Tag: Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller Page 51 of 62

The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter

by Aaron Reynolds
Series: The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter, #1

Hardcover, 213pg.
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2020

Read: February 19-20, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

There’s a hum from the game and it roars to life…The Grim Reaper inside starts to move. He puts his bony hand near a small chute and my quarter falls into his palm.Behind him, a little sign spins into place:

PLAY AGAINST THE GRIM REAPER
WIN AND YOUR WISH IS GRANTED
LOSE AND SUFFER THE REAPER’S CURSE!

“Whoa!” cries Darvish in realization. “This is just like that old movie from the eighties.”

“What movie?” I ask.

“You know,” he persists. “The one with Tom Hanks.”

“Never heard of him.”

“He wishes to be tall,” Darvish says. “Or grown. What was it called? Tall? Large?”

“No idea,” I tell him. “Unlike you, I do not spend my time on ancient movies from a bygone era.”

What’s The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter About?

Rex Dexter is a sixth-grader who desperately wants a pet. Well, no. He wants a dog—and considers all other kinds of pets as beneath him. A Chocolate Lab in particular, or he’d settle for a Yellow Lab. Even a Black Lab. Or, if he must, a Golden Retriever. The kid has standards.

Due to a mishap a few years earlier with a Goldfish and, well, his entire personality, his parents have decided he’s too immature for a dog, but they do get him a rooster for his birthday to see how he handles that. Sure, this makes no sense—who gives a rooster as a pet? But don’t worry, the chicken dies in a strange mishap hours later. (That’s not a spoiler, he’s literally dead on the book’s cover).

It’s about this time that Rex plays the Reaper’s game, and loses. Soon after that a very flat chicken starts talking to him—but no one else can see or hear the chicken, but Darvish is able to see the Rooster move things, so he believes Rex. So, the Reaper’s curse has something to do with seeing dead animals. Rex and Darvish barely get the chance to start believing that when a Rhino’s ghost shows up, too. It had died in a fire at the local zoo.

The Rhino (Rex calls him Tater Tot) tells Rex she needs help finishing something on Earth before he can move on—Drumstick (the rooster) has no intention of leaving. Rex and Darvish need to figure out who killed Tater Tot to help her move on. While they’re trying, more dead zoo animals arrive—making quite the mess in Rex’s room and making it difficult for him to focus on school (never a strength in the first place).

Their age and inexperience are a couple of the biggest strikes against their success, but there are bigger obstacles. Starting with the fact that their Sixth Grade Teacher, Ms. Yardley, keeps trying to educate them, and then there’s a research project looming on the horizon, as well as the Evening of Enchantment dance. That’s just a whole lot to go up against, but these ghosts need his help.

Rex and Darvish

Rex is the kind of over-confident (arrogant-adjacent) and not all that bright hero that MG books seem to love filling themselves with lately–Greg Heffley and Timmy Failure are the two examples that jump to mind. He’s got attitude to spare, opinions on everything under the sun, and a blind spot to his own strengths and weaknesses that’s larger than himself.

Where Timmy has that Polar Bear, Rex has Drumstick. And where Greg has Rowley, Rex has Darvish. Darvish is a lot like Rowley—upbeat, considerate, and pretty clever. Also, they’re much better friends to Greg/Rex than Greg/Rex are to them. Both of them would be better off getting a new best friend, but neither do. It’s a fun dynamic to see, but man…I feel for them, you know?

So, what did I think about The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter?

First off, thanks to The Bookwyrm’s Den for letting me know about this book and making it sound fun enough to look into.

This is a ridiculous book, a goofy premise, and an outlandish execution of that premise. And I loved it. There’s a higher joke-density to the text than The Wimpy Kid books or Timmy Failure‘s adventures. Maybe it’s too much, honestly, I had to take a couple of breaks because I just needed a break from the relentless barrage of jokes. I don’t see anyone in the target audience doing that, but it was at over-dose levels for me (like you get when you get near to the end of a package of Double-Stuff Oreos if you eat the entire thing at one sitting).*

It’s ridiculous, it’s hilarious, the story holds up, and the characters (living and dead) are just great. I think this works for all ages, there’s just enough story to keep you invested and even if all the jokes don’t land, just wait for the sentence and you’ll get another one.

It’s been a while since I just read a book for fun, with no other expectations or goals. That’s all that Reynolds offers and that’s exactly what he delivers.

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.

A Few Quick Questions with…Matthew Iden

By HCNewton

On February 18, 2021

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

I posted about the eighth Marty Singer novel, Chasing the Pain earlier this morning, and now I have a Q&A with the author, Matthew Iden to share with you. I had a harder time than I’m used to coming up with spoiler-free questions for this book, but think I pulled it off. I enjoyed this, hope you do, too.

Help us get to know you a bit—could you sketch out your path to publication and where the Marty Singer series came from?

After several frustrating years scaling the walls of traditional publishing only to be pushed off the parapet, I turned to self-publishing when it was still just a gleam in Jeff Bezos’s eye, about 2010 or so. I was lucky enough to have some immediate success with sales, but more importantly I realized what the important stuff was: connecting with readers, getting feedback, telling my story. It was empowering to see people who were not my mother actually appreciate my writing—this is the core piece of advice I give writers on the fence about self-publishing: as corny as it sounds, reaching readers is its own reward.

After three or four years, I’d done well enough to catch the eye of Thomas & Mercer—Amazon Publishing’s mystery and thriller imprint. They picked up all of my Marty Singer books (six at the time) and contracted for two standalone thrillers, which became THE WINTER OVER and BIRTHDAY GIRL.

The blush eventually came off the romance, but we parted amicably. I regained the rights to my Marty Singer series and self-published them, then added two more to the pile (THE BITTER FIELDS and CHASING THE PAIN).

