Category: Fiction Page 240 of 341

The Hammer of Thor (Audiobook) by Rick Riordan, Kieran Culkin

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On May 22, 2017

In Audiobook, Fantasy, Fiction, Rick Riordan, YA/MG/Children's Books

The Hammer of ThorThe Hammer of Thor

by Rick Riordan, Kieran Culkin (Narrator)
Series: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #2
Unabridged Audiobook, 10 hrs., 34 mins..
Listening Library, 2016
Read: May 10 – 12, 2016


Thor’s hammer is missing, so not only can he not stream Netflix (I’d forgotten that was a thing in this series) on it, he can’t intimidate the giants into not invading. You can guess which bothers him more. The Valkrie Samira and her pal Magnus have to go find it before things get out of hand.

I didn’t like this one as much as the first book in this series — but I didn’t dislike it. It’s still the same outline that Riordan is following with these books — there’s a quest; the hero and his friends have to go find the whatever to stall doomsday a little longer; to get the X the group has to beat a series of mini-challenges and then they’ll have a shot at the X. Since this is a book 2, they’ll get X, but many other things will go wrong, forcing the series into another book. For the most part, the minor challenges worked better for me than I expected.

I enjoyed Magnus’ friends — Samira in particular; although I’m pretty torn about the new character added to Magnus’ group: Alex Fierro — a child of Loki. I understand what Riordan was trying to do with this character, but I’m not sure he succeeded. I’m not convinced that Alex was a person, and not just a conglomeration of traits. But I have hope. Alex’s presence, I thought, ended up short-changing some of the other characters when it came to action and involvement in the plot, which I wasn’t crazy about.

I really enjoy seeing different authors’ take on the same mythological characters. Comparing/contrasting Kevin Hearne’s and Riordan’s Thors and Lokis would make for a very entertaining piece (I think Riordan’s Thor is more comical, but his Loki just might be more sadistic), and I will admit I got distracted a couple of times listening to this by thinking about the differences.

The best part of this was seeing how the problems Magnus, etc. are dealing with intersect some of what Percy, Annabeth and Apollo are going through in Riordan’s other series, and the strong hint that we’ll see some sort of cross-over soon. We’d understood that the Egyptian gods were threatening the earth about the same time that the Problems with Camps Jupiter and Half-Blood start up, but this was a much more explicit description. I like thinking that the various pantheons are having troubles at the same time, and that Earth could be doom in any number of ways simultaneously.

I bought this in hardcover the week it came out (last October, I think), but haven’t been able to find/make the time to read it. When I saw it as available on my library’s audiobook site, I figured I’d jump — just to get that TBR pile a little smaller. I hadn’t listened to Riordan on audio before, and was curious ow it translated. I was surprised to hear Kieran Culkin’s name (and voice) at the beginning of this — he didn’t strike me as the kind of actor who’d do audiobooks. I’m glad that he did, though. I really enjoyed his work throughout the novel — the narration, the characters — he just nailed it. That’s how Magnus Chase should sound.

It was entertaining enough to keep going, and I trust that Riordan knows what he’s doing, I’m just not convinced that he did all he could to make this book as good as it could be.

—–

3 Stars

Hour Game (Audiobook) by David Baldacci, Scott Brick

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On May 19, 2017

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

Hour GameHour Game

by David Baldacci, Scott Brick (Narrator)
Series: King & Maxwell, #2
Unabridged Audiobook, 14 hrs., 25 mins.
Hachette Audio, 2004
Read: May 1 – 5, 2017


Whoops — it’s been two and a half years since I read the first volume in the series — I really meant to get back to it sooner. Oh well, better late than etc., etc. I don’t have much to say about this, but I have a few thoughts.

This picks up a few months after Split Second, the partnership between King and Maxwell has solidified, they’ve had some success and have settled into their lives. They’re doing some work for a local attorney assisting him defend an accused burglar, when they’re asked to help the local police investigate a murder that resembles a famous serial killer. Soon afterwards, other bodies show up — each following a different serial killer’s M. O. to keep the authorities guessing.

Soon, King and Maxwell are officially involved — as are the national media and the FBI. Naturally, the two cases intertwine — as does another mystery.

