City of Bones by Michael Connelly

Another Harry Bosch novel, and this one was as good as the others. The bones of a 10-year-old boy are found in a shallow grave in Laurel Canyon, and it turns out a longtime resident of the neighborhood was a convicted child molester, and he is the first and most obvious suspect. But, once the identity of the victim is discovered, his dysfunctional family becomes a primary focus, the mother who, to save herself, fled from her abusive, monster of a husband, leaving their two defenseless children with him. Bosch is on the scene, and Connelly gives him a tragic love interest. Bosch has conflicts with his own partner, but especially the deputy chief of police who has grown sick of this detective’s defiant behaviors through the years. The author keeps the reader wondering until the end, so many possibilities about who really committed the murder until the very last unexpected twist. I am a Connelly fan – look forward to the next one.

Requiem for a Glass Heart by David Lindsey

A new author for the blog, recommended by our new fan, a lifelong friend, Cousin Dave who said David Lindsey is his favorite author, so I thought I’d give it a go. That was a good decision. This was a book that I could not put down, even chose to keep reading rather than watch the UConn-AZ BB game. That is saying something. And, I stayed up well past bedtime to finish it. Great plot, great characters, great writing. I am excited that Lindsey has 10 more novels. I am in Cousin Dave’s debt. Hereby violating an unwritten rule of the blog, I have stolen the following review from Lindsey’s website: “Irina Ismaylov kills men and women. But she doesn't kill for pleasure, or for money. She kills at the behest of Sergei Krupatin, a Russian crime lord who exerts a strange and monstrous hold over her. Desperate to escape Krupatin, Irina must first carry out one last mission for him. But her odds of surviving seem impossible. FBI Special Agent Cate Cuevas has just learned of a devastating personal betrayal by her slain husband. Wounded and shaken, she is suddenly plunged into the most challenging and dangerous assignment of her career. The leaders of the three great international crime organizations are planning a secret meeting in Houston. The implications are stunning. The FBI's only chance to stop this ominous alliance depends upon Cate being able to infiltrate the Russian contingent--and get out alive. When Cate and Irina meet, each playing her clandestine role, they discover a mutual and powerful attraction. As the two women fight to survive amidst the intricate and cunning stratagems of violent men, their relationship becomes an ever-more-intimate dance of seduction and murderous intent.”

Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin

For months, I've been saying to myself that I have to read an Ian Rankin book. They must be good. I mean, he has something like 20 Inspector Rebus books and has won a gazillion awards. What am I waiting for? So, when I saw Knots and Crosses, the first Rebus novel, sitting on a shelf in the library of my mom's retirement center, I finally succumbed.

John Rebus is detective inspector on the police force in Edinburgh, "a Old Testament land of barbarity and retribution." Divorced with a 12yo daughter Samantha and an ex-wife banging the loser poet son of Rebus's boss. Rebus is a man with some deep-seated issues from his days in the SAS, has a brother who followed their dad into the family business (hypnotist), but we don't know just what happened in the army. All we know is that in the throws of passion, Rebus usually starts crying. And he is being drawn into an ever-expanding investigation into the abduction and murder of 2 pre-teen girls Sara Adams and Mary Andrews; crimes that have the city on edge.

Rebus has received these bizarre notes, "It's all there if you read between the lines" or "The clues are everywhere." In the envelopes are pieces of string tied in a knot. Or matches tied together in the shape of a cross.

Rankin gently reveals bits and pieces of Rebus's life in Edinburgh where 'the rain is like judgement," 12 yo Samantha's likes and dislikes, his developing relationship with Gill Templar, the police press officer, his partner Jack, the various bars he frequents, and his attempts at smoking 10 cigarettes or less a day.

When he tells Gill about the notes with the knots and crosses, she immediately puts 2 and 2 together and believes the notes are connected to the murders of the 2 girls and one more, Nicola Turner. Another note arrives at his house.