The idea for Marty as a character came from my desire to write about a “real” individual. I love the Jack Reachers of the literary world, but I have a very hard time writing about them. I identify much more with Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander: solid, unvarnished, relatable.

I imagine that bringing back a character from a previous novel (at least one not designed to be a recurring character) is a tricky proposition—what came first, the desire to write more about Karl and this storyline lent itself to that, or the idea to do something with the “rehab industry” and he was a convenient way into that?

I really wanted to return to Karl. I make a few passing comparisons to him in CHASING THE PAIN as a King Pellinore-type figure: an aging, knight-errant who can’t seem to catch up with his own reason for being. Presenting him as someone with a substance abuse problem helped me solidify that framework; showing him dealing with his vices and corresponding fallout gave his story more substance.

I like to ask about supporting characters, and have at least a dozen things I’d enjoy asking about Madame Cormier (starting with: when can we expect a spin-off?), but something tells me that we can’t do that without ruining something for the readers. So, let’s go with Don D’Amelio instead. Where did he come from? He has certain, shall we say, sanguinary impulse that a lot of writers wouldn’t have given him—was that a little fun to write?

Watching Don come to life was a hoot. He started out fictional life as a sad-sack wasting his golden years sipping espresso and reading the sports page. Originally, his only function was to give Marty some more info about the rehab industry—what we call a “spear carrier” in the writing biz. But when I realized I needed a side-kick for my side-kick, I just went all-in and couldn’t stop laughing at how, uh, sanguinary I could make him.

Regarding Madame: you’re like the fourth person who’s wanted more. I think I might take the hint! I had a great time watching him come to life.

You’ve written in a handful of genres—are there any you wouldn’t want to try? What is it about Crime Fiction that brings you back to it?

I don’t have an interest in writing romance. Not because it isn’t a “real” genre, because the romance writers I know are some of the sharpest, hardest-working writers in the business, but just from a simple interest perspective: the stories don’t click with me and I can’t write what I don’t read.

Actually, my first love is fantasy, then science fiction, then crime fiction, but the world-building required of F/SF can be quite intimidating; my first attempts were dismal. Now that I have some writing experience under my belt, I have plans to go back and try my hand at a trilogy or three, but I’ve also come to love what I can do with crime fiction and won’t be abandoning it.

Let’s play “Online Bookstore Algorithm” (a game I’ve recently invented). What are 3-5 books whose readers may like Chasing the Pain?

I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t want CHASING THE PAIN sitting next to Elmore Leonard’s GOLD COAST on someone’s bookshelf. CTP is not as caper-ish as Gold Coast, but I think there’s a similar flavor and not just in the setting.

Robert B. Parker’s Spenser is really the ur-private investigator so many of us try to emulate, not just for the tough guy persona, but the humor. LOOKING FOR RACHEL WALLACE would probably please the same kind of reader.

And, as long as I’m getting too big for my writing britches, I might as well throw in James Lee Burke’s BLACK CHERRY BLUES and James Crumley’s THE LAST GOOD KISS.

What’s next for Matthew Iden?

I’m about two-thirds done with a standalone spy novel (working title: SCIMITAR) set in modern-day Paris that occurred to me during a vacation there. I’ve struggled with it for almost two years now while I’ve written other things, but it’s time to get this one done. I’m pretty excited to see how it wraps up…because then I’ll feel free to write Marty #9 or Madame #1.

Thanks to Matthew Iden for his time and these answers!

Chasing the Pain by Matthew Iden: A Missing Addict (or two), a Missing Friend, and the Ex-Cop Out to Find Them

By HCNewton

On February 18, 2021

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

Come back in the next hour for a Q&A with the author!

Chasing the Pain

by Matthew Iden
Series: Marty Singer, #8

eARC, 274 pg.
Life Sentence Publishing LLC, 2021

Read: February 3-4, 2021

The Set-Up

Once upon a time, it seemed like at least 40% of the P.I. novels/TV shows I read started out with an old friend (usually that the reader/viewer had never heard of) coming to the P.I. for help—or getting word to him that they were in trouble. It was a quick and effective way for the P.I. to get involved in the case without all the bother of interviewing a prospective client and worrying about money and whatnot. Obviously, it was better if it was someone the reader/viewer knew so we’d be invested, too.

And that’s what we have here, Marty Singer gets a visit from the ex-wife of a man he’d worked with not that long ago (Book 6, Once Was Lost, for the reader). He’s gone missing, leaving a note for his ex that reads:

If you’re reading this, then you haven’t heard from me in three weeks, maybe more. If that’s the case, call Marty Singer. He’ll know what to do.

Marty, a former DC Homicide detective, really has no choice (not that he wants one). He needs to find the retired US Marshall, Karl Schovasa, and bring him home—and helping Karl out however he needs to in order to get him able to come home.

The Protagonist

So, I’m coming into this series late (this is Book 8), but here’s what I picked up about Marty. He’s a retired detective and a cancer survivor. He now does favors for people, acting like a P.I. without a license (for undoubtedly a good reason). Think Matthew Scudder without the alcoholism.* He’s got a great girlfriend and there’s a young woman in their life that might as well be an adoptive daughter**. Drawing on his experience and contacts, he seems to be fairly successful at what he does.

* This is just my impression at this point, I could be way off.

** Think Spenser and Paul Giacomin.

I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with his girlfriend or daughter-figure, but they seemed like the kind of characters you’d want to spend more time with, and the interaction between the three of them served to make the reader like Marty.

The Victim

Karl Schovasa ran into Marty when they were on opposite sides of a case a couple of years back—but at some point, they realized they weren’t really on opposite sides and combined their efforts, forging a friendship. In the meantime, Karl’s addictions became worse—although Marty sees signs of him sobering up (and signs that the sobering didn’t last).

