Tag: Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller Page 35 of 54

Zowie, I haven’t done one of these since January 2020?!?!

We all know we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover (yet, publishing companies spend big bucks on cover design/art). But, the opening sentence(s)/paragraph(s) are fair game. So, when I stumble on a good opening (or remember one and pull it off the shelves), I’ll throw it up here. Dare you not to read the rest of the book.

from The Dime by Kathleen Kent:

From my position in the hallway—on my ass, head pressed against the door frame, legs drawn up with my gun held two-handed against my sternum—I try to recall the layout of the room: three sets of bunk beds, four corpses sprawled across bloodied sheets, my partner, shot three times, lying motionless next to the nearest bunk, and, somewhere in there, one lunatic, a screaming infant in one hand and a semiautomatic pistol in the other. The last time I sneaked a look around the open doorway, he fired at me, the bullet knocking a crater in the wall opposite. He followed up by threatening to shoot the baby and then himself.

I’ve been a cop for five months, one week, and nine and a half hours.

There was a great deal of effort in stopping at that point, the first chapter is just dynamite.

The Friday 56 for 8/27/21: Fools Gold by Ian Patrick

By HCNewton

On August 27, 2021

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it

from 56% of:
Fools Gold

Fools Gold by Ian Patrick

Then it comes, a torchlight being shone into the front of our car. I start sitting up showing my hands as the door gets opened.

“What the fuck are you doing on my drive?” The voice asks from behind the phone torch that’s shone in my face. I keep my hands where he can see them.

From his shadow he’s a big lump and he must have company.

“We were just leaving.” I say as he lowers the torch. My eyes adjust, I smile at him.

“Give me the car keys or I’ll introduce you to my favourite hammer.” As if to emphasise the point he shows the claw hammer he’s brandishing in his shovel sized hand.

“You’re the boss, mate, now here’s the keys and lets not get stupid.”I move to get the keys and then I hear Nines.

“Why don’t you shift your fucking heap of shit motor mate and let us leave?” Nines’ pistol is aimed at the guy who hadn’t noticed him move due to his concentration on me.

Robert B. Parker’s Stone Throw by Mike Lupica: The Twentieth Jesse Stone Novel Shows this Series Still has Plenty of Life in It

By HCNewton

On August 26, 2021

In Fiction, Jesse Stone, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Robert B. Parker

Robert B. Parker’s Stone’s Throw

by Mike Lupica
Series: Jesse Stone, #20

eARC, 336 pg.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2021

Read: August 17-18, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

What’s Stone’s Throw About?

The mayor of Paradise is found dead at the site of a contentious land deal—it’s one of the most sought-after properties in Paradise, and the City is preparing to weigh in and deciding which of two buyers get to put a casino on it—while several citizens are trying to block the sale at all. The mayor is clearly sympathetic to the anti-sale voices, but it doesn’t look like he’s going to be able to do anything to stop it going forward.

And then he apparently commits suicide on that piece of real estate. Jesse’s not so sure about the suicide part, however, it doesn’t make sense to him for several reasons—his friendship with the mayor is just one of them (the fact that the left-handed man seemingly used his right hand to shoot himself would be another).

Jesse just has to decide who has the most motive to kill him—one of the buyers? The seller? The anti-sale group?

Then the leader of the conservation movement goes missing, and his girlfriend is worried. Then it turns out that Wilson Cromartie—Crow—is working for one of the casino builders. He and the Paradise Police Department have a very shaky history—his criminal past (all beyond the statute of limitations) makes Jesse dis-inclined to trust him, no matter how much assistance he rendered in finding a missing girl later. Is Crow on the side of angels this time, or could he be behind the mayor’s death?

In a case that clearly calls for someone to “follow the money” there’s so much of it flying around that it’d be easy to get lost trying that, there are no easy answers for Jesse and the rest of the PPD.

Molly

From the beginning of the series, Molly Crane has been one of the highlights of the books and of the Paradise Police Department. She’s loyal, competent, and has a big heart. She’s stood by Jesse when things were at their worst for him—covering for him as much as she could. She’s almost too perfect—except for the one time she slept with Crow. That’s pretty much the only time she’s done something wrong.

And since then—at least once per book*—Jesse has brought that transgression up. Every author—Parker, Brandman**, Coleman, and now Lupica—has had Jesse throw this in her face regularly. It’s always bothered me that it’s so constant, so frequent—the woman beats herself up for it, she’s been so good to Jesse, and this is how he treats her?