On a night shift after murder #4, Helen Abbott, Rebus takes a call from an English prof at the university who offers some observations on an obscure pattern of wording that actually turns out to be a clue of substance. A clue to the next victim's identity.

Now all those random notes make sense. Someone from Rebus's past is stalking him and wants to make him pay for his sins, dearly. Those knots and crosses mean something important. The pivotal chapter is when Michael Rebus hypnotizes John to look at repressed memories in the hopes of figuring out the killer's identity.

And holy crap . . . now that was a chapter.

I can't believe it took me this long to try a Rankin novel. I like Ken Bruen and his Irish novels, so why wouldn't I like Rankin's Scottish crime novels? A helluva lot is crammed into this short book (226 pages in paperback). And when we find out the English prof's clue, the pace of the presentation changes in an instant. The easygoing reveal of Rebus's life disappears in a single line and the story takes off like a runaway locomotive with the tension building page by page. "Can't put it down" and "page turner" are too trite. The final 60 or so pages fly faster than any book in recent memory.

And this was his first novel? Wow . . . 1 down, 19 to go?

East Coast Don

p.s. I've embedded the English prof's clue in my review. Good luck.

The Sentry by Robert Crais

Why can't Joe Pike just mind his own business? He's just filling his spotless, red Jeep Cherokee with gas when he spots a car full of gang bangers headed into a Santa Monica sandwich shop. Curious, he walks in on the owner absorbing a beating, which, of course, Joe puts to an abrupt halt.

The shop owner, Wilson Smith, and his niece Dru Rayne fled New Orleans after 'the storm' to set up shop in LA. Looks like a local gang is after protection money that Wilson really doesn't want to pay and when Joe intervenes, a kind word to the local jefe is supposed to call off the dogs. Sweet Dru is very grateful and poor Joe is smitten.

When he goes back the next day to check on Dru and her uncle, he finds them gone and starts digging trying to find them. The trail goes hot and cold, eventually requiring the skills of his partner in the PI biz, Elvis Cole.

And guess what? Wilson and Dru ain't quite who Joe thinks they are. In their history is wholesale shrimp, Mexican Federales, Bolivian drug money, and a missing $360,000, or is it $8mill or $12mill that the Bolivians really want returned. They want it so bad they've hired a sociopath who goes by the name of Daniel and fancies himself a werewolf that kills indiscriminately, whether it's the target, the target's family, or anyone who just gets in the way.

This is the latest by Crais that I've been patiently waiting for our slow as sludge library to get. And while I am a big fan of Joe Pike and will continue to be, this one might be a touch below Crais's usual excellent standards. Not much, just a touch. Pike/Cole fans won't be disappointed, they just may not be really excited.

East Coast Don

Priest by Ken Bruen

This was another Bruen story about the private investigator, Jack Taylor, and even though I’ve been a declared fan of his writing, maybe I liked this one better than all of the others. While it is a crime novel, as is typical of this author, it is more the characters than the plot that moves the story. Taylor, a bad alcoholic (some are worse than others), is actually sober throughout this book, although it is a great struggle to remain so. Bruen uses Taylor to capture the dark alcoholic side of Irish life, and he does it convincingly. Taylor’s just been released from the mad house (Bruen’s phase) where he had a very psychotic experience. He is attempting to adjust to life outside of the hospital when he is given a couple cases to solve, including finding the couple whose baby died a few years earlier while under Taylor’s care. As suggested by the title, a priest is the primary case that has gotten Taylor’s attention, and Bruen has taken on the church’s scandal over pedophilia. The priest in question has been beheaded, a crime that needs to be solved. Also drawn into the drama is the nun who knew what the priest was doing, but said nothing, choosing loyalty to the church rather than loyalty to her flock. In taking on an enormously important subject, the author captures the horror of this scandal from several perspectives. The mystery itself is solved rather quickly, and the rest of the book has to do with the interactions of the personalities involved in this multifaceted tragedy. There was much more to this book than a typical crime novel – a very good read.