It looks like Karl befriended a young woman in a treatment group and decided she was in trouble. She’d ended up in a treatment center in Palm Beach, and it looks like Karl followed her there. Then he disappeared.

So, it’s off to Palm Beach for Marty to look for Karl—and probably the girl, too—and then the trouble really starts. And I’m going to leave it there.

A Refreshing Take on Violence

Like any good P.I. (or P.I. adjacent) novel, there’s a little violence—really 4 incidents of it. There’s nothing all that dramatic or over-the-top with them, they’re pretty straightforward. The biggest one—in terms of importance, and I think word count—is a fistfight. This is about as far as you can get from a Jack Reacher kind of fight. It’s nasty, brutish, and short.

Usually, in fiction—even among the more “realistic” works—a fistfight is something that the protagonist/their allies can shake off pretty quickly. Not this one. It really wasn’t that entertaining (the way that a Reacher or Spenser fistfight typically is), but it comes across as how things actually go down when someone is attacked from behind by someone swinging a piece of lumber against their head.

I loved that. I need to see more of that.

I Demand a Spin-Off!

Being a fish out of water as he is in Palm Beach, Marty needs to make some allies—and he does that with a little help from an old contact. I really liked all the allies we meet, Iden knows how to quickly get you to like a supporting character (he does it 3-4 times effortlessly). There are some characters that you encounter in various novels that basically steal every scene that they’re in. In this book, that character is Madame Cormier. I can’t say anything more than that without diminishing your experience in meeting Madame (but, boy howdy, I want to). All I can say is that I didn’t get enough, and I’m certain the character is worth a novel—if not a series—without Singer or the rest around.

Iden talks a little about this in the Q&A I had with him. (which will post a little later today)

The Real-Life Crime

Like so many Crime Writers do, Iden took the central idea for the crimes at the center of this novel from the news. I’d never heard of the way that these unscrupulous addiction treatment centers were gaming the system using the Internet and Insurance Payments to make a ridiculous kind of money. Iden provides links to his sources (at least some of them) at the end of the book—they made my blood boil and almost took away from the pleasant experience I had with the book.

I mention this just to say, while you read Chasing the Pain and you think, “this is preposterous, no one can get away with this…” Just know that it’s not. John Rogers would frequently say they had to tone down the crimes they based Leverage‘s crooks on because no one would believe what had actually happened. Something tells me Iden did something similar.

Also, I mention this all to say: if you’re someone who gets mad when they read news stories? Maybe skip the research at the end.

So, what did I think about Chasing the Pain?

First off, this book has a nostalgic feel for me—this feels like the Crime Fiction that I cut my teeth on back in Junior High/High School (both in books and on TV). Both the way Iden tells the story and the character of Marty Singer just takes me back to that time. So I like it for that alone.

But the story he’s telling isn’t really the kind of thing that anyone was telling in the 1980s (and not just because of the technology involved). And that is just as appealing to me, if not more so.

There’s something about this book that was just fun to read–I sat down to read about 10% on the first night, just to get the book started and get a feel for it. Before I knew what had happened, I was about one-third of the way in. I just didn’t want to stop reading—I could’ve easily finished it in that sitting, if I didn’t have a list of things to get to. It was still early in the book, so I hadn’t got hooked by the story or anything yet. It was just a pleasant read—I’m not sure I can put it into words, but everyone reading this knows what I’m talking about. A book like that gets me to come back to the series.

I liked this enough that I’ve purchased the first Marty Singer book, A Reason to Live, and am looking forward to catching up with this series. I bet I’m not the only one who reacts that way to this book.

This is a fast, easy read with characters you’ll like and believable conflicts for Marty to resolve. Marty himself has a strong, engaging voice that’s a pleasure to read. I recommend this novel and expect I’ll recommend the rest.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the author in exchange for this post and my honest opinion. I appreciate the opportunity, but, as always, my opinions are my own.

3.5 Stars

Smoke by Joe Ide: What Happens When Isaiah Quintabe Leaves LA?

By HCNewton

On February 16, 2021

In Fiction, IQ/Isaiah Quintabe, Joe Ide, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Smoke

by Joe Ide
Series: IQ, #5

eARC, 336 pg.
Mulholland Books, 2021

Read: February 8-12, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

Not that any of the previous IQ novels have been cookie cutters of the rest, but this really feels less like an IQ novel than I was ready for. In fact, it felt* like this was more of a Juanell Dodson novel for most of it. When Isaiah left town at the end of Hi Five, he left his friends behind. But their problems didn’t leave with him, they all have to step up and take care of things now without him. But the way they go about taking care of these problems is heavily influenced by Isaiah—he might not be playing an active role in most of the storylines in this book, but this is still his book.

* Yes, I said “felt like,” I could be wrong. This isn’t the kind of blog where you’re going to find me doing word counts to prove things like this.

The LA Stories

Grace is trying to get over Isaiah and focus on her art. She’s got a show coming up and needs to get some more paintings ready—that’s all that matters.

But while she and Isaiah know they’re over—most people don’t (and some of those who do know, believe it’s temporary). When someone that Isaiah helped put away gets back to town and is looking for a little payback, he only hears that Grace is Isaiah’s girl. Which puts her right in the cross-hairs.

Deronda’s life is going great—she’s getting some media attention for her success (which is only serving to build that success), her food trucks are doing great, and her son is fantastic (just ask Deronda, she’ll tell you). But then someone comes along to help himself to a share of that success and uses Janeel as his tool. Deronda goes nuclear and tries everything she can think of to stop this.

