a small town.* Blacktip Island seems to be the same kind of place, if you look at Jackson’s website about it, The Blacktip Times, you kind of get the same feel. An entirely fictional place where any number of odd characters live simply to be used for off-kilter little stories.
* Lake Wobegon, Minnesota would also fit this, but I like Bodett and his town more than Keillor and his.
So, what did I think about The Secret of Rosalita Flats?
Essentially what you have here is a humorous Fish Out of Water story mixed with a Light Thriller, Cal keeps trying to get his answers (and some money) and is stymied by either a well-intentioned (generally) resident or his own ignorance of the Island (its history, culture, residents).
The cast of characters is large enough that you have a hard time getting a real sense for any of them other than Cal for most of the book (the cleaning lady and Marina are exceptions—but it takes most of the book before you really start to get a sense of them). Which is okay, because you don’t need to understand these characters to find them amusing.
And that’s the key to this book—it’s amusing. The Cal’s quest is interesting enough to keep you turning pages, but what makes it worthwhile is to see him run into various obstacles along the way and to interact with the residents. That’s what gives this book its distinctive flavor and will bring a grin to your face.
This is just the thing to read sitting in the shade (on a beach if you can find it) for an afternoon with a drink or two, enjoying a summer day.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from the author in exchange for my honest opinion and this post.
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Lone Jack Trailby Owen Laukkanen Hardcover, 322 Read: September 7, 2020 |
“Deputy.” Hart held up his hand. Then he sighed. “Jess. You haven’t worked a case this big before; I understand that. You’ve got a lot to learn, and sometimes I forget, but—”
“Sheriff—”
“But you’re going to find,” Hart continued, talking over her interruption, “that cases like these, they’re not generally head-scratchers. Most of the murders you’ll see, they’ll wrap up just about the way you expect them to. People get angry, they do something stupid. They, by and large, lack the capacity to cover it up.”
Jess made to speak again, but Hart wasn’t having it. He held his hand up again, palm out toward her.
Yes, that’s the case generally. But, there are exceptions to that rule. If not, there wouldn’t be a whole lot of books available in the Crime Fiction/Mystery/Thriller Genre.
What’s Lone Jack Trail About?
Since, the events of Deception Cove, the County Sheriff has retired and a new one has come in and has cleaned house. As part of Sheriff Hart’s efforts to right the ethical/legal ship, he’s hired Jess as a Deputy. Mason Burke has stuck around, too, and is working for the construction crew building Jess’s new house.
Things are looking up for both of them until another man is released from prison and comes to town. “Bad” Brock and Mason clash instantly and repeatedly, eventually coming to blows. So when Brock is found dead, Mason’s a potential suspect. Evidence starts to pile up and Mason stops being a “potential” suspect and becomes the only suspect.
Mason: The Suspect
He’d wondered, again, if he might not be better off turning himself in, putting his faith in the law and avoiding the possibility of further violence. But Mason knew he couldn’t do it.
If he wanted his name cleared, he would have to do it himself. And he would have to do it in a way that ensured no more innocent people were hurt.
Mason’s struggling with what happened in Deception Cove, but is trying to move on. Given his past, he’s definitely not one to complain about what’s happened to him. He also understands how he became a suspect and doesn’t hold it against Hart for suspecting him. He wishes Jess would help him more—but understands and doesn’t blame her for doing her job.
He’s seen enough, though, to know better than to trust the system. So he does as much of the legwork as he can to dig up evidence to exonerate himself. Sadly, circumstances and the guilty work harder to keep him from getting anywhere.
Jess: The Deputy
Mason Burke wasn’t a killer anymore. Jess simply couldn’t see how he’d do it…she believed he hadn’t killed Brock Boyd either, though in truth, on that count, she couldn’t be as sure.
He killed before, didn’t be? And didn’t you already prove you’re a piss-poor judge of a man’s character? Wasn’t your husband already the plain proof of that fact?
You need proof, she thought. Something concrete.
At the beginning of the novel, Jess is struggling with commitment. She wants to go “all in” with Mason, but after what her husband did to her (and so many others), it’s hard to trust. That’s in addition to the trauma from her service that she’s still dealing with (aided and comforted by Lucy).
Then when Brock’s body is found, she knows she needs to tell her boss about the bad blood between Brock and Mason. She doesn’t doubt in Mason’s innocence (well, maybe a little), but she knows how ex-cons do in the system. So she does what she can to look for other suspects—and eventually has to go beyond her orders to investigate.
“Bad” Brock Boyd: The Victim
I’m not suggesting this man deserved to die. I’m definitely not suggesting that it was good that he was murdered.
But…
Wow, it is hard to muster any sympathy for this victim. The first thing we learn about him is that he was a horrible person—a celebrity athlete who went to jail for dog-fighting. And that right there, is the best, most likable things we learn about him. Again, not someone who deserved to be murdered, but it’s hard not to want to look for excuses for his killer to get away with it. Really, you want the killer to be caught more for Mason’s sake than for justice’s.
Lucy: The Dog
At the end of the day, these books don’t exist without Lucy. She brought Mason and Jess together, she played major roles in the first book and is a significant force in this one.
What she does in this book isn’t nearly as important as what she did in Deception Cove (which is not to say that she doesn’t do anything important), but her shadow is over everything that happens with Mason and Jess—and even Boyd.
But best yet, she’s a good girl, and more books need dogs like that.
So, what did I think about Lone Jack Trail?
It took me a little longer to get into this one than I expected or am used to from a book by Laukkanen. But wow, once I got hooked? That was it, I ignored pretty much everything else going on that day so I could finish.