The Ghost War by Alex Berenson

The Taliban's tactics have improved. Flanking maneuvers, short bursts of automatic weapons fire instead of emptying a clip every 2 seconds, decoying. The Taliban has become a skilled opponent. Someone's helping them. There is rumor that China and Iran are working on a deal exchanging nukes for oil and a Chinese nuclear engineer on the CIA's books ends up dead and no one has any clue how or why. Connections?

John Wells is somewhat legendary after the Times Square incident at the end of The Faithful Spy, at least in the law enforcement community. But he is bored living in DC so he rides his motorcycle at all hours of the night at 100+ on the Beltway. The suits in the CIA and the brass at the Pentagon want to know how the Taliban has gotten so good and both buildings think Wells would be a good option to go digging around the caves of Afghanistan.

He joins a special forces unit with the goal of trying to capture one of these 'advisors' and in the firefight, Wells manages to do just that . . . and he's Russian.

Russian? Why would a Russian want to help any Afghan? Their memory can't be that short. The Afghans embarrassed the Russians. But this particular Russian is fairly chatty and gives up an arms dealer who is paying Russian mercs and this dealer has a connection inside China.

A 2nd level Chinese colonel is worried that his boss, in trying to gain more power, is dangerously close to starting a war between the US and China. Turns out this aide was once a CIA informant who has been dark for about 10 years, but in order to stop a war, he makes contact and wants to meet with someone who has never been to China, pass along what his boss is doing, and get the hell out of Dodge before the world blows up.

Who better than Wells? He travels to Beijing, despite the rising tensions between the two countries as a surge of Chinese nationalism as they stand up to the USA. He follows the plan for the meet, but gets picked up by Chinese security (was he set up?), is tortured harshly, and is doing his best to hold his cover when our colonel comes in, shoots the interrogators and pulls Wells out.

The dash is on to get out of Beijing to the coast where they can get rescued, pass info to Washington, and stop this insane war before things really get out of hand.

This is the 2nd in the John Wells saga by Berenson. While The Faithful Spy was a high intensity, fast-paced chase to thwart a catastrophic attack on Times Square, this book is more espionage and skullduggery as Wells tries to string together seemingly unrelated bits of information into a coherent series of connections between Washington, Beijing, Afghanistan, and this mysterious arms dealer.

If you are into this genre of books, you could do far worse. I've already requested the next in the series, The Silent Man, 3rd in the series of 5, so I suspect I'll move quite quickly through his work. He is that good . . . and productive as he has 5 novels in 5 years.

So . . . what are you waiting for?

East Coast Don

A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly

In anticipation of the release of the new movie, “The Lincoln Lawyer” tomorrow, I wanted to read another Connelly, so I chose this 2001 novel which featured the retired disabled cop, Terry McCaleb, who is living with his wife and little girl on Catalina Island following his heart transplant. His temporarily quiet life seemed to involve taking his massive dose of pills every day and spending time with his daughter and wife. He does have a boat charter business, but that’s not too busy in the winter time. Jaye Winston, an old associate and still active detective seeks McCaleb’s thoughts on a crime for which they’ve run out of clues, and McCaleb’s life suddenly becomes very active once again. Meanwhile, Harry Bosch is involved in a parallel case, and McCaleb decides that it is Bosch (named for the painter of the same name) who must be the killer in his own case. Connelly takes us through an examination of the paintings by the first Bosch and the darkness in which his mind dwelt, thus the title of the book, the same title of one of Bosch’s most famous paintings. The courtroom drama, which took up most of the last half of the book, was as good as any that I’ve read. But, the best part of this book was the character development of Bosch and McCaleb, and their evolving relationship with one another. There were good plot twists at the end, including the resolution of the relationship of these two men. This was a most enjoyable novel.