Grace tries to help—and gets one of Isaiah’s former clients involved, too. And even Dodson gets in on it. There’s nothing about what they try or the solutions they come up with that Isaiah would have done. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’d have seen some of the problems with her theories and stopped Deronda before she tried to act on them. But for fear of repeating myself, without Isaiah’s influence on the three of them, none of them would’ve tried anything like they did.

Cherise has had enough of Dodson’s bouncing around from opportunity to opportunity, trying to make some money, but with no stability. He needs to grow up and get a real job, and to help with that, she’s arranged for an internship at a local advertising agency. Dodson isn’t interested at all in this, but she’s not negotiating.

So he shows up for the first day, and something clicks. He thinks about the way Isaiah had approached goals in his life and applies it in his way to this situation. It wasn’t quite a “What Would Isaiah Do?” thing, more of a “How Would Isaiah Do This?”

Now there is zero percent of the Dodson storyline that is Crime Fiction. It’s about character development, character growth—it’s a transition point for Dodson. Yet this is my favorite part of this Crime Novel. Because it’s Dodson going through all this. Also, as Dodson pops up in their storylines to help Grace and Deronda, he gets plenty of Crime Fiction action.

There’s a fun part of this storyline where Dodson, who started as Isaiah’s Dr. John Watson, now becomes an Eliza Doolittle figure. Cherise’s mother, Gloria, who tries to equip him into someone who could make it in the Corporate World. On the one hand, I felt bad for poor Dodson—this wasn’t easy for him—but man, it was funny. We also got Dodson’s commentary on Pop Music and TV—which is not to be missed.

The LA stories interweave, Grace helps Dodson, Dodson helps Grace, Dodson chips in with Deronda…and so on. IQ is mentioned, he’s talked about and he even converses with some of them—but not about the challenges they’re dealing with (and vice versa) in this novel. He’s as removed from their stories as possible. Yet, without him, without his influence in their lives—none of this would’ve happened. So it absolutely was still part of an IQ novel, even if it was for all intents and purposes IQ free.

Isaiah’s Story

Isaiah’s trying to be IQ-free, too. He’s pulled up stakes to get away from the enemies he made in Hi-Five, and away from everything else, too. He’s decided he wants a new life. He wants nothing to do with the violence, the depravity, the danger that has so characterized the last few years of his life.

Which, of course, means that despite his best efforts—and really by dumb chance—he’s brought into a hunt for a serial killer by one of the least likely, least credible people we’ve encountered in this series.

While I did say this felt like Dodson’s book most of the time, at one point the Isaiah/Serial Killer story took over—and we see heroism and depravity on display (not quite in equal parts, but we get an excess of both). As much as Isaiah has said he wants away from this life—when the chips are down, he finds a way to try to stop another murder, at great risk to himself.

The final confrontation can be seen as darkly comic or as intensely human and maybe even realistic to an extent you don’t usually see. There’s a visceral desperation to it—everyone involved seems to believe on some level that they’re doomed, but they press on anyway. It’s harrowing really.

So, what did I think about Smoke?

This really feels like a transition novel—probably for the series as a whole, and definitely for all these characters. In a book or two, it’ll be easier to see (not that it’s difficult now) exactly what role this is going to play in things, but choices are made, steps are taken that insure wherever Isaiah ends up, he’s going to be a different man than he was in Hi-Five, ditto for everyone else. I’m particularly looking forward to seeing where Dodson is. Hopefully, he’s still going in the direction he started to move in here.

But that’s for 2023. What about the 2021 novel? While Ide seemed to be writing with an eye to the 2022 and 2023 novels, he also produces a fine read in Smoke. There are a lot of balls in the air, a lot of Point of View characters (those we know and those we only meet here). There are blasts from the past and new characters that we could be seeing in the future.

And while we get some very strong resolution to just about everything in the novel, there’s a cliffhanger at the end that makes it difficult for me to say most of what I want to say. It’s a complete novel, this isn’t just a book that you read so that you have to read the next. But I tell you what, when you finish you want that next IQ novel now.

I think it says a lot about the kind of world that Ide has created that his main character can only show up in 50±% of a novel/its stories and the novel to still be as strong as any of the others. The series isn’t about Isaiah (and other characters) now. It’s about Isaiah, Grace, Dodson, and Deronda—and their families, no matter what the series is called. I love that evolution, that development.

I think existing fans will find their enthusiasm for this series rewarded. I think new readers are going to want to grab the earlier novels to fill in how the characters got to where they are. Either way, people who pick up Smoke are in for a treat.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Mulholland Books 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.

COVER REVEAL: Burying the Newspaper Man by Curtis Ippolito

By HCNewton

On February 10, 2021

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

Welcome to The Irresponsible Reader’s part in the Cover Reveal for Curtis Ippolito’s Burying the Newspaper Man! It is eye-catching! But before we get to his great cover down below, but before the picture, I’ve got a few words to share about the book.

Book Blurb

A dead body. A dark past. An ordinary man with everything to lose.

Marcus Kemp is a regular beat cop living a normal life in San Diego, California. Until the day he makes a shocking discovery: a dead body in the trunk of a stolen car. Worse, the victim turns out to be the man who abused him as a child.

Marcus instinctively wants to help the killer get away with murder and, disregarding his police oath, will stop at nothing to make it happen. With both his job and freedom in jeopardy, his investigation leads him to an unexpected killer, and Marcus is soon faced with an impossible decision.

Can he finally bury the past before it drags him under?

Date of publication: March 16, 2021

About the Author

Curtis Ippolito lives in San Diego, California, with his wife. He is a communications writer for a nonprofit biological research facility. He has previously been a writer in the health care industry and is a former newspaper reporter. Follow him on Twitter @curtis9980.

