Coming soon: The Reread Project

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On August 9, 2014

In Blog Series, Currently Reading, Elvis Cole/Joe Pike, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc., Reread Project, Robert Crais

Joe Pike and Elvis ColeOne of the things I’ve been thinking about lately is that I don’t re-read as much as I used to, so I’m making a greater effort to do that, starting in January of this year. Think I’ve managed to reread 1 book before this week. Whoops.

Anyway, I got to talking about Robert Crais with a buddy last week who was wanting to dip his toe in the water, and wanted to know if he needed to read the Cole/Pike books in order or if he could just read which ever he could get his hands on. I’m sure he regretted asking because rather than the 1 sentence answer that he was probably looking for, he got most of a page of text. And if I’d had more time before needing to get to sleep, I’d have probably written pages. And that was just off the top of my head.

I honestly couldn’t stop thinking about Elvis and Joe after that email — I’d read everything up to book nine, The Last Detective, at least twice. But had only managed to reread the first two Joe Pike books since. So the series is ripe for this kind of thing. If I manage myself correctly, I’ve got enough time to read the series before the next novel hits my doorstep in November. Which makes it a bit more appealing — I love a good deadline.

My reviews will be a bit longer (I think) than usual, if the first one is any indication, anyway (1400 words or so) — looking both at the novel and their place in the series, the changes, developments, ties between novels, themes, etc. I don’t think I’ll have time for the two stand-alone novels that introduced characters now part of the series, so we’ll have to rely on my memory for that. These should go up on Mondays — leaving the few “Dusted Off” posts that I have for those weekdays I just can’t get anything else finished.

Once I’m done with Elvis/Joe, I’ll move on to something else. I like the discipline of one reread a week. I did it with the Nero Wolfe series a couple of years ago, and really enjoyed that.

Hope you enjoy this — and if you’ve read the series, please, please contribute to the comments.

—–

Drawing by Kirsty Stewart, chameleonkirsty on deviantART, used with permission.

Saturday Miscellany — 8/9/2014

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On August 9, 2014

In Books, Calendar Items, News/Misc.

Hey, it’s National Book Lovers Day! Yay!

Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

    This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:

  • The Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman — did I mention that I was excited about it?
  • Paw and Order by Spencer Quinn — I had one complaint about the last one in this series, I fully expect that this one will do better on that point.
  • Revenant by Kat Richardson — The release of the ninth (and final) Greywalker book is great reminder that I need to read #3.
  • Whiskey Tango Foxtrot by David Shafer — this one looks pretty darn good.

Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire

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On August 8, 2014

In Authors, Fiction, InCryptid, Seanan McGuire, Urban Fantasy

Half-Off Ragnarok (InCryptid, #3)Half-Off Ragnarok

by Seanan McGuire
Series: InCryptid, #3


Mass-Market Paperback, 356 pg.
DAW, 2014
Read: March 21 – 22, 2014

I — like a number of people, I expect — approached this one with a sense of trepidation and a laundry list of questions: No Verity? We’ve got to start over with some other guy? Why? What did we do wrong? Why is Seanan punishing us like this? How are we supposed to get along without the Aeslin mice? (good news and minor spoiler: Alex has his own colony of them — Seanan doesn’t hate us). After about 50-60 pages, I’d admitted that McGuire knew what she was doing (how could I doubt that?) and that Half-Off Ragnarok served as a good jumping-on point for the series, or good next entry for those who’d been following it already. Alex has a similar voice to Verity, but it is different — close enough that they could be siblings, though.

The story, particularly its central mystery, was just okay. But the setting and the characters elevated the whole thing. They sold me on what was going on, and once the narrative got flowing, I didn’t notice how not-stellar the story was (I’m not saying it was bad, it just didn’t knock me out). Having a cryptozoologist working in a zoo — and doing field research nearby, gave this a different feel from Verity’s nightclubs and sewers — like maybe there was something less haphazard about it this endeavor.