* As far as I remember, I could be wrong about that, I doubt there’s been more than 2 books without it.

** I honestly remember so little about the Brandman novels, I only assume he followed suit.

And now, Crow is back—and he and Molly interact a bit, both with others around and one-on-one. Without getting into anything, I hope that this allows Molly to get past this act of infidelity—and that Jesse stops bringing it up. Really, there’s an opportunity for closure here, and I hope Lupica takes it.

Talkin’ Baseball

I always liked that Parker wrote Jesse as someone who became a cop not because he had the drive to see justice done, to serve and protect, etc.—but because he had to re-evaluate his life after his baseball career-ending injury and then came to the career in law enforcement.

Parker treated this well, in a “road not taken” kind of way. Coleman did a good job with it—although Blind Spot was more about being part of a team, more than the sport. But Lupica? Lupica really knows how to write about this part of Jesse’s life. He has Jesse think about this a lot in the first chapter and I put in my notes, “this is the best passage in Lupica’s Parker books.” And then it comes up later in the book, too. I don’t know if it’s all the sports books in Lupica’s past, just a better insight into the mindset of the baseball player, or what—but this book has the best usage of Jesse’s former career that this twenty-book series has had.

So, what did I think about Stone’s Throw?

I wasn’t crazy about this at the beginning—it was always good, but I didn’t get sucked in right away. I also wasn’t crazy about the way that Crow was being used—it reminded me of the way that Parker took some of the danger away from Vinnie Morris, Bobby Horse, and Chollo after their initial appearances. But it started to grow on me the further I got into it—and by the last half, I was invested as I could’ve hoped to be.

And even if I wasn’t—just being back in Paradise with Jesse, Suit, and Molly is good enough.

Lupica’s got the voices down, he understands Paradise, he gets the cast of characters right and this book feels like he’s been writing Stone novels for more years than he has—I had to remind myself that this is only his second time with this series. I’d have easily believed this is the fifth.

Whether you’re new to Jesse Stone, or you’ve been reading them since the beginning, this is a novel that will entertain you and leave you looking forward to the next one.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from PENGUIN GROUP Putnam via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.

4 Stars

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.

Reposting Just Cuz: Robert B. Parker’s Fool’s Paradise by Mike Lupica: Jesse Stone takes a Murder Case Personally

By HCNewton

On August 23, 2021

In Fiction, Jesse Stone, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Robert B. Parker

Robert B. Parker’s Fool’s Paradise

by Mike Lupica
Series: Jesse Stone, #19

eARC, 352 pg.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2020

Read: September 2-3, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

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.

4 Stars

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.

The Far Empty by J. Todd Scott: Imagine if Don Winslow Tried to Write a Craig Johnson Novel…

By HCNewton

On August 20, 2021

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

The Far Empty

by J. Todd Scott
Series: Chris Cherry, #1

Paperback, 446 pg.
G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2019

Read: August 16-17, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

At dawn, when the sun’s up ove rthe mountains and it hits the far edges of twon at the right angle, the pink caliche on the bluffs burns crimson and everyting runs red. Murfee alwasy wakes up bloody. The dead are her secrets…The missing are her ghosts.

I know who Deputy Cherry found out at Indian Bluffs, and so does my father.

My mother…his missing wife.

What’s The Far Empty About?

This is so hard to sum up in a few paragraphs. Murfee is a small town in Texas near the southern border—the area around Murfee is even less populated. There are farms, ranches, and a lot of uninhabited land—very close to the border—a great place for smugglers (of people and substances) to ply their trade.

We open on one of the ranches that’s used as a crossing point. The owner has discovered a body on the land and newish Deputy Chris Cherry goes to look at the scene. Any other deputy would do what the rancher wants and write this off as another dead Mexican*—but Chris wants to do it right. And as he’s careful about his business, he notices something that compels him to dig in and really investigate the circumstances around the death—and the identity of the victim.

* Actually, it’d be a slur, but let’s keep this civil. I’m not sure I read many terms for minorities in this book that weren’t racist slurs. Thankfully, the characters that are on the admirable side of things (not necessarily “good guys”) don’t use that kind of language.