And now…

The Cover

Burying the Newspaper Man
That just jumps out at you, doesn’t it? (it also makes me want to check my fingers for newsprint smudges) Another winning cover from the people at Red Dog.

Again, this book comes out on March 16th, but you can pre-order this now at: Red Dog Press or Amazon (but you should absolutely order from Red Dog directly, the Bezos retirement fund is big enough, help out the publisher).

My thanks to Red Dog Press for the invitation to participate in this reveal and the materials they provided.

In This Bright Future (Audiobook) by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson: A Stranger in a Strange Land

By HCNewton

On February 9, 2021

In Audiobook, DC Smith & Kings Lake, Fiction

In This Bright Future

by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson (Narrator)
Series: A DC Smith Investigation, #5

Unabridged Audiobook, 9 hrs., 18 min.
Tantor Audio, 2017

Read: January 7-8, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

It’s Time to Wrap up Some Things

We’ve known for some time, that someone connected to DC Smith’s time in Belfast has been trying to get in touch with him. We know almost nothing about what he did, and he’s in no rush to think about it as whoever makes these attempts. But that’s done with now.

While recuperating from knee surgery, Smith finally confronts/is confronted by (you could make the case either way) with that person and ends up using his convalescence time going to Belfast to look into something that happened (probably) the day after he left.

Smith is brought face-to-face with friends and adversaries for the first time in decades. He has to come to terms with many consequences of his actions. And he looks into a killing from that time that he didn’t even know had happened until he made the trip.

So we learn who has been looking into him/trying to communicate with him. We learn a lot about his backstory that we’d only got glimpses of shadows of before. For fans who want to know more about DC Smith, here’s the place.

There’s another plotline that gets some resolution, too—in a very pleasant way. But I’m not going to get into it.

Never Fear, There are Still Some Storylines Alive

We don’t have any resolution when it comes to this author friend and her book (and digging up all sorts of horrible memories with it). And there’s a new one introduced in the closing moments, one that will probably shake up a lot of Kings Lake…

Jackson Nails It Again

Gildart Jackson makes sure that you get what DC is feeling, how the past is coming back to haunt him while confronting him with his failures, his missed opportunities, the what could have been. This is a lonely book for Smith, and Jackson ensures the listener experiences it.

So, what did I think about In This Bright Future?

Overall, this was strange. Still good, but strange. As much as we all pick up these books for DC, it’s DC in relation to his fellow officers. Here, he’s fairly isolated—he has his ghosts, his memories, and people he hasn’t seen for decades (some he’s tried not to think about since)—but he doesn’t have his team. The fact he can’t give any tutorials, he doesn’t have anyone around to amuse with his commentary, the fact that he’s constantly on his guard, all combine to heighten the emotional impact of this one.

But man, I want to get back to King’s Lake.

This was as good as the previous entries—probably better in some ways—but in a different way. I’m all for that, let’s keep this series from getting stale. You can read/listen to this without the rest, and enjoy it. But it’s a lousy way to sample the series. If you want to know what this winning series is like, grab book 1 or 2. But if you grab this? You’re in for a very pleasant experience.

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.

Someone to Watch Over Me by Ace Atkins: Spenser Battles Mortality, An Old Foe, and a Sex-Trafficking Ring.

By HCNewton

On February 8, 2021

In Ace Atkins, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Robert B. Parker, Spenser

Believe it or not, this is the trimmed-down version. The original draft was too long even for me, so I tabled it for a week or so and came back with something more concise. More concise, I said, not concise. Hopefully coherent.

Robert B. Parker’s Someone to Watch Over Me

by Ace Atkins
Series: Spenser, #48

Hardcover, 306 pg.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2020

Read: January 15-16, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

It was early evening and early summer, and my bay window was cracked open above Berkeley Street. I had a half-eaten turkey sub on my desk and the sports page from The Globe splayed out underneath. Dan Shaughnessy proclaimed Mookie Betts to be overrated. I’m sure many said the same thing about me. But I was pretty sure being overrated was better than being underrated. A mistake few made twice.

I contemplated Mookie’s situation as I heard a knock on the anteroom door.

And just like that, I’m back in one of my favorite fictional universes, and it felt so great. Among the many, many things wrong with 2020 (and I want to stress that this is far down the list) was that there was no new Spenser novel. Thankfully, Atkins and his publisher have addressed that problem here in the early days of 2021 by bringing us the 48^th entry in this fantastic series.

It All Starts with a Favor…

Mattie Sullivan, who’s been doing some work for Spenser lately, tried to do a favor for someone from her neighborhood, and now needs Spenser to help her. It’s a pretty simple task, but the story behind it is troubling. It doesn’t go much better for Spenser than it went for Mattie, but once he starts to ask questions, he ends up pulling the proverbial thread that unravels a sweater. And by “sweater”, I’m referring to an international sex-trafficking ring catering to the wealthy and powerful who like to prey on the young.

Yeah, basically, Atkins is going for a ripped-from-the-headlines Jeffrey Epstein kind of story.

Mattie Sullivan

One of my few complaints with the Spenser novels by Atkins is that he hasn’t used Mattie Sullivan since his first one, Lullaby. There’ve been a reference or two, but that’s it. But I got the impression that, like Zebulon Sixkill or Paul Giacomin, Mattie’d be around. But it never materialized. That’s fine. I get where (especially as Atkins was establishing himself) that there’d be some resistance to bringing in a young girl as a regular—it’d be tantamount to introducing Cousin Oliver.

But she’s here, and we’re to believe she’s been a presence in his life, and he in hers. More importantly, she needs a little help from her mentor. She’s on the verge of starting a career, and the way this works out will have a lot to say about her next steps.