The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell

As much as I’ve enjoyed two of Mankell’s books, this was not such a good read. The best part was that he got involved in an intrigue in Riga, Latvia, a place that I had never read about before. I don’t remember another international spy/crime scene intrigue novel that landed in Latvia. Beyond that, the book at little to offer. Kurt Wallander, the police detective from Ystad, Sweden, was called to the scene of a double murder. Two bodies had washed up on shore in a life raft, and it was eventually determined that the life raft had originated from a clandestine shipment to Riga. In the process of doing this investigation behind the still evolving political situation in Latvia, Wallander’s main contact in the police force there was murdered, and then he inexplicably fell in love with the wife of the murdered cop. There are good guys and bad guys in Latvia who are trying to manipulate the investigation because it involves the bigger matter of smuggling goods and drugs into the country, but it is almost impossible to know who the good guys are. The whole plot was loose and did not hold together well, did not make much sense, so it was not a gripping story. I’ll probably read Mankell again, but this story was a disappointment.

The Concrete Blond by Michael Connelly

Chapter 1. Eleven deaths were attributed to the LA serial killer, dubbed the Dollmaker by the press. The Dollmaker killed prostitutes and others in the skin trade before applying make-up to make them appear as dolls. A hooker spots a cache of makeup in a john’s john, dashes out and calls the cops. Harry Bosch goes with her to the house, fears the john has pulled in another potential victim, kicks down the door to face a naked man, totally shaved who is reaching behind a pillow on the couch. Bosch hollers for the man to freeze, the man doesn’t, so Bosch takes him down. A decent string of circumstantial evidence says the stiff was The Dollmaker. Case closed.

Chapter 2. Fast forward 4 years. The dead man’s widow has brought an unlawful death civil suit against the city and Harry. The plaintiff is represented by the ruthless Honey (aka Money) Chandler with what she thinks is a rock solid case. Not only did Harry’s use of deadly force deprive the family of husband and father, the deceased was not even The Dollmaker.

As Harry fiddles in prep for his trial’s opening, a note surfaces at his station house that bears a frightening resemblance to The Dollmaker and describes the location of a blonde, who is found buried in concrete (and thus the title) with all the markings of said Dollmaker. Did Harry really shoot the wrong man?

What follows is actually two interrelated stories. One is a legal procedural about the lawsuit and the other is the investigation of the new victim as the police try to determine if The Dollmaker really is still out there or if there is what the police are calling The Follower.

A big problem is that the police are absolutely sure Harry killed The Dollmaker. So how would The Follower know so many details that were never released? The person had to have inside information. Harry comes up with a group of three from The Dollmaker case who might be this Follower – a vice cop with extensive connections inside the porn industry, a USC aberrant behavior psychologist who consults with the cops, and the LA Times police reporter who wrote a book about The Dollmaker after the case supposedly closed.

This 1994 book is the 3^rd (of 17, so far) Harry Bosch novels. And our boy Harry battles with his and the opposing counsel in and out of court as he finds another pattern in the prior murders that suggests two killers, not one. And then as Harry narrows down the list of suspects. Connelly’s mysteries are far grittier than, say, Robert Crais whose Elvis Cole books are a bit more lighthearted with Cole’s wisecracking PI.

Not so for Bosch, Connelly’s rumpled, beaten down, middle-age homicide cop who carries baggage from his youth and days as a tunnel rat in Vietnam. Most times when I read a novel, I try to picture what actor would play the lead role and honestly, I can’t picture who would play Bosch. Matthew McConaughey is playing Mickey Haller, Connelly’s lawyer alter ego and that works for me. But Bosch? No clue. Sort of like who’d play Jack Reacher? No clue there either. But that’s OK. When I go into withdrawal from no book to read, I know I can always find quality books by picking up one of the many Harry Bosch titles out there. Great stuff.