The mysteries were pretty easy to guess, but how Baldacci resolved them wasn’t — which was nice. The character moments were okay, actually — the characters were the best part of this book, not just our leads, but pretty much everyone who wasn’t killed within a page or two of being introduced.

Will you hold it against me if I admit it wasn’t until as I was writing this that I figured out what the title referred to? I really hadn’t thought about it, but I really shouldn’t have had to.

I liked this more than the last Scott Brick audiobook I listened to — which wasn’t bad. His accent work was good (have heard him do better), and he made the characters come to life — even giving a couple of characters I could live without enough of a hook that I probably liked them more in audio than I would’ve if I read it.

Hour Game was well constructed, well paced, and kept me engaged and entertained — an improvement over the first one, too. Can’t ask for much more than that.

—–

3 Stars

Chalk by Paul Cornell

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On May 19, 2017

In Fantasy, Fiction, Paul Cornell

ChalkChalk

by Paul Cornell

Kindle Edition, 206 pg.
Tor.com, 2017

Read: May 5 – 8, 2017

There are kids who went through school experiences like mine who will never watch football, and there are those who end up playing for Arsenal. Okay, who will end up with season tickets. Stockholm syndrome will only take you so far.

Enough about what I am now. That comes later.

Everyone keeps talking about this as a story about bullying — sure, there’s a little bullying here. But mostly, that’s like saying that Hannibal Lecter enjoys an unconventional diet. What happens to Andrew Waggoner is so far beyond bullying — it’s flat out assault (but with a psychological component that matches bullying). After a Halloween dance, Waggoner is forced into the woods by the school bullies and is assaulted. Somehow, his trauma links him to some long-dormant forces who take the opportunity to reassert themselves. One manifestation of the mystical/magical works with (compels? coerces? convinces?) Waggoner to take his revenge against those who permanently scarred him mentally and physically.

And over the next 12 months, that’s just what happens — Waggoner and/or his mystical companion (it’s never clear exactly how much is done by each) exact their revenge — Waggoner vacillates in his commitment to this project, and comes close to stopping on many occasions. In the midst of this, he becomes a writer and makes a friend based on shared interest, rather than just being social pariahs. In short, he starts growing up.

Meanwhile, the ancient forces tied to Waggoner are in open conflict with the dominant, more modern/contemporary, forces/beliefs. The school — and the students’ lives — become the major battleground for them, the final conflict coming on the anniversary of the attack that changed Waggoner’s life forever.

I kept seeing the school as the school from Sing Street (except, in the West Country, not Dublin — but roughly the same era), which I know is inaccurate, but I couldn’t stop myself. Pop music plays a large role in the story, and as it’s set in the early 80’s I didn’t have to google most of the songs (there were a couple of tunes that didn’t make it to Idaho that long ago) — which was a plus for me, and probably most readers.

You can tell (well, you can guess) that Cornell and Waggoner had similar experiences in their early lives — the language he uses to describe the bullying speaks to that. But more than that, the way he describes how the bullying shaped him, both then and when Waggoner reflects on those events from the vantage point of adulthood, resonated with me, and will with many readers.

The characters — bullies, victims, other children, or adults — were all wonderfully constructed. I’m not sure that I liked any of them (including Waggoner), but I was drawn into this world, and was very invested in what happened to each of them.

This was intense, gripping, strangely something (I want to say beautiful, but that doesn’t seem right) — there’s a je ne sais quoi about Chalk that inspires and repulses at the same time. I know I haven’t done a good job describing this book — I’m trying hard not to ruin anything for future readers. It was one of the more affecting, compelling books I’ve read this year. Cornell does a masterful job of mixing our reality with his fantasy — as he’s shown in the Shadow Police and Lychford books — this time you add in a layer of childhood horror and wonder to that combination.

This is something special, you won’t read much like it.

—–

4 Stars

The Glamshack by Paul W. Cohen (updated)

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On May 18, 2017

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

I pulled this one from publication this morning to work on it a bit more. I’m not sure I actually made it better, but I’m pretty sure it’s not worse.