Boston Homicide Captain Lorraine Glass

The Captain has been antagonistic toward Spenser since she showed up a few books back, a little more than Quirk was in the early books in the series. Sure, she’ll let Belson do his thing and will eventually listen to what Spenser has to say.

And that hasn’t changed. However…years ago, she tried to stop the same man. She worked with two victims, but the charges went away after someone (probably multiple someones) that he had leverage over had exerted their influence. Glass hasn’t gotten over it. If Spenser’s truly trying to bring him down, she’s in.

She doesn’t give a lot of help, but she gives some—and given what little Spenser has to work with it’s something. This doesn’t mean things are going to be chummy between Glass and Spenser any time soon. But it’s still nice to see.

Pearl Again, Naturally

On the backside, we found two cars parked outside. One was the Mercedes I’d seen drop off Debbie Delgado. The other was a light blue Rolls-Royce Phantom. Pearl and I noted the license tag on the Rolls. Or at least I hoped she did. She was still a detective-in-training.

Susan and Spenser’s second Pearl has died. This time, Spenser replaced her with a puppy German Shorthaired Pointer. I think I mentioned when Lupica’s first Sunny Randall had her do the same thing, I find the practice of replacing one dog with another of the same breed and using the same name odd (more than odd, but let’s stick with that). Susan seems to balk at the practice this time, which is odd. She seemingly had no problem with it for their second Pearl, but now she puts her foot down?

This does, however, provide Atkins with the opportunity to get Spenser to explain himself. I’m not sure that it helps. But at least he tried.

Still, Puppy Pearl is cute, so I’ll shut up about it.

Ruger? Really?

I feel bad bringing this up, but it’s right there in the Publisher’s description, so I guess it’s fair game. But Atkins brings back The Gray Man. I was stunned—almost as stunned as Spenser, Hawk, and Susan were—because I haven’t read a blurb for this series since Atkins’ first installment (and it had been probably decades before that).

I think it’s a risky move to bring someone like this back. You don’t want to use someone like Ruger too often. Once was probably enough, any more than that and you risk humanizing the character, making him seem less threatening, more mortal, more defeatable. I thought that when Parker did brought him back, and I think that now. Parker pulled it off. Atkins did it better. I love it when something so risky pays off.

Momento Mori

The three plane rides hadn’t been kind to me. I could feel every old break, bruise, and irregularity in my body. It had been eight years since I’d first met Mattie. Now she was a grown, successful person. And I was still doing what | do, none the wiser, not finding a better line of work. Maybe someday I’d retire to a place like this… Few get out of our livelihood by being politely asked. One day all the push-ups, wind sprints, and sparring wouldn’t save us. At this point in my life, I’d been doing this for many more years than I had not.

Both Ruger and the new Pearl (in different ways) make much of this book a meditation on mortality (Spenser’s in particular, while Hawk insists he “youthens”). This is something that Atkins has really highlighted in various ways since he took the helm, but not to this extent.

I don’t have time (or that much desire) to re-read it so I couldn’t say this definitively, but I don’t think Ruger’s second appearance brought with it this level of angst and apprehension on the part of Spenser, much less Hawk or Susan. But Atkins hits the notes that he should. The Grey Man about killed Spenser, reduced him to a shadow of the man we knew before, and he should make Spenser—reflexive confidence or not—fearful. As he should be. Because that’s the kind of guy that Ruger is, smart people are afraid of him. Smart people who’ve barely survived going up against him should really be afraid of him.

So, what did I think about Someone to Watch Over Me?

I loved it. I always enjoy being back in this world. Getting to see another part of Hawk’s life than we’ve ever seen before just makes it better.

I do wonder a little about what this novel says about Ceremony, the most problematic Spenser novel (still a good read, don’t get me wrong, but come on). I think Spenser’s actions and attitudes in this are defensible without casting doubt about what he did in Ceremony. And maybe it could be argued that Spenser’s attitudes changed after seeing what happened to April Kyle. I don’t think it’d be convincing, but maybe you could do that.

This gives the long-time fan plenty of stuff to think about, if they want to. There’s a decent amount for a new reader to chew on, too. But more than anything—it’s a solid Spenser novel written by the man who’s been keeping the legend alive for almost a decade, with hopefully many more years to come.

4 1/2 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.

Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby: Entertaining. Stunning. Devastating.

By HCNewton

On February 4, 2021

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

Blacktop Wasteland

by S. A. Cosby

Hardcover, 385 pg.
Flatiron Books, 2020

Read: January 28-February 1, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

Meet Beauregard Montage

The secret ain’t about the motor. That’s part of i it, yeah, but that ain’t the main thing. The real thing, the thing most people don’t want to talk about, is how you drive. If you drive like you scared, you gonna lose. If you drive like you don’t want to have to rebuild the whole engine, you gonna lose. You gotta drive like don’t nothing else matter except getting to that line. Drive like you fucking stole it.

Beauregard heard his Daddy’s voice every time he drove the Duster.

The first thing we learn about Beauregard (nicknamed “Bug”) is that he is both a great mechanic and a great driver. We see that at the start as he wins a street race to help pay his monthly bills. The second thing we learn is that he’s capable and willing to give a man a beating—both efficient and effective—if he’s crossed (read: cheated out of winnings).

Beauregard runs an auto-repair shop in a small Virginia town. He was doing okay for himself until a few months back when a new, better-financed shop opened up in town. Now he’s losing customers by the handful, and may not be able to stay open for more than three months.

He’s deeply and madly in love with his wife and is a devoted father to two great sons (one complaint—possibly my only one is that we don’t get more time with the boys). But one of them needs braces. His wife works too hard, and he’d like to lighten her burden—and provide a nicer home. His daughter (from before he was married, and he never had any kind of custody) can’t afford college and plans on working for a while before she can afford it (the reader knows, and I think Beauregard does, too, that she’ll never make enough to get there). His mother’s in a nursing home, and there’s some sort of financial problem there, too.