I love the characters, the plot was compelling and the reveals were gripping. It was hard to see how Mason would stay a free man with the cards stacked against him—and there was plenty of tension and suspense aside from that. It’s also great to watch the fragile relationship between Mason and Jess progress—with the highs and lows, setbacks, and challenges that make it feel real.
Laukkanen did it again. He just knows how to write a thriller that sticks with you.
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, opinions are my own.
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Robert B. Parker’s Fool’s Paradiseby Mike Lupica eARC, 352 pg. Read: September 2-3, 2020 |
What’s Fool’s Paradise About?
Suitcase Simpson calls Jesse to the scene of a murder, an unidentified man has been found shot at the lakeshore. Jesse recognizes the man—they’d been at the same AA meeting the previous night. It’s not Jesse’s regular meeting, and he didn’t think this man was a regular, either. But at least they had a first name to go off of.
Suit is able to find out at least a little about what the man did after the meeting. He’d taken a taxi from the neighboring town into Paradise. He even had an address—the mansion of a rich and influential family who’d been in Paradise for ages. They’re quick to claim they didn’t know the man, or that he’d been at the house in the hours before he was shot. No member of PPD believes this, but there’s little they can do until they learn a bit more about the victim.
Jesse admits this isn’t entirely rational—but doesn’t back off from it—the fact that he and the victim came to the same meeting, both needing the help that can be found there, created a link for between the two of them. Jesse felt like he owed this man justice more than he would another victim (not that Jesse’s ever been known to not try to find justice for anyone, it’s just personal this time). I loved this little touch—it felt very true to the character and his circumstances, but something that a lot of authors wouldn’t do.
Not long after this, someone takes a shot at Jesse while he’s in his home. Soon, other members of the PPD are attacked off-duty. As always, Jesse, Molly, and Suit acknowledge that coincidences exist, but they have a hard time believing in them. So while they try to identify the murder victim and figure out what he’s going in Paradise (and that part of Paradise in particular), they also need to figure out why someone would be attacking the PPD. And are the two cases related?
A Nice Little Bonus
There’s a lot of Molly in this book. She gets whole chapters without Jesse in them, and a lot of space on her own in chapters with him. We get a little bit of an off-the-job look at Molly, as well as seeing her work part of the investigation. Yes, Jesse’s the central character and should be the focus—but any time that Lupica (or whoever) can flesh out Molly, Suitcase, or any of the others is time well spent (I like the new deputy, too—he was a nice touch). But Molly’s been a favorite since Night Passage introduced this world, and she’s rarely been used as well as the character should’ve been. It’s so nice to see that.
Lupica’s Take on Jesse Stone
I was worried about Lupica being given the reins of this series. I was such a fan of what Colman had done, saving the series from the Michael Brandman debacle—and even from some of the uneven quality that Parker had given toward the end.
But Lupica did exactly what he needed to do—and exactly what I’d hoped (and didn’t expect). He embraced the developments that Coleman introduced and built on them. He could’ve ignored them, or written around them, but he kept Jesse going to AA, he worked on the new relationship with Cole, and Paradise and the Paradise Police Department the same way Coleman had, treating that bit of the series with as much respect and influence as the first nine novels.
Stylistically, Lupica’s closer to Parker than Coleman—which makes sense, it’s the more natural way for him to write (and will likely win back some of Coleman’s detractors). It works for the series, it works for the author—all in all, it’s a good move.
I freely admit that I was skeptical and pessimistic about anyone but Coleman at the post-Parker helm of Jesse Stone and am glad to be proven wrong.
Something I was Pleasantly Surprised By
While I have thought in the past that the best use of Sunny Randall was when Parker used her in the Jesse Stone novels, I wasn’t thrilled to see her in these pages—I thought that Stone, at least, had grown past this relationship. It’s not what it was back in the 3-4 books that Parker wrote with them as a couple, but reflects where they both are now.
I’ve got to say, I liked her here. I liked her in Paradise more than I liked her in the two books that Lupica has written about Sunny. If he keeps this up, I won’t complain.
Lupica’s War on my Sanity
Sure, that’s hyperbolic. But it felt like he was doing this to just bug me.
The mansion that the taxi pulled up to that fateful night is owned by the Cain family, Whit and Lilly Cain. Whit suffered a stroke a few months back, so his wife, Lilly, is who Jesse primarily interacts with. She’s brash, confident, loud, and flirtatious.
Now, I’ve watched the Veronica Mars series more times than I should have. Season One more than the rest. Every time I read “Lilly Cain,” I couldn’t think about anything other than “Lily Kane,” Veronica’s brash, confident, loud, and flirtatious friend.
I know it’s a coincidence, that neither name is all that rare. But it didn’t feel that way.
So, what did I think about Fool’s Paradise?
I liked this so much more than I expected to. I went into this hoping I wouldn’t hate it, and it didn’t take long at all for me to realize I was enjoying it. The prose crackled and moved quickly. There was enough of Jesse’s quiet humor to keep me grinning. The relationships and banter between the characters was spot on. The cases were compelling, interestingly framed, and well-executed. Lupica tied his novel into the overall history of the series well (referencing over half of the books, I think) and established that he’s the right man for the job. I strongly recommend this—either for new readers or established fans. Robert B. Parker’s Fool’s Paradise is a satisfying read that’ll get you eager to see what comes next.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from PENGUIN GROUP Putnam via NetGalley in exchange for this post—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, opinions are my own.
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