…and then tweaked again 12 hours later . . .
—

The GlamshackThe Glamshack

by Paul W. Cohen

eARC, 222 pg.
PUB, 2017

Read: May 8 – 9, 2017


Do not read this book for the plot — you will likely be disappointed, and possibly frustrated. There’s just not much of it, and what little there is isn’t that creative — there are good plot-moments, yes. But really, there’s nothing here that you likely haven’t read. But the strength of this book is in how Cohen delivers the plot, not the what that he delivers.

Essentially, the novel is a story of Henry Folsom — a lifestyle reporter in 1999. I think lifestyle reporter is close — he writes for a fashion magazine, doing puff-piece profiles and interviews. He’s just not that good at his job, and is close to being fired after some disastrous encounters with the kind of people that you cannot have disastrous encounters with. During one such encounter, he meets a woman that he finds much more interesting than his interview subject. They flirt, they date, they have a months-long relationship, full of ups and downs. She leaves him for a few days (at least) when the book opens, and as he waits to see if she’ll return as promised, he spends this time in a drunken stupor reliving, rehearsing, and analyzing (not too deeply) the relationship while reading a history of the Plains Indians Wars of the 1800s.

Henry never gives us the name of his love, his obsession. It’s always “She” or “Her.” Always capitalized. Within the last few months, I read something describing a man in love’s speech by saying something like “you could hear the capital She in his voice.” That’s surely how Henry talked — it’s how he writes, how he thinks. She is completely and totally unworthy of the devotion he shows. Sure, you could (rightly) argue that none of us are — but She is really just the worst — manipulative, selfish. untrustworthy . . . But there’s no two ways about it, Henry’s devoted to her (and he’s not alone). She has a tragic backstory, which, if true, probably accounts for some of her personality flaws. But I’m not convinced that she didn’t invent part of it to serve her own ends. All this is to say that she’s not a good person, but a great character.

Henry is sort of a Humbert Humbert character. No, he’s not a murderer or a pedophile — or any other kind of criminal that I’m aware of. He is someone with a fancy prose style and has overly-idealized the object of his affections. The way Henry thinks about, describes, and acts toward Her really reminded me of Humbert — particularly (and this is what made me start down this trails of thought) in the way that Henry reveals Her character, her shortcomings, and virtues while defending or denying the problematic aspects of Her character and well as his. Henry’s use of language — and Cohen’s, too — is just wonderful. Most of the quotations I’d pull wouldn’t work without a lot of context, but there’s some great use of language throughout this book. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that I mastered the novel — there’s a lot of Cohen’s figurative language that I can’t wrap my brain around. The repeated phrase, “fighting breasts,” is a good example — I have no idea what those are. Didn’t are while I was reading, don’t care now — segments of this might as well have been poetry for the care shown to word choice and placement.

Elmore Leonard’s famous 10 Rules for Writing contains warning against “hooptedoodle” — the parts of books that sound like writing. His goal was to remain invisible (he failed, by the way, I think he knew that). I don’t regularly use these rules to evaluate books — but sometimes, I can’t help it (they stick with you more than some other writer’s do). Glamshack wouldn’t last 5 paragraphs against Leonard’s standards. But that’s okay, as Leonard himself says, “If you have a facility for language and imagery and the sound of your voice pleases you, invisibility is not what you are after, and you can skip the rules.” Cohen’s one of those who can skip the rules without a lot of complaint from anyone.

I wasn’t wowed by The Glamshack story or characters, but I enjoyed reading it and loved Cohen’s writing. I recommend it.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from the author in exchange for this post — thanks, Mr. Cohen, I enjoyed this.

—–

3 Stars

The Second Life of Nick Mason by Steve Hamilton

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On May 17, 2017

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

The Second Life of Nick MasonThe Second Life of Nick Mason

by Steve Hamilton
Series: Nick Mason, #1

Hardcover, 288 pg.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2016

Read: May 10 – 11, 2017

After listening to the hype around this book for a year, I finally got around to reading it. I’ll admit, when this came out last year, I didn’t think it was my cup of tea. I think I confused it with something else that came out about the same time. Because after a few pages, I was hooked — it also didn’t even come close to matching the kind of story I thought it was (I didn’t read the jacket copy). I spent the next 280 pages kicking myself for waiting to read this thing.