He’s got all that he needs, and it’s all about to slip through his fingers.

The “Life”

Beauregard thought about the clichéd scene in every crime movie where the main character who has gotten out of the “Life” buries his weapons under a hundred pounds of concrete only to have to dig them up when his enemies come knocking at his door.

He understood the appeal of the symbolism for filmmakers. It was just unrealistic. You were never out of the Life completely. You were always looking over your shoulder. You always kept a gun within reach, not buried under cement in your basement. Having a gun nearby was the only way you could pretend to relax.

It wasn’t all that long ago that Bug* received the bulk of his income from illicit means. He was part of a crew, he was a wheelman for them—among other things. He’s a meticulous planner, has an eidetic memory, and can do mental math at a speed I can only envy. He planned whatever the crew was going to do—and woe to anyone who did not stick with his plan to the T, or gave him bad information while planning.

* Beauregard tends to think of himself as “Bug” when he’s thinking of the reckless, thrill-seeking lawbreaker side of him, and “Beauregard” when he’s living the way he should. I’m following that.

But he decided he needed to be a better father than his own (who never left the Life and left home when it became too dangerous for him to stay). He’s been living straight since then. He misses the rush, he misses the work—mostly the driving. But he has better things to focus on now, and he’s largely successful.

But is he at the end of that? There are just too many things he needs to pay for and only so much money.

The Temptation of Bug

One of his last jobs, before he went straight, was with Ronnie Sessions—he had an idea, Bug came up with the plan, did the elaborate work necessary to pull it off. And then because Ronnie had faulty intel for him, the job fell apart and Bug was out thousands in expenses—and he didn’t get the payday. He hasn’t seen Ronnie since.

But now Ronnie’s back, at just the right time (or wrong, depending on how you look at it). He’s got a juicier target. One that will erase most of Beauregard’s immediate needs, and will make things more comfortable for a while into the future, too.

After some thinking, some waffling, (this isn’t a spoiler, the book needs something like this), he agrees and takes over the operation.

Car Chases

I am not a car guy. I know almost nothing about cars, I can do basic maintenance (or I could a long time ago, I’m not sure I’m capable anymore). I’m an adequate driver. I can correctly identify maybe 40% of the cars I see on the road.

However. I am a red-blooded American male. I love car chase/driving scenes.* Like in Blues Brothers, half the TV (and a good number of movies) I grew up watching in the 80s, Bourne Identity, Baby Driver (I could watch the opening sequence on a loop for hours)—the only positive memory I have of the second Matrix movie was the elaborate car chase scene. I could keep going, but you get the point. They’re harder to pull off in a book than they are on-screen, but when they work, they really work.

* I realize people who aren’t red-blooded American males frequently love them, too, I’m not arguing against that. It just seems more definitional of RBAM.

S. A. Cosby could give everyone lessons on how to do it properly. I don’t know that I’ve read any as good as his. So yes, there’s a lot that he has to say about class, race, fatherhood, and more. This novel is beautifully written, with a lyrical nature to some passages that will make you want to reread the paragraphs a few times just to take it all in. But also? It has great car scenes in case you’re worried about it being too highbrow and artsy.

Oh, It’s That Kind of Book

Men like your Daddy, like me, like you used to be, we don’t die in hospital beds. Ant wasn’t perfect. He loved driving, drinking, and women, in that order. He lived life at 100 miles per hour. Men like that, well, they go out on their own terms, usually with a bang.

Fairly early, I decided I knew what kind of book I was reading—we’d see Beauregard and his situation, we’d get a little backstory about his criminal history and why he got out of “the Life,” we see the pressures making him think of returning to it (however briefly he intends on it), the temptation to do so, the planning and execution of the robbery, and so on. I was into the idea.

And then the (supposed) central crime is over in a few pages. Which surprised me. And then I noticed I wasn’t even halfway done with the book—which meant that the bulk of the book is about what happens as a result of the robbery. And given the tone of the book, we’re not talking hijinks and good times. My notes say, “Oh, it’s going to be that kind of book.

I’m not going to spoil anything and tell you why it was a mistake for Bug and his fellow thieves to rip off the place they rip off. But, it was a colossal mistake. And the repercussions are big.

Because Cosby had done such a good job making me care about Bug and his family, and the way he wrote the characters who objected to this robbery—I had a really hard time finishing this book. I’d literally have to read a chapter or two and then put the book down for 30+ minutes while I did something else. I just didn’t want to know how bad things got for the Montage family.

Still, there was no way I wasn’t going to finish the book. I had to know. So, I’d read another chapter or two, and then it’d get too much for me, and I’d start the cycle again. I added a day or two to my reading because of this (I did read the last 50 or so pages without a break, but I wanted one…). I don’t react this way to books, I just don’t. But, man, this got under my skin and I couldn’t do anything else.

So, what did I think about Blacktop Wasteland?

Is there any doubt?

Early on, this made me think of She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper. It had a similar sensibility, a book about a father throwing away a chance at…everything…so his kid(s) would have a shot at a decent life. I’d even started jotting down notes for a paragraph or two about that. And then I noticed that the last quote on the back cover is from Harper. So I was definitely not the first reader to see the link. Still, if you read Harper (or wanted to), you’ll want to get your hands on this. The converse is true as well.

But let’s focus on Blacktop Wasteland. From the first paragraph that made me sit up and say “Oh, this explains the hype,” to the devastating last line—and all points in between, Blacktop Wasteland is one of those books that a guy can’t describe without seeming hyperbolic.