Actually, that’s incorrect—we start with the Sheriff’s seventeen-year-old son, Caleb, talking about the men that his father has killed (that Sheriff Ross—aka “Judge”—is willing to talk about in public, anyway), the women he married and the reasons they’re no longer around. Up to a year ago when Caleb’s mother left town—or so the official story is—Caleb says he knows his father killed her.

“The Judge” is the most powerful man in this part of Texas—he doesn’t enforce the law, he is the law, in just about every sense of the word. He’s what Walt Longmire and Quinn Colson could be with a lot more ambition—and an utter lack of morality. He sleeps with who he wants to, takes what he wants to—and, presumably, kills who he wants to. And the people who keep electing him love him, he’s their hero. He’s really one of the more despicable characters I’ve read this year.

So we have Caleb trying to find out what happened to his mom, Chris trying to figure out how this corpse ended up buried on the ranch, Sherrif Ross up to all sorts of things—and a few other residents of Murfee up to things full of secrets and lies. Too many threads are interwoven to do a decent job of talking about them here—but it’s safe to say that because of what Caleb and Chris are up to, there’s a chance that this intricate web could start to fall apart.

A chance.

The Exception

We learn so much about every major character—their backstory, the secret lives they live, the lies they tell the world (and, in some cases, themselves)…with one exception—Melissa, Deputy Cherry’s girlfriend.

We get a hint about her past—just the barest of hints—and we know a lot about her life with Chris—before and after Murfee. But that’s all. Just a hint? It drives me crazy that I could write a page or more on the backstory of every other major character, and I can’t about her. She’s largely a mystery.

And the part that isn’t being driven crazy about that loves it. She’s shrouded in shadows, and someone in this town needs to stay that way.

Series Premiere vs. Stand-Alone

I knew this was the first novel in a series, but it never felt like it. I kept thinking that this was a stand-alone. It was only in the last twenty pages that I could see how it could continue.

I have to wonder—did Scott’s publisher say, “We like this and would like to buy it from you—but we’re going to need this to be a series, add something to the end, okay?” Because those twenty pages don’t need to be there—I’m glad they were, it was easier to move past the darkness that characterized the 426 pages before because of those last twenty.

But I’m not sure it’s a better novel because of them.

So, what did I think about The Far Empty?

This book deserves kudos for the atmospheric writing—you feel the emptiness of the geography. It also draws on the legends (and history) about Texas Lawmen and Criminals—placing these events squarely in that vein. It’s hard to walk away from this book thinking that any part of Texas could possibly be different from Murfee.

I spent a lot of the novel thinking “This is almost too noir, I need someone I can believe in, someone who seems to care about the law, morality, simple decency.” I knew from the first chapter on that it was brilliantly written—Scott’s voice, style, and ability shone throughout the novel.

But, man…it was so bleak.

Caleb and Chris, sure, did care about justice, what’s right, and so on—but their efforts seemed so Quixotic that it was almost painful to watch these two and their futile quests.

I don’t know if the novel eased up on that eventually, if Scott’s writing won me over, or if I eventually grew numb to it all. But at some point, I bought into it—I needed to know what was happening and started to care about many of these characters.

When I get to the sequels, I might change my opinion of the book as a whole—but on the whole, it didn’t work for me as much as I wanted it to. It wouldn’t surprise me if by the end of book two, I’m a rabid fan of this series, but for the time being I’m unable to think of it as more than “pretty good.”

I do recommend The Far Empty, Scott’s a guy to keep your eye on. Just don’t go into this thinking it’s a fun adventure.

3.5 Stars

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.

The Friday 56 for 8/13/21: The Dead House by Harry Bingham

By HCNewton

On August 13, 2021

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it

from 56% of:
The Dead House

The Dead House by Harry Bingham

The chamber we’re in isn’t vast by the standards of vast. It’s perhaps twice the length, height and width of that common room at Penwyllt, but it feels cathedral-like to me. Lofty and aerial.

I sit on a hunk of rock and wait for Lloyd (grinning) and Burnett (muttering) to appear. We congratulate each other. Learn to keep our torch beams angled slightly away from each other’s eyes, so we can see each other without dazzling ourselves.

Water pools in places on the floor, but is nowhere more than a few inches deep. Somewhere there’s a drip of water against rock. A faint draught.

Burnett sits next to me, mixing blasphemy and old-fashioned cursing in a way that is both dully conventional but also pleasingly heartfelt and direct.