Nick Mason was a successful, but small-time criminal for years. He and his friends never got violent, but they sure were not “good” in any sense of the world — things happen, people move on and Nick falls for a college girl. She has one rule: Nick picks her or crime. He picks her and the straight and narrow. A few years later, Nick’s making a living, has a wonderful daughter and wife. The friend who moved away comes back and asks Nick to do one final job — one that’ll land him enough money to not have to worry about his family’s future. Nick makes the fatal mistake and goes along — and ends up serving a 25-year sentence.

Darius Cole, a crime boss — the kind you read about or see in movies and hope that doesn’t exist in real life — who’s still running a decently-sized empire from a prison he’ll never leave takes an interest in Mason. He eventually makes Mason an offer — Cole does a few things and Mason goes free. On the outside, he’ll need to serve the remaining 20 years of his sentence, but he’ll do so as Cole’s employee. As his handler will tell him after he’s released:

This isn’t freedom. This is mobility. Don’t get those things confused.

Set up in a very nice house, with a cover job better than he could’ve ever got on his own, Mason looks like he’s got it made — but when Quintero (his handler) calls with an assignment, he has to drop whatever he’s doing and take care of the assignment. Period. His own well-being, as well as that of his (now) ex-wife and daughter, depend on it. The assignment can be as benign as following a rival of Cole’s or as serious as murder — it doesn’t matter, Mason is responsible for carrying it out. Promptly.

His conviction overturned, his ex-still wants nothing to do him — and won’t let him have anything to do with his daughter. One of the detectives responsible for his conviction will not accept what he sees as a travesty of justice and will not stop until he can put Mason back where he belongs.

I cannot stress enough, this is not some tale of a falsely accused man becoming some sort of vigilante working outside the system — we’ve all seen that story and this frequently feels like it. But Mason himself will tell you he deserved what happened to him. He’s under no illusions about what he’s doing and will be doing for the foreseeable future. This isn’t a redemption story, either. He’s not a good man — he’s a criminal who has a set of rules he lives by — even if his new employer forces him to break some of those.

Which is why he’s so compelling — Hamilton has created a great character here. There’s no reason to like Mason, there’s little reason to root for him, we’re supposed to be hoping that Det. Sandoval figures things out, puts Mason and Quintero away and dismantles Cole’s business. But nope. Not a bit. Sandoval’s a good guy, decent cop — and most readers are going to want him to succeed except where it makes Mason’s life difficult. That dynamic is just another part of what makes this book work.

I’m really at a loss to describe how well this book sinks its claws into you. It grabs you by the scruff of your neck (mixing metaphors, I know, hooks, claws, grabs . . . it does all three) and drags you along — and you don’t care. In fact, you enjoy it so much that you try to move faster than the book’s pace.

The one good thing about waiting so long to read this is that I don’t have to wait too long for the sequel — Exit Strategy was released this week, and I’m licking my chops until I can get to it.

I’m on the verge of going overboard here, so I’m going to stop — this is a heckuva thrill ride, and readers of thrillers, crime novels would be foolish to make the mistake I did by not reading this.

—–

4 1/2 Stars

2017 Library Love Challenge

People of the Sun by Jason Parent

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On May 16, 2017

In Fiction

People of the SunPeople of the Sun

by Jason Parent

Kindle Edition, 327 pg.
Sinister Grin Press, 2017

Read: March 13 – 15, 2017


This was a refreshing SF adventure with plenty of heart and imagination.

A handful of brave astronauts take off from the dying planet Symoria with a mission to find something to save their planet– but something goes wrong during the launch, damaging the ship and severely injuring some of the crew. The ship crashes on a nearby planet — Earth, naturally — and things go downhill from there.

Yeah, a disastrous (and possibly fatal) launch is the best thing that happens to the Symorians. Doesn’t really say a whole lot about this planet, or at least its inhabitants, does it?

Anyway, they land in New Hampshire to be found by a State Trooper and his friend, a geology professor. Factors in the environment shock the Symorians by helping them to adapt to Earth and human culture in surprising ways. The professor, Connor Gaudreau (the professor) becomes an ambassador of sorts for them.

To say that their first meeting with the U. S. Military goes poorly is an understatement — the soldiers believe that the Symorians are nerds in cosplay uniforms and makeup. When they won’t take off “the Spock ears,” one solider in particular gets aggressive — striking the non aggressive Symorian commander, Lenyx, repeatedly. While trying to defend himself, Lenyx accidentally kills this soldier, making things worse.