East Coast Don

Rose in a Storm by Jon Katz

THIS IS NOT FROM OUR GENRE, and it is not getting my recommendation despite having been a well-written book. It’s a dog story. Rose is a border collie, a great and heroic animal. The story is a mix of all of my memories of the stories about Rin Tin Tin and Lassie from the 50s and 60s. I’m really surprised that it was written by a man, because it strikes me as being a woman’s book, and one for city women, not for anyone who spent a lot of time with animals on a ranch or a farm, as I have. Rose and the some of the other farm animals are anthropomorphized to an extreme. The book was suggested by my wife, who usually has good instincts about what I’m likely to enjoy, but she missed on this one. I finished it because it was a quick and easy read, one that took me less than four hours to finish, in part because the writing flowed so nicely. It’s just the content that kept me out of the barn and off my feed.

Black Light by Stephen Hunter

This was a great story, and I’m sorry it had to come to an end. It was about fathers and sons, starting with my favorite sniper, Bob Lee Swagger, and his dad Earl. Added to that we had the Jimmy and Lamar Pye, Russ Pewtrie and his dad, boss Harry and Hollis Etheridge, `and finally Red Bama and the story of his daddy’s rise from poverty to wealth. So rich in background information, this book could have started the Bob Lee Swagger series, but it was the second or third (written in 1996), depending on how you count Hunter’s novels. Hunter weaves a rich tale about how the characters have interacted with one another and how their family histories tie together. He also adds in a rich portrayal of the racism of Arkansas in 1955, the year Earl Swagger was murdered. The book begins with Earl investigating the rape and murder of Shirelle Parker, a 16-year-old Black girl, a nigra in the language of the day. Her body was discovered by Earl who began the investigation on the same day that Jimmy Pye was released from prison, the same day that Earl was gunned down. 40 years later, we find Bob Lee trying to figure out the connection among those events. Hunter is masterful in bouncing back and forth in time from the 50s to the 90s, and from one father and son story to the next. The language is priceless. Sam, the wise old country attorney is responding to Russ, a reported and future novelist, when Sam says, “Well, I’ve read enough books not to give a hunk of spit and a quart of whittler’s shavings for any of em.” Or near the end of the book, the literate Russ sums up the plot, “I never really got enough. Not enough facts, not enough documentation. But it turned out to be exactly as I thought it would be, didn’t it. A profound endorsement of the genetic theory of human behavior. Good fathers, good sons. Bad fathers, bad sons, straight down the line. Like a laboratory experiment.” But then, at the end, after setting up this paradigm, Hunter shows how it is not true. If you haven’t read Hunter yet, start here. If you have, don’t miss this one.

The Empty Chair by Jeffrey Deaver

It’s been too long between reading the book and posting this review, so I’ll be brief – this was a good book. Deaver, with this book, lived up to his prior efforts. This is a story about the Insect Boy, Garrett Hanlon. Once again, we have Lincoln Rhymes, the quadriplegic criminologist from “The Bone Collector” and “The Coffin Dancer.” Along with Lincoln comes his aide, Amelia Sachs. The book takes place in the backwaters of North Carolina, along the Paquenoke River, which is near the Great Dismal Swamp. The entire setting is creepy and Deaver does a great job conveying the eeriness of it. No one knowingly goes north of the Paqo because it has the dangers of the swamp and has been inhabited by druggies who protect their territory at all costs. But, murders have taken place and it seems to be the place that the lost settlers, the Lost Colonists of Roanoke, might have retreated before they disappeared altogether. So, not only does Deaver mix in the science needed to unravel the strange clues, the mystery of unsolved murders which have been mistakenly blamed on Insect Boy, kidnappings, and probable new deaths, but also one of the important unsolved mysteries of history. Remember Virginia Dare, the first baby born in the colonies? That’s also a part of the story. So, sorry for the short review, but it was a good book, and I continue to be a Deaver fan.