But more than anything else, the characters are what sell this story. There’s Alex’s Gorgon assistant, Dee; a little girl I won’t describe for your sakes here (you want to discover her eccentricity on your own); there’s Alex’s grandparents; his pet griffin, Crow; the aforementioned Aeslin mice; and the knock-out blonde Australian who works at the same zoo that he does. Best of all, his and Verity’s cousin, Sarah. She’s staying at their grandparent’s home for awhile to recover from what happened to her at the end of Midnight Blue-Light Special — well, hopefully recover, anyway. Sarah’s presence helps link the installments of the series together, helps us trust Alex more right away for the way her treats her.

A couple of notes about this world McGuire’s building here. Without getting into details, it was very nice to see that there are options other than the Prices and the Covenant for humans who are aware of the cryptozoological populations, it makes it all a little less David and Goliath. The other thing that’s highlighted here is just how different groups/species view the Prices. Which isn’t exactly all positive — there’s suspicion, distrust, antagonism, begrudging respect — along with more positive views. I got that impression during the Verity books, but it’s underlined here. This is a fun world, and it’s nice to see it fleshed out.

I like Alex, and would gladly read more of his adventures–at home or abroad. I would also like to check in on Verity again — and soon — as she was our entry point into this world, but it’s possible I like Alex more at the end of the day. Unlike Verity, he’s all in when it comes to this work, and doesn’t spend so much time wanting to do something else. Although, Verity’s conflict between her duty/interest in cryptozoology and love for dance is one of the things that makes her interesting. Never mind, my guess is that my favorite Price sibling is whichever one I’m reading/just finished reading. Just give me more of both of them.

—–

4 Stars

He Drank, and Saw the Spider by Alex Bledsoe

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On August 7, 2014

In Alex Bledsoe, Authors, Eddie LaCrosse, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

He Drank, and Saw the Spider (Eddie LaCrosse, #5)He Drank, and Saw the Spider

by Alex Bledsoe

Hardcover, 320 pg.
Tor Books, 2014
Read: August 6, 2014

After a couple of adventures which aren’t quite typical in their nature, Eddie La Crosse gets back to basics with a fairly straightforward case. Well, that’s not exactly true — it ‘s just that the last two were more outlandish, more grand-adventure-y, less LaCrosse-as-sword-jokey. This is Eddie doing what he does best. Yes, there’s magic, and monsters, and all the other trappings that keep this from being something that Sue Grafton or Dennis Lehane would’ve written.

Sixteen years ago, Eddie promised a dying man on the run that he’d take care of the baby that the other man was running to protect. He found a seemingly-trustworthy family willing to take the infant in, and went on his merry way, and actually forgot all about the incidents surrounding that. Until years later, when Eddie and his girlfriend, Liz, are on vacation in that area, when suddenly it all comes back to him and he decides to try and track down the (now) young woman and see how she’s doing.

Naturally, things start to go poorly about there. He does find her — pretty easily, too — it is a small community, with an economy largely-based on sheep-herding and farming, so it’s not really a bustling metropolis where no one knows anyone else. But there’s a whole lot of interesting things happening around the young woman — royalty in disguise, a meddling sorceress, an untrustworthy mercenary-type, an over-protective mother, a dose of sibling rivalry, and some sort of articulate and super-strong inhuman creature with a healthy interest in the girl.

Even though he was just supposed to check on her and not interfere with her life — he had no intention of even introducing himself to her. Eddie can’t help himself, and before you know it, he’s neck-deep in intrigue, and danger.

On the whole, this is a fun, brisk novel — a lot of humor, some good action, nice banter and interaction between the characters (especially Eddie and Liz). A good change of pace over Dark Jenny and Wake of the Bloody Angel, which tended to be more on the serious, emotionally-charged side. Yet, even as the answers to the questions surrounding the girl’s mysterious origins become obvious, and some of the characters get to the point where they seemed a irredeemable, Bledsoe (as he can every so well) keeps you completely drawn in and even tugs the heart strings a bit as the truth is revealed to the characters. Just really, really well done.

There’s a lot of nice little touches along the way. For example, towards the end of the book, Eddie and those he’s traveling with encounter a preteen who joins their little band for a while. She’s pretty new to swearing and tries to get in as much practice as she can while with them. At first, I thought she was an odd (but entertaining) and pointless distraction. It didn’t take too long to see she was a perfect tension-breaker, just what that part of the novel needed to keep from being too tense and so much more serious than what had come before.