Thankfully, there’s a sitting President who’s looking to establish her legacy by making a treaty with a new race. What follows is full of betrayal hope, loyalty and avarice. Plus a healthy dose of hope.

The imagination behind this novel is impressive. Parent shows a lot of creativity in establishing why the aliens might use English expressions and human attitudes. The writing is solid — nothing dazzling, but solid. The characters are well-written, and the plot works well. Yeah, at a certain point, the ending is inevitable and few readers will be surprised at the last 1/3 (or so). But that doesn’t mean it’s bad, it just means that Parent follows his story through to its logical conclusion — he doesn’t go for some shock twist that has no foundation. He starts at A, then goes to B, C and D on his way to E — without succumbing to the temptation to go for a detour through Q and R.

An entertaining, quick read with plenty of characters that make you want to read on. Recommended.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the author in exchange for this post — thanks!

—–

3 Stars

Strip Jack by Ian Rankin

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On May 15, 2017

In Ian Rankin, John Rebus, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Strip JackStrip Jack

by Ian Rankin
Series: John Rebus, #4

Hardcover, 206 pg.
St. Martin’s Press, 1992

Read: May 3 – 4, 2017


This is the one — the book that finally sold me on the John Rebus series (I say “finally” as if it’s been a years’ long effort, not just book 4). Everything worked for me here.

Rebus is trying to track down a rare book thief, and puts as much effort into that as you’d imagine most fictional detectives putting into it. Thankfully, it doesn’t eat up so much of his time that he can’t accompany others from his station — including Chief Superintendent “Farmer” Watson — on a raid of a brothel in a pretty nice part of town. Most of the men can’t believe they’re doing this raid, Rebus is chief among them. But, an order is an order, so they suit up and go in. While there, Brian Holmes finds a pretty popular MP in a room with one of the “employees.”

This is MP is named Gregor Jack — his background is pretty similar to Rebus’ and the detective has always admired him (at least his public persona), and something just doesn’t feel right about the way things went down with the raid and Jack’s involvement (and exposure), so he starts checking in on Jack at home. There’s something strange going on with Jack’s wife, Elizabeth — she’s not at home, and Jack doesn’t know if she even knows about the headlines about the raid and ensuing controversy. Rebus finds it a bit odd that someone like him would know so little about his wife’s whereabouts, between his curiosity and interest in the MP, he starts poking around a bit — which turns out to be fortuitous later on.

The ensuing mystery is pretty good — especially when it becomes Rebus vs. the higher-ups as they narrow the list of suspects. I liked Rebus’ method this time a little more than the previous books, it’s a bit more methodical (even when he’s mostly going with his gut, there’s still thinking behind it). Could the mystery-solving — and the novel as a whole — be a bit meatier? Yeah, but it’s not to sketchy on details. I just think that the Rebus novels would be better if they were Bosch-length.

In the previous books, I thought there were a couple of passages that were so well written that they lifted the quality of the whole book. I didn’t come across anything in particular like that, not that the writing was bad, but there wasn’t anything that jumped out at me. One very nice touch — not in the language, but in the idea and how it worked — was when Rebus was interviewing one of the Jacks’ old friends in a mental hospital and the friend asks Rebus to touch the ground for him, since that’s something he doesn’t get to do any more. When Rebus does this, and when he tells the friend about it later — just perfect.

I really would’ve liked more time with Gregor Jack and his staff — I liked the interactions between Rebus and each of them, but it’d have been hard to pull off. Most of the rest of the suspect pool weren’t terribly interesting. The friend in the hospital, isn’t really a suspect (for obvious reasons), but he does give some insight into the case — he was a well-written character and I liked the way that Rankin was able to work him into the story in a couple of ways.

Holmes reminds me of Luther‘s DS Justin Ripley (although I imagine Holmes as taller — not sure there’s a reason for that) — I like the fact that he’s sticking around, I expected him to vanish after his first appearance. I don’t know if he and his girlfriend will stick around, but I’m enjoying him as an errand boy/accomplice/hindrance for Rebus. He’s not the only returning face — Gill Templer is a pretty significant factor in the off-the-clock Rebus story, which primarily centers around his growing (yet, I expect, doomed) relationship with a doctor.