Lloyd bounces round like a puppy. Splashes to the end of the chamber. Points out that the passage continues on from there. Pokes around a rubble of loose rock along the chamber’s right hand edge, muttering to himself.

When he’s done, he trots back.

‘OK? OK? You both all right? You’ve done well. That was a good crawl. Not as good as Ogof Daren Cilau, but still a good ’un. A really good ’un. Now, OK, take a break. Have a rest. I’ll get the sacks and we’ll set up base camp.’

REPOSTING JUST CUZ: The Ninja Daughter by Tori Eldridge: The Norwegian-Chinese Ninja Hero You Never Realized You Needed in Your Life

By HCNewton

On August 13, 2021

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

I’m stumbling over myself trying to write my post about the sequel, The Ninja’s Blade–seriously, I’ve tossed out the first paragraph 5 times so far. So, as has been my habit of late, I’m reposting what I said about the previous book in its stead. If you haven’t looked into this yet, maybe this’ll prompt you to do that (while I hope it prompts me to finish the post on the sequel)

The Ninja Daughter

by Tori Eldridge
Series: Lily Wong, #1

Paperback, 300 pg.
Agora Books, 2019

Read: August 21-22, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

What’s The Ninja Daughter About?

Lily Wong’s nickname is Dumpling, and like that food, there’s a lot hidden underneath the surface.

For starters, there’s the fact that she trained extensively in martial arts—more than her parents realized—growing up. Then there’s the fact that she (in her mind, at least) let her sister down the night that her sister was sexually assaulted and murdered. Which fuels the last hidden part of her life—she uses her guilt and need for vengeance to fuel her utilization of those martial arts skills to be a kunoichi—a female ninja—to help women and children who are the victims of abuse while she hunts for her sister’s killer. Her parents only know she does IT work from home.

When the book opens she’s trying to help a Ukrainian immigrant woman and her son get away from her abusive husband (who brags about his criminal connections), but that’s not going too well. To distract her self from the lack of success there, she takes up the cause of a waitress who’d been attacked in her home by a customer. The judge tossed the case based on insufficient evidence following weeks of the waitress being victim shamed through the media (traditional and social).

Lily decides that this waitress needs a big sister to look out for her and appoints herself to fill that role. She does this by doing what she can to keep Mia safe and then to investigate the guy she pressed charges against. This leads her into a murky world of government contracts, real estate, organized crime, and murder.

You Know Who Lily Reminds Me Of?

Part of it’s the city of L.A., part of it’s the female action-hero vibe, the one woman against the world kind of thing. Part of it is ineffable. But I couldn’t help but think of Cas Russell (of Zero Sum Game and Null Set) and Teagan Frost (of The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t with Her Mind) as I read this book.

Sure, Lily’s more grounded than either of them, she has no real powers other than those that are the result of years of training and practice. Theoretically, everything that Lily does in this book Tori Eldridge is (or at least was at one point) capable of doing herself—and a lot of what Cas and Teagan do are purely the stuff of fiction. Still, I’m probably going to lump the three of them together in my mind for some time to come.

The biggest difference between them is that Lily knows just who she is and where she comes from—her family is strong, affectionate (in their way), and supportive. She may have friends to augment that core support, but they’re not everything she has. This makes her a bit more stable and capable of dealing with challenges that come than the others.

(and, yeah, I thought of Lydia Chin and her mother every time Lily and her Ma interacted, but that’s a whole other can of worms).

The Food

There’s food all over this book. Lily’s father owns and runs a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. The woman that runs the shelter she works with cooks amazing sounding soul food. The meals she eats with her family and on her own sound amazing. Spenser and Elvis Cole may know their way around a kitchen, but Lily Wong knows her way around some fantastic restaurants in L.A. She’s so far ahead of the game than Kinsey Milhone’s lousy sandwiches and Hungarian food that it’s hard to believe they’re in the same genre.

Do not read this book if you’re peckish. Keep yourself fed well, or you’re going to be snacking far too much.

Lily’s Heritage

It’s that family makes Lily who she is. In these three hundred pages, we hear more about Lily’s grandparents and parents than I’m used to hearing about a protagonist’s family over several books. Particularly when we’re talking about an action hero.

Eldridge has given Lily the same heritage that she has—a Norwegian father from North Dakota and a Chinese mother. So Eldridge knows the special kind of alchemy that the mixture of the two cultures produces.