Eddie’s narration has never been better — humor-tinged and hard-boiled, a medieval Philip Marlowe or Elvis Cole. I liked all of these characters, and really wanted to spend more time with each of them — I don’t know how Bledsoe could’ve pulled that off without getting the whole thing to slow and ponderous (which would’ve sucked the fun out of 60-70% of these characters). This is really such a well-done and fully realized series. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

—–

4 Stars

Reading Day

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On August 6, 2014

In News/Misc.

Sorry, no new post today — outside of this notification. The review I’m working on is taking more time/energy than usual — and I need to do a little more reading today, too.

There are things afoot here, readers, that I’m pretty enthused about, and I hate to take a day off. But ya gotta do what you gotta do, right?

FaceOff by David Baldacci, ed.

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On August 5, 2014

In Authors, Fiction, Harry Bosch, Jack Reacher, Michael Connelly, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

FaceOffFaceOff

by David Baldacci

Hardcover, 384 pg.
Simon & Schuster, 2014
Read: July 15-25, 2014

When I was a kid, one of the go-to moves to increase circulation/awareness of a comic book title was to have it cross-over with another title. Or if you had two already well-selling titles, and you wanted a little spike in the selling, that’d work, too (particularly if one title was from DC and the other from Marvel). I, as I was supposed to, grabbed a lot of these. They tended to follow a pattern — Group/Individual A runs into Group/Individual B, for no explicable reason they start to fight. Eventually, they figure out they’re all heroes fighting for good and turn their collective energies to defeating the bad guys. This was fine, because it let you see who would win in a fight — Thor or Superman (answer: neither), Halo or Starfire — that kind of thing.

That’s what a lot of these stories reminded me of — classic cross-over tales, and many fit that pattern. Which was okay, but thankfully not all of them did. At the end of the day, there were 2 stories I wanted to read, a couple of others that I was somewhat interested in, and the rest — well, might as well take a look at them, as long as I had the book. I picked up a couple of new names to try — and a couple to avoid. All in all, this was a mixed bag.

    Some specific thoughts:

  • Red Eye by Michael Connelly and Dennis Lehane (Harry Bosch vs. Patrick Kenzie)
    This first story was the primary motivation for me to get my hands on this book. Two of my all-time, personal Hall of Fame characters together. The story was a bit . . . meh. The criminal was definitely in the wheelhouse for both Kenzie and Bosch, but it was a little too easy to find him — and once the two detectives decided to work together, the solution was a bit too quick and easy (yet just the kind of ending that I could see either character coming up with on their own — so together it absolutely made sense). I’m pretty sure (without taking the time to verify) that this was the shortest story in the collection, and it needed at least another 10 pages to be satisfactory. Still, I’m putting this down as a winner.
  • In the Nick of Time by Ian Rankin and Peter James (John Rebus vs. Roy Grace)
    This was so dull, so predictable, no actual detective work was done here — all of it happened “off screen” so to speak. Maybe, maybe if you liked Rebus or Grace on their own, this would appeal to you. But even then, yawn.
  • Gaslighted by R.L. Stine, Douglas Preston, and Lincoln Child (Slappy the Ventriloquist Dummy vs. Aloysius Pendergast)
    I think you’d need a lot more familiarity with these characters (particularly Pendergast) to enjoy this one — really to understand it all.
  • The Laughing Buddha by M.J. Rose and Lisa Gardner (Malachai Samuels vs. D.D. Warren)
    Okay, after two novels and now one short story, I still don’t see what D. D. Warren brings to anything. Did she do much at all here? It was an interesting enough story, and if I hadn’t spent so much time waiting for Warren to do something, I might have enjoyed it more. Then again, I’m not sure how much I can buy the whole setup for Samuels’ character.
  • Surfing the Panther by Steve Martini and Linda Fairstein (Paul Madriani vs. Alexandra Cooper)
    Neither one of these lawyer characters appeared all that terribly interesting — but the crime in question, the way it was presented, and the solution to it? That made this one worthwhile. Very clever stuff (even if, again, most of the action took place off-screen).
  • Rhymes With Prey by Jeffery Deaver and John Sandford (Lincoln Rhyme vs. Lucas Davenport)
    Early on in the story, I jotted in my notes, “What this story really needs are more unfamiliar characters whose names start with an ‘L’.” But once I got past that, it was probably the most complex and compelling story in the book and the most likely to provoke further reading — I’m interested in following up with both series. Not sure it’ll happen soon, but it’ll happen.
  • Infernal Night by Heather Graham and F. Paul Wilson (Michael Quinn vs. Repairman Jack)
    Doubt I’ll misquote the “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” line again, because like Repairman Jack, I “just like to get things right.” After reading the introduction, I wasn’t at all interested in these characters. But the story intrigued me, and I’m pretty sure I’ll check out both series. I have one friend I really see getting into Repairman Jack. The story was creepy and cool. And slightly predictable. But still, creepy and cool.
  • Pit Stop by Raymond Khoury and Linwood Barclay (Sean Reilly vs. Glen Garber)
    Perfect start to this kind of story – – killer first sentence, and the closing sentence of the first section is almost as compelling. The ending wasn’t as good as wanted it to be, but it seemed like they needed an easy ending or another fifty pages — so easy ending, it had to be. The stuff in the middle was pretty fun. Garber’s daughter is the coolest little girl this side of space/time constraints. Garner’s daughter is the coolest little girl this side of Flavia de Luce.
  • Silent Hunt by John Lescroart and T. Jefferson Parker (Wyatt Hunt vs. Joe Trona)
    A couple of law enforcement guys on fishing vacations. Didn’t do much for me — my guess is that fans of Hunt and Trona would probably enjoy this, like I did with Bosch and Kenzie. More for the experience of seeing the two together rather than for the strength of this pretty tired tale.
  • The Devil’s Bones by Steve Berry and James Rollins (Cotton Malone vs. Gray Pierce)
    The way their target talked was the only false note in this action-packed story. And man, oh man, was it false. But the action, the interplay between Malone and Pierece, the story, everything else worked really, really well. One of the best things in this book.
  • Good and Valuable Consideration by Lee Child and Joseph Finder (Jack Reacher vs. Nick Heller)
    I’ve never read Finder before, but probably will now (of any in this book, he’ll probably be first). I loved this one, it may not be the best-written story in the collection, but it’s my favorite. Funny (very), yet true to Reacher’s almost-never funny character (and I assume also true to Heller’s). The banter and cooperation between the two was great. The way they came to a consensus without speaking about how to help the poor guy they met in the bar brought a smile to my face. It was a decent story, too, but one of those that didn’t have to be, because the character work was so fun. It was the perfect thing to close this with.

So again, your results may vary — but overall, a worthwhile read — some real highs, and some moderate lows. Good fodder for a TBR list.

—–

3 Stars

Saturday Miscellany — 8/2/14

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On August 2, 2014

In Books, News/Misc.

Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

    This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:

  • The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch — The newest Gentleman Bastards is in paperback. Yay!
  • Joss Whedon: The Biography by Amy Pascale — pretty much a no-brainer (even without the Fillion forward)
  • Bravo by Greg Rucka — this’ll prove to be an action-packed way to kill a couple of hours. Won’t change your life, but it’ll entertain you.
  • Tigerman by Nick Harkaway — seems fun and mind-bendy. Check out The Big Idea he wrote about it.

The Undead Pool by Kim Harrison

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On August 1, 2014

In F-J, Fiction, Kim Harrison, The Hollows (Rachel Morgan), Urban Fantasy

The Undead Pool (The Hollows #12)The Undead Pool

by Kim Harrison

Series: The Hollows, #12
Mass Market Paperback, 480 pg.
Harper Voyager, 2014
Read: July 30 – 31, 2014

Whaddyaknow? I can like a Hollows book unreservedly and without a list of complaints. I’d forgotten what that felt like.