Oh, I should mention that Rebus does find the book thief (with book obsessed readers like we have on this blog, you have to assure people that the books are okay), and it (naturally) has plays a role in the novel’s greater story.

This tale of the determined and dogged detective who keeps on trying, even when he has no reason to, really worked for me — clicked every one of my procedural buttons. I hope Rankin delivers more like this book.

—–

4 Stars
2017 Library Love Challenge

The Catch (Audiobook) by Taylor Stevens, Hilary Huber

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On May 9, 2017

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

The CatchThe Catch (Audiobook)

by Taylor Stevens, Hillary Huber (Narrator)
Series: Vanessa Michael Munroe, #4

Unabridged Audiobook, 13 hrs., 35 min.
Random House Audio, 2014

Read: April 4 – 10, 2017


After the events of The Doll, Michael had to hit the road. She bounced around a little, before landing in Djibouti — doing some small time work for a security company. She’s forced into working guard duty on a ship bound for Kenya — which turns out to be a gun-smuggling vessel that’s attacked by Somali pirates. Michael being Michael, after determining that she couldn’t prevail on her own, she gets off the boat, taking the captain with her.

This sets her off on a solo adventure — she makes phone contact with Miles a couple of times, briefly, but he’s really not a factor here. It’s Michael, her wits, her skills and a couple of allies she makes along the way that will try to rescue the ship, her fellow guards and the captain from the pirates and a crew of Russians with an unhealthy focus on the captain.

This novel pushes Michael to her physical limits — but pretty much leaves her psychologically undamaged. She has to prove herself to both herself and her allies here. She doesn’t have the resources she usually has, she doesn’t have the backup readers are used to her having, and she’s more out of her depth than usual (she almost seemed more in control of things in as a captive in The Doll).

I really enjoyed this — knowing that Miles wasn’t going to be in this too much, I wasn’t as interested as I could’ve been (I didn’t realize how much of a draw he was for me). But Michael on her own actually worked for me — and I liked seeing her having to scramble to survive.

Huber did a great job as usual — handling several accents with (seeming, I’m sure) ease, while maintaining both the emotions of Michael and the tension and suspense of the novel’s action.

Another satisfying entry in the series.

—–

3 Stars

Pub Day Repost: Nearly Nero by Loren D. Estleman

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On May 9, 2017

In Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin, Rex Stout

Nearly NeroNearly Nero: The Adventures of Claudius Lyon, the Man Who Would Be Wolfe

by Loren D. Estleman
eARC, 192 pg.
Tyrus Books, 2017
Read: March 24 – 30, 2017

I’ve heard about the stories in this volume for years, but have never tracked one down before — and then a whole collection of them show up on NetGalley! How could I not request it? I’m so glad this book exists so that those of us who don’t get the magazines, etc. that publish short mystery fiction can have them (and even those who do have access to those magazines, etc. can have them in one handy volume).

Anyway, here’s the setup: Claudius Lyon is a huge fan of Nero Wolfe — he reads every one of the reports that Archie Goodwin’s literary agent Rex Stout publishes. He’s such a fan that he wants to be Wolfe (like the guys dressing up in Batsuits in The Dark Knight Rises) — he’s fat, fairly clever, and wealthy enough not to need to work and still indulge himself. He renovates his townhouse to include a greenhouse, an elevator, and a first floor floorplan that pretty much matches Wolfe’s. He hires a private chef — a kosher chef of dubious quality (not that Lyon needs to eat kosher, it’s just what Gus can cook), changes his name to something that approximates his hero’s and hires a “man of action,” Arnie Woodbine. Arnie’s an ex-con, small-time crook who doesn’t mind (too much) putting up with his looney boss for a steady paycheck and meals.

The number of ways that Lyon isn’t Wolfe is pretty large and I won’t spoil your fun in discovering them. Now, Lyon’s unlicensed as a PI, so he can’t take on paying clients — but he occasionally gets people who will take him up on his free services. He’s decent at solving puzzles and low-priority mysteries (not that he doesn’t find his way into something bigger on occasion). Once he gets a client (non-paying, Arnie’d have me stress), he goes through whatever steps he needs to figure it out (including his own version of Wolfe’s lip movement and sending Arnie on fact-finding missions), and goes to some lengths to assemble some sort of audience for his reveal. I can’t help smiling as I think about it, really.