The Important Word in the Title

Obviously, it’s Ninja that draws your attention and is the memorable takeaway, but as you can tell, it’s Daughter that colors the whole book. It’s Lily’s interactions with her parents, her application of the way they raised her and still care for her, the way she draws on what they teach and tell her that defines her and proves to be the key to figuring out what’s going on in the book.

So, what did I think about The Ninja Daughter?

If you want to ignore the deeper stuff and enjoy a book about a determined young woman out for vengeance (presumptive and by proxy, as it often is) on the streets of Los Angeles, this book will do the trick.

If you want a rounded, complex, female character trying to figure out how to deal with personal guilt, and trauma while helping out women and children by any means necessary, this book will do the trick, too. The idea that she may be starting to figure out a way past the guilt and move into healing and happiness* makes that all the better.

* Sure, I realize that within the first fifty pages of the sequel, all that can go away. The important thing is that it was there

You could make the case that Philip Marlowe was Chandler’s attempt at telling the story of a knight errant in early-twentieth-century L.A. Lily’s in the same vein—just a little more modern (and, ironically enough, using an older kind of warrior). Eldridge’s L.A. has slightly nicer mean streets, but they’re just as deadly and are in just as much need for a hero. I hope we get to see her at work for quite some time.

4 Stars

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.

The Friday 56 for 8/6/21: All Together Now by Matthew Norman

By HCNewton

On August 6, 2021

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it

from Page 56 of:
All Together Now

All Together Now by Matthew Norman

Michelle is in her swimsuit; a pair of goggles hang around he, neck, “Can we go in the pool?” she asks. Before Blair can answer Kenny enters. He’s wearing his swimsuit, too, but it’s on backward and his goggles are wrapped upside down around his forehead “We gotta go in the pool!”

“At least somebody came to party,” says Cat.

Martin takes a theatrical sip of his awful drink. “I’m on it,” he says. “Hon, hang with your friends. Michelle, Kenny, it’s cannonball time.” Michelle and Kenny cheer… Martin leaves to change into his suit while Cat throws grapes in the air from a giant fruit bowl for the twins to try to catch in their mouths.

“That’s kind of a choking hazard, Cat,” says Blair. “Oh, honey, don’t eat floor grapes.”

“Is your mommy always like this?” Cat asks the twins. She throws a grape up for herself, and it bounces off her nose.

“Like what?” asks Kenny.

“Such a mom?”

Dead Man’s Grave by Neil Lancaster: The Debut of Your New Favorite Police Procedural Series

By HCNewton

On August 6, 2021

In Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Dead Man’s Grave

by Neil Lancaster
Series: DS Max Craigie Scottish Crime Thrillers, #1

Kindle Edition, 400 pg.
HQ Digital, 2021

Read: July 17-19, 2021

What’s Dead Man’s Grave About?

Tam “Peeler” Hardie has been the head of one of Scotland’s most powerful, most violent (you don’t want to know how he got that nickname*), crime families for decades. He’s looking at the end of his life and has an overwhelming desire to look into his family’s roots. This quest takes Hardie to an old, small graveyard near a small Scottish town. Thanks to a feud that goes back generations, he won’t leave that graveyard alive.

* Okay, you probably do in some twisted way—but I’m not going to go into it. Go buy the book.

It doesn’t take long before Hardie’s sons suspect something’s wrong—at the very least their father is missing (maybe kidnapped?). Now, if you’re the Scottish Police, the last thing you want is the Hardies to take it upon themselves to go looking for their father—they’re much more likely to start a war with some other criminal organizations than they are to find him. So DS Max Craigie and DC Janie Calder are assigned to the search, which will hopefully placate the sons for a little while.

Some good detecting by Craigie—and some better instincts—lead to the discovery of Hardie’s body—and some good fortune leads to a quick arrest. It’s soon after that when Craigie starts to notice something’s amiss with the investigation—it’s clear that the Hardies know more than they should, investigative lines are shut down by superiors, and Craigie’s aid is taken as interference, In fact, he’s put on leave when he won’t stop.

There’s something rotten afoot, and now the question is: can Craigie (with or without the aid of Calder, a new detective that he barely knows) find out what kind of corruption is meddling with this investigation and put a stop to it without risking their careers or lives?