The Man Who Smiled by Henning Mankell

This is my second book by Mankell and the first I’ve read in his Kurt Wallander series, a detective chief inspector in Ystad, Sweden. At the outset, Wallander is coming off a year’s leave of absence following his killing of a bad guy. Even though the killing was justified and no charges were brought against Wallander, he was deeply troubled by having taken another man’s life. In fact, he has just reached the decision to take a disability retirement when an old acquaintance, a lawyer, asks him to investigate the murder of his father. Wallander is not moved to do so, until the lawyer ends up murdered, as well, only a few days after their meeting. The lawyer’s father, also a lawyer, had only one client, the man from Farnholm Castle, a remarkably successful international business tycoon who is well known for his philanthropic activities. He is also “The Man Who Smiled,” aka Alfred Harderberg. He’s a mysterious character who travels almost constantly from one of his business enterprises to the next, so it is hard to even gain an audience with the guy. Wallander figures out that Harderberg had to be behind the deaths, but the problem is figuring out the whys and hows, and then how to prove it. Mankell throws in some good subplots, like the integration of a woman detective into the Ystad police force, a first there, and a move that is resisted by all except Wallander who sees the budding talent in Ann-Britt Hoglund. Mostly, what this book has going for it is a great character study of Wallander, a very compelling figure, and I plan to read more Mankell books. Next up, “The Dogs of Riga.”

Indigo Slam by Robert Crais

Elvis Cole, Joe Pike, Robert Crais . . . comfort food.

The only issue on Cole’s plate is how to keep his plants healthy. That is until 15yo Teri Haines and her 12yo brother Charles and 9yo sister Winona wander into the office of The World’s Greatest Detective. Seems their dad, Clark, has been missing for about a week and they want Elvis to find him. Seems simple enough. Guy’s probably on a bender or in Vegas. No problem.

So, Elvis and Joe Pike set out with all the goods needed for a day’s work: Elvis with his Dan Wesson .45 neatly tucked in his shoulder holster and Pike with his Python .357, a Baretta autoloader combat sawed-off shotgun, and maybe an MX missile under the seat.

Clark is a printer by trade. A quick check with his employer, make that former employer, reveals the guy is an addict. Some phone records show extended recent calls to Phoenix and Seattle. Phoenix lead is a dud, but The Seattle number has potential so Elvis heads up there to nose around. Turns out our boy Clark not only was a printer, but had been making a little funny money for some local Russian mob types who were flooding phony dollars into the former Soviet Union.

Now, Clark was pretty darn good and skimmed a bit for himself. The Russians were none to happy with Clark and targeted him for elimination. That was enough for Clark to go to the US Marshal’s service, but the night the family was to be taken into protective custody, the Russian’s show up and shoot it out with the cops leaving a few dead Marshals. The Russians must have someone on the inside of the US Marshal's office.

Obviously, Clark didn’t trust the Marshal service and goes underground, living off his counterfeit cash. The trail goes alternatively hot and cold, but one thing Elvis does learn is that Clark has terminal cancer (thus the narcotics) and is looking for one more big score to set up his kids. And that score is making funny money, only this time for some Vietnamese revolutionaries who want to dump millions of dollars of local currency into Vietnam and destabilize the current government.

With the not too willing Secret Service, Elvis concocts a plan whereby the Russians are lured into a trap, get caught by the Secret Service, Clark is still allowed to print the Vietnamese cash, get paid, and set up his kids for life. But the plan goes array when son Charles, a sullen and angry kid, walks out of the safe house and gets himself snatched by the Russians, adding a layer of complexity and danger to the plan.

Crais is a favorite and I never tire of his stories or characters like I eventually did with Stuart Woods. In this 1997 story, Elvis is the smart aleck PI (but not as much as in earlier books) and Pike is there for when the going gets really tough. They may catch the bad guys, but Pike is always ready saying “We can always shoot them later.” OK, so Crais’s vision of the PI novel may be considered trite and wholly unrealistic by some, but Cole and Pike never fail to entertain. Don’t know where I’ll venture next with Crais. I do know that I am #5 on the waiting list when the library finally gets his new book in. Now that’ll be a good day. What's taking the library so long? It's in the stores.

Anyone know where I can find some red arrow fake tats pointing forward for my delts?

East Coast Don