Tag: Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels

Dusted Off: Dirty Martini by J. A. Konrath

Dirty Martini (Jack Daniels Mystery, #4)Dirty Martini

by J.A. Konrath

Hardcover, 292 pg.
Hyperion, 2007
Read: October 15, 2012

Not that I had a lot of complaints (or any, really) with Jack Daniels #2 & #3, but this one seems fresher, tougher, more clever. Jack gets herself into some really hairy territory here. I’ll be honest, I thought I had it figured out right up to the point where the bad guy’s identity was revealed–and couldn’t have been more wrong.

There were a couple of new characters introduced here, one of which was so over the top and annoying I was dreading reading on. But Konrath knew what he was doing after all, shame on me.

A taught, nail-biter of a read. Good stuff.

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4 Stars

Dusted Off: Rusty Nail by J. A. Konrath

Rusty Nail (Jack Daniels Mystery, #3)Rusty Nail

by J.A. Konrath

Hardcover, 292 pg.
Hyperion, 2006
Read: August 11 – 12, 2012

Laugh out loud funny, sit on the ,of your seat tense, heartfelt moments, a couple of utterances of “ew.” This third outing for Jack Daniels is great detective novel, a heckuva read–just like the first two. I really dig this cast, this world that Konrath’s building.

What’s most impressive, I think, is the way that the first three entries to this series — while remaining pretty much standalone works — are so intricately tied together.

Of course, I appreciated the nod to Robert B. Parker and Spenser, as it was Konrath’s chapter from In Pursuit of Spenser: Mystery Writers on Robert B. Parker and the Creation of an American Hero that led me to Jack in the first place.

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4 Stars

Dusted Off: Bloody Mary by J.A. Konrath

Bloody Mary (Jack Daniels Mystery, #2)Bloody Mary

by J.A. Konrath

Hardcover, 307 pg.
Hyperion, 2005
Read: July 8, 2012

What a great mix–funny, gruesome, drama and a touch of pathos. The murderer at the center of this novel is one of the creepiest I’ve run across, and it’s best not to visualize the crimes in too much detail. But thankfully, there are some laugh-out-loud lines and visuals to counterbalance the grisliness.

Overall, I think the police work, and the interplay between Jack and the other police was superior in the first novel; and some of the legal maneuvering was a little too slick–but the strengths of the novel far outweighed the weaknesses. This one’ll be parked out in my subconscious for quite a while.

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4 Stars

Dusted Off: Cherry Bomb by J. A. Konrath

Cherry Bomb (Jack Daniels Mystery, #6)Cherry Bomb

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

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

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

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4 1/2 Stars

Shaken by J. A. Konrath

Shaken
Shaken

by J.A. Konrath
Paperback, 262 pages
AmazonEncore, 2011

There are three stories told in the penultimate Jack Daniels novel: one told shortly after the events in Cherry Bomb, one that takes place three years earlier, and the last that takes place 18 years before that. Now, given that I knew Jack would survive all three stories between that timeline (not being a time traveler, she obviously couldn’t die 21 years before current events) and the fact that I read this a year after the followup novel were written — you’d think I’d be able to kick back and let the novel play out.

Nope, not even close — I was on the edge of my seat from the get-go. How Konrath pulled that off, I don’t know — don’t really care, either.

In the oldest storyline — Jack’s still sporting her maiden name and is a fairly new cop working prostitution stings — with her partner, Harry McGlade — which lead to her being enlisted in a undercover operation for Homicide — and almost getting killed by a real psycho.

A bit more current, Jack and Herb are trying to prevent the murder of a child by a legendary serial killer, who they think they’re about to catch after years of people all over the country hunting him down.

The most recent story starts off with Jack kidnapped — she fell asleep in her bed next to Phin, and awakens in a dark room, bound, with no one around. But there’s a clock counting down how long she has left to live — and it ain’t long.

Last week, I talked a little bit about my problems with prequels. The storyline 20+ years old really serves as a prequel to the series — and has all the shortcomings of them — inside jokes, heavy haded bits about how no one will need a mobile phone in the future, how Jack plans to upgrade her car (she’s still driving it currently), Herb’s legendary metabolism, etc. Some of these jokes I did enjoy — the more subtle ones, mostly. Still, as always, Konrath knows when to lighten up on the humor and apply the suspense — and he does it very successfully in each story.

I’ve seen some reader reviews here and there complaining that the ending’s a bit too deus ex machina — and I think you can make that case. Still, I disagree sequel ex machina? Sure, I’ll buy that — it was all about setting up the next installment of the series. And given how effective the rest of the novel really was — I’ll give Konrath a pass on that.

A lot of laughs, some good twists, many nails bitten — a great read. This, in so many ways, is not the place to start with this series, go back to the beginning, with Whiskey Sour and jump on there. But if you’ve been sticking with Jack, this is a great addition.

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4 Stars

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