If you’d told me that Rachel Morgan’s penultimate adventure would kick off on a golf course, I’d have told you that you were nuts. But if anyone can start trouble on a golf course, it’d be Rachel. In an interesting change of pace, the trouble that ensues really has almost nothing to do with her — sure, an exploding golf ball that practically creates a sand hazard on the course sounds like something she’s responsible — but not this time. Spells and charms are going wrong (mostly in a super-sized fashion) throughout Cincinnati and the Hollows — causing injuries, inconveniences and deaths.

But wait, there’s more — something’s going on in town that’s keeping the Master Vampires asleep, and they’re not waking to feed and exert influence over their clans. Which is great if that’s something you were working towards, and were prepared — like Ivy was awhile back. But these vampires aren’t ready for that level of freedom and self-determination yet. Which means that you’ve got unstable vampires roaming the streets. Which can’t be good for anyone.

This would be enough to keep any Urban Fantasy hero busy — but females in this genre have to have something going on in their personal/romantic life, too (male UF heroes frequently have that it, too — but it doesn’t see as de reguerre). So looking to that front, Ellasbeth, Trent’s fiancé returns; so naturally, Trent and Rachel go on a date the night before she arrives (their first and last). Everyone’s favorite demons, Al and Newt, are not at all happy about how close Rachel is getting to the elf. A couple of elven religious leaders come to town to help with the malfunctioning magic — and they like Trent hanging out with the day-walking demon even less than Al and Newt do. And there’s this really familiar-looking blond vampire that Rachel keeps seeing — but that can’t be right, can it?.

Yeah, that’s enough to keep Rachel, Ivy and Jenks busy.

Here’s the best part: It’s like Harrison asked herself, “How do I make ol’ H. C. happy?” and then things actually happen in the book. Resolution is reached on a lot of these plots that have been ongoing for several novels (even all, or almost all, of the series). Even things I’d forgotten about get tied up. I’m not saying I’m happy because I like all the choices that the characters/Harrison made, because I’m not. But instead of another 400+ pages of Rachel (or Trent or Ivy or . . .) hemming and hawing and then not really reaching a decision on anything, these characters think about their problems, discuss solutions in a constructive manner with each other, and then act on it. They don’t all lead to a happily ever after — but they lead to something. Finally.

Harrison’s clearly setting the table for the last book in the series and tying up what she can — as well as delivering a pretty cool story. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to just focus on the soap-y ongoing story arcs. The stuff with the vampires and the out of control magic was great, and would’ve been enough to make this a compelling read. But the ongoing arcs have been such a drag on this series for so long, the fact that they weren’t at all this time is leading me to focus on them.

I really don’t know how to comment on the master vampire problem or the magic problem without getting into story details — but the implications of both were fascinating, and are the kind of thing that separates the Hollows from most Urban Fantasy. I’m so glad we got these situations.

For the first time in a long time, I can say I’m looking forward to seeing what Harrison does next. I have a lot more hope for her sticking the landing than I’ve had (even as I dread the fates of a couple of characters).

—–

4 Stars

W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton

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On July 31, 2014

In Fiction, Kinsey Millhone, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Sue Grafton

W is for Wasted (Kinsey Millhone, #23)W is for Wasted

by Sue Grafton
Series: Kinsey Millhone, #23

Hardcover, 486 pg.
A Marian Wood Book/Putnam, 2013
Read: July 25 – 26, 2014

There are two (dead) men that we focus on in this novel — the first, Pete Wolinksy, I’m pretty sure we’ve met before. He did some work for the men that Kinsey apprenticed with, and she’s run across him at least once before in the novels (but I’m not going to run off an verify that). The other deceased individual was a homeless alcoholic who died on the beach with Kinsey’s name and phone number in a pocket. With business slow, and her back account healthy — that’s enough to let her curiosity take over and find out what happened to this man, and to find out why he was carrying her name.

Along the way, Kinsey finds some relatives from her father’s side of the family — in recent years, she’d learned a good deal about her mother’s family, but hadn’t looked into her father’s. Now she has the opportunity, and while she doesn’t find as much (for now), but it’s something. This allows her to reflect a little on her current relationship with her mother’s side, too. I appreciate Kinsey’s self-awareness about how whiny she is can be (and usually is) regarding her extended family and how she really doesn’t feel that way any more except out of habit. Hopefully, in the next book or two, we see some real development and some degree of closure with her maternal grandmother, aunts and cousins. I’ve read a lot of criticism lately (particularly focused on this book) about how little character development there’s been here. This book — the 23rd — takes place 5-6 years after A is for Alibi, right? So of course, the development will be incremental — that’s how people change in such a short amount of time. It seems natural to me.