The whole thing is a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the Nero Wolfe/Rex Stout — recognizing the brilliance of the Stout’s work (how can you not?), while poking fun at it. Lyon’s really a goofy character and Woodbine is great at pointing that out — while begrudgingly admitting that he gets things right every now and then. There’s a lot of fun to be had in the story telling — the mysteries aren’t all that much to get excited about, it’s in watching Lyon stumble through his cases that the entertainment is found. Well, that and Woodbine’s commentary.

Not unlike many of the Wolfe stories (particularly the short stories).

I wouldn’t recommend reading more than two of these stories in a sitting, I think they work best as solo shots. It’s a difficult call, because I typically wanted to go on for one more. Also, I’m not sure how enjoyable these’d be for non-Wolfe readers — but then again, I think a lot of the humor would hold up and it might entice a reader to learn more about Lyon’s idol. And anything that gets people to read Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe novels is a good thing.

But for readers of Stout’s Wolfe novels? This is a must read. He’s not trying and failing to recapture Stout’s magic (see Goldsborough post-The Bloodied Ivy), he’s intentionally missing and yet somehow getting a little of it. I really enjoyed this book and can easily see me re-reading it a handful of times.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Adams Media via NetGalley in exchange for this post — thanks to both for this.

The Defense by Steve Cavanagh

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On May 9, 2017

In Eddie Flynn, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Steve Cavanagh

The DefenseThe Defense

by Steve Cavanagh
Series: Eddie Flynn, #1

Hardcover, 306 pg.
Flatiron Books, 2016

Read: April 28 – May 1, 2017


Eddie Flynn is a con artist who went legit — mostly. There’s a lot of call in his new life for the skills he developed in his old. He’d been pretty successful until a horrible outcome tied to his last case sent Eddie around the bend — he’d vowed never to get back into the courtroom. He just couldn’t handle anything like what had happened again. Until the head of the Russian mob in New York is up on murder charges.

So what brings Eddie back to defending accused criminals? Well, it’s that old story that we’ve all heard a million times — he’s abducted by the Russian mafia, had a bomb thrown on to him and the only way that keeps that from blowing up is his continued compliance — but that’s not all: Eddie’s daughter has also been kidnapped and his being held hostage. All Eddie has to do is keep the case going long enough for the Prosecution to bring out its big witness from protective custody so that the bomb Eddie’s carrying can be used to kill the witness.

Not a plan Eddie’s crazy about, but it’s not like anyone consulted him. He dives into the defense like his life depends on it (oh, wait . . . ), and comes to a couple of conclusions: 1. He and his daughter are not going to live, no matter what the kidnappers said — unless he pulls a rabbit out of a hat; 2. there’s something strange going on with the case that just doesn’t make any sense; 3. there’s something strange going on with his client’s men; and 4. he just might know how to win the case without anyone having to be blown up.

While we see Eddie’s efforts to defend his client and to get freedom for himself and his daughter, we also get flashbacks to the calamity of the previous year, Eddie’s childhood and criminal career, his relationship with his daughter and more. Cavanagh handles the balancing act between the background and the ongoing action well — the past informing and shaping the present, while keeping things tense for the now. How Cavanagh pulls that off in 300 pages, I’ll never know. And it is tense throughout — Eddie barely gets a chance to breathe, it’s a good thing he has a lifetime of thinking quickly on his feet, or there’d be no hope for him.

I liked Eddie almost immediately — you have to, or you’re not going to enjoy this book. He’s one part Mickey Haller, one part Andy Carpenter, one part Nicholas Fox — a slick, clever and tough lawyer, basically. His friends were interesting and his opponents were just what you want in antagonists. There was real threat, real peril throughout, yet you always knew that Eddie Flynn had a trick or five up his sleeve.

The last chapter felt more like the wrap-up of a stand-alone thriller than it did the first novel in a series. Not that it precluded further adventures, it just didn’t point to them the way series generally do, but clearly Cavanagh didn’t let that stop him — book 3 comes out in a couple of weeks. I’m looking forward to spending more time with Eddie soon, myself.

—–

3.5 Stars

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