DS Max Craigie and DC Janie Calder

In a very real sense, we’ve seen both of these characters before. He’s the cynical experienced detective who still has a sense of right and wrong; he’s not afraid to defy orders and go his own way to make sure the right people are arrested; his career has taken a toll on his health and family, but he’s driven by a sense of mission that he can’t shake. She’s a little odd and not that popular with the rest of the detectives—but she’s smart, she’s eager, she’s tech-savvy—and you don’t want to face off against her in a physical confrontation. But somehow Lancaster takes these very familiar types and makes them feel fresh—like he’s one of the first to try this combination of partners with these characteristics. Don’t ask me how he did that, but he did.

Even if it didn’t feel fresh—there’s a reason we’ve seen these characters paired in this way before: it works really well. Storytellers gravitate to them, readers respond well to them. Lancaster is a great example of someone who takes these characters and uses them right.

I really liked these characters, and can’t wait to see how Lancaster develops them. I predict it won’t be long before most readers of the series think of Calder as their favorite character. (and very likely has started already)

So, what did I think about Dead Man’s Grave?

It took me no time at all to be hooked by this novel–it starts off strong and improves from there. It was tense, well-plotted, and (mostly) well-paced. Add in Max and Janie and Dead Man’s Grave becomes a real winner—one of the better Crime Novels I’ve read this year.

One little complaint—the book wraps up too quickly, it was just a bit too difficult to believe that they met their objectives that speedily. But, by that time, you’re so into the story and characters that you’re willing to go with Lancaster. And the conclusion was so satisfying that the only reason I remember this gripe is that I wrote it down.

I strongly recommend this one to you—it’s the kind of book that makes me want to go and lower the stars on Lancaster’s earlier books because this is so much better than what he’d done before—there’s a depth, complexity, and richness to plot, character, and style that wasn’t there in the Tom Novak books (don’t get me wrong—I enjoyed each of them). If he’s stepped up his game this much in so short a time, Lancaster’s going to have a long and very satisfying career.

4 Stars

The Heathens by Ace Atkins: Colson and Virgil Try to Stop a Modern Bonnie and Clyde

By HCNewton

On August 4, 2021

In Ace Atkins, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Quinn Colson

The Heathens

by Ace Atkins
Series: Quinn Colson, #11

Hardcover, 400 pg.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2021

Read: July 20-23, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

Tanya Jane Byrd, known to her friends as TJ, never gave a damn about being famous. But here she was, four days on the run from Tibbehah County, Mississippi, with that girl Chastity passing along the burner phone to show they now had more than a hundred thousand followers on Instagram. They only had six posts, the newest one from just two hours ago after TJ cut her hair boy short, dyed it black as a raven’s wing, and made her ultimatum to that cowardly son of 2 bitch Chester Pratt. She called him out for not only her mother’s murder but the money she and her little brother John Wesley were owed.

On the forty-five-second clip shot outside the Tri-State Motel in Texarkana, she held up her fist on the diving board to an empty pool and said, “Fair is fair,” remembering the line from one of her mothers old VHS tapes in the trailer.

“What do you think?” Chastity asked.

“I think I better drop that phone into the nearest creek.”

What’s The Heathens About?

Seventeen-year-old TJ Byrd has spent her life convinced that her father was killed by Tibbehah County’s Sherriff, the uncle of the current Sherriff. This has left her with a pretty jaded view of law enforcement. So when she’s suspected in the disappearance—and then the murder of her mother, it’s understandable that she doesn’t assume she’s going to get a fair shake from those that suspect her. So, she grabs her little brother and with her best friend and her boyfriend, they hit the road and run. They’re not sure where they’re driving to, but it’s far away from Tibbehah.

That’s maybe not the brightest move, but she’s desperate.

Former Deputy/now US Marshall, Lilly Virgil assumes that TJ killed her mother. Lilly has seen what happens when the two of them fight and assumes that TJ has gone one step too far. Lilly pulls some strings and gets herself assigned to the fugitive hunt for TJ and the rest.

Sheriff Quinn Colson isn’t that convinced of TJ’s guilt but would like to talk to her about what happened. With her on the run, he does some legwork on the case on his own—looking into her mother’s boyfriend, finances, and history. The more he finds, the less he’s convinced that TJ had anything to do with her death, he just needs to find enough evidence to convince Lilly.

Meanwhile, Johnny Stagg is at work greasing palms and making plans for the future—and what he has in mind will look entirely different than anything we’ve already seen from him. He’s also trying to get a father and son to join his team—they have a penchant for violence, and Stagg is pretty sure he’ll have some work for them.