The mysteries weren’t all that compelling to me, and mostly seemed to be excuses to expose Kinsey to her family, Dietz, and to allow her to comment on the homeless problem in Santa “Theresa.” It took me a long time to get/care about the subplot told in flashbacks — once I did figure it out, I felt pretty stupid, to tell you the truth. Regardless, it wasn’t the most interesting flashback sequence Grafton’s done. It was effective enough, I guess, it just seemed to be missing something.

The new stuff aside, what about our old friends? We got a little time with Henry — Henry as meddling, advise-giving, semi-authority figure. William is his regular annoying self, and his wife, Rosie, was around just enough. There was a quick appearance from Con Dolan, and another from Cheney Phillips. Best of all, we get to hang out with Robert Dietz for a few chapters, and see a slightly different part of him. It seems very likely, and maybe even probable, that we won’t be seeing (at least) one of these characters again, based on what we saw here (and the number of books left).

The main quibble I have with this one is the dialogue — too often it’s just dreadful here. Painful to read — some of these characters read like technical manuals, or brochures for a tourism board. I’d b e willing to bet another editing pass from Grafton could’ve taken care of almost every flat, dull, or expositional line of conversation. But at this point, who’s going to make Grafton do something like that? If she catches it on her own, great — but there’s no editor in the world that’ll hold her feet to the fire.

Not her best work, there was almost no suspense at all here, and at a certain point, the whodunit became so obvious it was almost impossible to care about any more. But Grafton did enough to keep my interest and keep my fingers turning pages, and that’s enough. Kinsey’s never been the flashiest P.I. around — she’s stable, down to earth, and gets the job done. Which is pretty much what we got here.

—–

3 Stars

The Competition by Marcia Clark

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On July 31, 2014

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

The Competition (Rachel Knight, #4)The Competition

by Marcia Clark

Hardcover, 416 pg.
Mulholland Books, 2014
Read: July 28, 2014

So, Rachel Knight and her pal Det. Bailey Keller are called to the scene of a deadly shooting at a high school. Very deadly — it soon becomes clear that there will be a higher death count here than any other school shooting, which is exactly what the gunmen were going for. Students of mass shootings throughout our nation’s recent past, these criminals have set out to out-perform those they see as their inferiors.

The Rachel Knight novels are typically legal tension, wrangling, and some suspense — but mostly it’s about how do we catch this guy up in a lie?, how do we prove what we know?, and so on. But from page 8 when the bullets start flying, The Competition is pure, old-fashioned thriller-style tension. How long will it take to find the guys?, what will happen before they do? Riots, panic, more shooting? Yes, there’s also plenty of twists and turns, and the requisite Rachel Knight et al. cuteness. But mostly, this one’s a race against time and danger.

Marcia Clark steps out into some risky territory here — one only has to look back to the season premier of Sons of Anarchy last year to see the very divided critical and fan reaction to the school shooting. She manages it very well, not pushing any of the several political or social debates that she could here. The focus is kept on the criminals, trying to figure out why they did what they did, how to stop their evil. I can’t help but think of the old Nero Wolfe line, “Nothing corrupts a man so deeply as writing a book; the myriad temptations are overwhelming.” It’d have been so easy for Clark to succumb to temptation and pontificate here, to push her particular viewpoint on gun-issues, but she doesn’t. Well done.

I did guess almost every plot twist she used (and one I was convinced she was going to pull, but didn’t — even after the moment passed, I was looking for it). But it didn’t matter, she played every note just the way she should’ve, and even if I saw a trick coming, it worked. Was an edge-of-your-seat page-turner through and through. Hope to see a little more of Rachel the lawyer rather than Rachel the investigator next time, but chalk this up as another win for Knight and Clark.

—–

4 Stars

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