Fantastic car chases. Great action. Compelling and moving family moments. Race as a deterministic factor in success. Class, too. What does it mean to be a father? Human depravity on display in a variety of ways from criminals small-time and Organized. Human frailty and striving for greatness, too. Blacktop Wasteland has it all. You’re not supposed to cry over a Crime Novel—and I didn’t. But it wouldn’t have taken much to push me over that line.

You’re not a Crime Fiction reader? I get that—and don’t worry, you can just think of this as General Fiction/Literature and you’ll be fine. I’m repeating myself. This is a great novel, go read it.

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 1/29/21: Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby

By HCNewton

On January 29, 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:
Blacktop Wasteland

Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby

“What’s wrong?”

Ariel shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing. Just getting ready for graduation. Me and the other five dummies who couldn’t graduate with the rest of the class.”

“You ain’t no dummy. You had a lot going on,” he said.

“Yeah. Like Mama getting her third DUI and wrecking my car. Of course, that ain’t no excuse, according to her and grandma,” Ariel said. She shook her bottle of juice lackadaisically in her left hand.

“Don’t worry about them. You just concentrate on college and getting that accounting degree,” Beauregard said.

Ariel blew air over her bottom lip.

“What?” Beauregard said.

“Since I won’t be eighteen until January, Mama has to co-sign for my student loans. She says she don’t want to put her name down on nothing like that. She says I should just take classes at J. Sargeant Reynolds and get a job until January,” Ariel said.

Wake of the Bloody Angel (Audiobook) by Alex Bledsoe, Stefan Rudnicki: A Search for A Needle in a Very Wet Haystack

By HCNewton

On January 27, 2021

In Alex Bledsoe, Audiobook, Eddie LaCrosse, Fantasy, Fiction, Reread Project

Small confession, before trying to write this post, I read my 2014 post from when I first read the novel, and it struck me that I didn’t have much else to say. So I shuffled it a bit, cleaned a couple of things up, and added bit here and there. That’s not cheating too much, is it?

Wake of the Bloody Angel

by Alex Bledsoe, Stefan Rudnicki (Narrator)
Series: Eddie LaCrosse, #4

Unabridged Audiobook, 8 hrs., 51 min.
Blackstone Audio, 2012

Read: November 27-30, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

What’s Wake of the Bloody Angel About?

I looked up at the stars. Finding one pirate after twenty years was a lot like picking one star out of this sky. Just when you thought you had it, a cloud slid by and you had to start all over when it passed.

Yet that’s just what Eddie LaCrosse sets out to do—find the unfindable, track the untrackable. For those of you who don’t know—Eddie lives in a fairly standard fantasy realm, and makes his living as a “sword jockey”—what we’d call a P.I. in our world. These books are first-person narratives and read a lot like good detective novels—but with swords, horses, and the occasional dragon or whatnot.

Eddie doesn’t go alone on his search for a pirate—he brings along his old friend/colleague, Jane Argo. Jane’s a former pirate turned pirate hunter turned sword jockey and is as tough as that résumé suggests. Having her come along on this adventure as the Hawk/Joe Pike figure was a great addition to a series that I didn’t think required it. But now, I want more of her—back in Eddie LaCrosse #6, or in Jane Argo #1. I could be pleased either way, as long as it’s soon.

A Killer Line

Every now and then, in the middle of this fun read, Bledsoe reminds you he can do more than tell a fun action story, and drop a sentence, or phrase that shows he’s just a good writer, period. One such line that stood out to me, and I’ve tried to find excuses to use in the last couple of days is:

Hawk’s been called many things over the years, but you know what captures him best, in my opinion? That he’s simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up.

You get a real clear idea about this Hawk guy, the image is pretty creepy in and of itself, and yet, it looks and sounds breezy unless you think about it. I like Eddie and the rest of his world plenty—but it’s that kind of thing that keeps me coming back to Bledsoe.

What I found interesting as I re-read what I wrote years ago is this very line. I’d completely forgotten it in the intervening years, but when I heard it, I mentioned it to a coworker and at least one family member, and even tweeted about it. It struck me as a perfect line in 2014, and it did the same again in 2020. I clearly have a well-defined taste and will probably rave about it the next time I read/listen to this novel.

The Paranormal

The last thing I can think to note is that this book briefly features the creepiest little girl I can remember since Let the Right One In. I really can’t talk about her without ruining too much, but let me just say that absolutely loved the way that Bledsoe used her. And no, I’m not going to talk about why I mention her under “The Paranormal.”

For a Fantasy series, Bledsoe is very careful—almost stingy—with his use of magic and the paranormal. But when he uses it? It’s so effective. We get just a few incidents of it here and I love watching the choices Bledsoe makes regarding them.

The Narration

Obviously, as it was over 6 years ago that I read the book, I could be wrong about this, but I think that Rudnicki’s narration added another layer to the novel, and it struck a deeper chord with me. It’s not like I didn’t enjoy the book when I read it, but listening to it seemed to be more effective. I attribute that solely to Rudnicki. He just does a great job not only with Eddie, but with all the other characters—Jane Argo and the last new character we meet in particular.

So, what did I think about Wake of the Bloody Angel?

There’s adventure, piracy, sword-play, banter, friendship, and a bit of betrayal. That’s pretty much what you want in a novel like this, right?

Bledsoe did a great job of nailing the life of a ship (says the guy who gets too seasick to even contemplate a day-long voyage)—both the tedium of day-to-day and the excitement of boardings (or other adventures at sea).

I couldn’t have seen the ending coming, nor the details it revealed. But it worked, it absolutely worked both as interesting plot development, and as strong character moments. So well done.

I’ve only got one novel in this series to go, and I’m excited to get to it, but I don’t want things to end. That’s a good place to be.

4 Stars