TJ Byrd

…I’m real sorry, TJ. You’re too young to got through a mess like this.”

“My life’s been a mess since I was born,” TJ said. “Don’t shed a tear for me, Sheriff.”

TJ Byrd is one of those characters that you can sense that an author really enjoys writing, and it carries over to the reader—she’s just a blast to read about. I felt like I got a better sense of her than I have a couple of protagonists this year. I want to write a lot about her, but I won’t because I just don’t want to take away the joy of discovery from a reader. So let me just say that if you can see the joy in reading about a rebellious, stubborn, delinquent teenager on the run from the law because she’s suspected of the gruesome murder of her mother, you’re really going to have fun with her. If that kind of character doesn’t really seem like something you’d enjoy—give Atkins a chance to prove you wrong.

The only thing I do feel safe in saying is that Atkins made a great Spotify playlist based on the character, and it tells you a lot about her (and makes pretty good reading/writing music if you’re dragging a bit).

A New Side of Colson?

The little girl wide awake now, as Maggie wiped her face with a napkin and handed her over to Quinn. He held his daughter tight, the child’s eyes wide and unfocused. Halley so small, light in his lap, while she checked out all the smells and sounds of the Fillin’ Station diner.

“She sure is curious,” Maggie said.

“Skeptical,” Quinn said.

“I guess she comes by it naturally.”

Quinn’s been a great step-dad to Brandon—and was a good uncle to Jason. But it feels different now with Halley in the picture. It seems like Quinn’s going to be a good, involved dad (as much as his job allows). I got a real Joe Pickett-vibe off of a couple of passages with Quinn at home in this one. Which is good—Joe at home is the most appealing part of the character, so seeing Quinn in this light makes me look forward to seeing how he develops along these lines.

Mythology vs. “Monster of the Week”

It’s a little off-genre here, but when I was thinking about this novel and its relation to the rest of the series, I thought about The X-Files and Fringe. There were essentially two types of episodes for those series—”Mythology” episodes that advanced or at least explored the overarching story about the series, and “monster of the week” episodes that were pretty much about some freakish thing that was taken care of within one episode—and while nods might have been made towards the mythology, overall it was independent of that story.

The Heathens follows a major mythology novel, The Revelators that tied up storylines that went back to the beginning as well as some new ones. The Heathens takes a break from it, telling a largely stand-alone story. This is good, it gives readers a chance to catch their breath, it gives Atkins a chance to tell a different kind of story while beginning to set the stage for the next big mythology chapter.

That said, it’s not “mythology”-free. The “new, improved” Johnny Stagg (who will remind you a lot of the “old, corrupt” Johnny Stagg) starts making plans, giving readers a hint about the kind of misery that’s heading to Tibbehah County and Quinn’s life. And there are references to and advances on some of the ongoing subplots, but they’re not the focus of the novel.

Edging Toward a Spoiler In This Paragraph

I don’t like to think this—even about fictional characters—but there’s a character death that brought me just so much pleasure. I’m not going to ruin it, as much as I want to. Murdered Character is someone I find nothing redeemable about—Stagg, at least, is entertaining to read about/detest. But this one? Didn’t enjoy reading about them, was hoping never to see them again—but if Atkins is going to bring them back just so he can kill them off? That’s more than okay by me.

So, what did I think about The Heathens?

This is a great way to start phase 2 of the Quinn Colson series, taking a little breather from major arcs to focus on this story—one that Quinn and Lilly really play supporting roles in—is a nice break from the intensity of the last couple of novels.

It’s also a great place to come on board the series if you haven’t read any of it before.

Lilly and Quinn being on opposite sides of the case—not really working against each other but sure not helping each other too obviously—is another nice touch. There’s an honest difference of opinion, and on the whole, they treat each other like adults set out to get to the bottom of something, no matter their divergent positions when it comes to how to deal with TJ.

Especially in the Quinn Colson series, Atkins has a history of giving us solid plots, great characters, and something extra. That’s the same here, but it feels a little fresher, a little rejuvenated after The Heathens. Choosing to focus on a few kids from Tibbehah County, while Lilly and Quinn are closing in on the truth (and the teens) is a nice change of pace, too.

As much as I enjoy his Spenser novels, it’s these Quinn Colson books where Atkins can show the world what he’s capable of. This is no exception to the rule—do yourself a favor and pick this up.

4 Stars

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