The Thieves of Legend by Richard Doetsch

Another from the good folks as Simon/Schuster.

Michael and KC live the idyllic life outside to NYC. Of course, their former lives as high end thieves helps. With friends Father Simon and Jon Busch (retired cop/now bartender), Michael and KC try to keep on the right side of law. Michael and KC agree neither will accept a job without discussing it with the other.

Like that’ll last. Michael is sent to Italy to steal a ceremonial box from the safe of an industrialist. When he arrives, he finds the family all beheaded and the patriarch is next in line. He returns home empty handed. And KC is so pissed she walks, headed back to her native UK.

Simon alerts Michael to a potential security contract for their company, but Michael doesn’t get a good feel and backs out. When leaving the Manhattan building, a purse snatcher robs a women right in front of him, so Michael gives chase, cuz that’s who he is. He catches the perp only to see the woman catch up, calmly pull a gun, and kills the guy right there on the street. Obviously, Michael gets hauled in to the local precinct for questioning.

KC packs her bag and heads to JFK. While waiting for her flight, she and this other woman start up a conversation. When offered the chance for a company jet flight to London, KC reluctantly takes it. Problem is, this stranger is the woman who gunned the guy down right in front of Michael.

All this sets in motion a rapid chase for an ancient Chinese map and the aforementioned ceremonial box. One is held in the depths of The Forbidden City in Beijing and the other is in a vault five stories underground in the most hi-tech security set-up ever, which is under a massive casino in Macau, China. And Michael must rob said casino or KC dies. And KC must penetrate The Forbidden City or Michael will die.

Twins separated at about 12 years of age are at each other’s throats. One twin was taken from LA by his Chinese mother and grows up to be the head of one of the Chinese Triads. The other, being raised by his Army father, becomes an obsessed Colonel. Both seek the map to this ancient island where untold riches await, but more importantly they seek the only antidote for a deadly virus.

The gist of the story has some merit, but personally, I’m not drawn to stories where the main characters have matinee idol good looks, speak 5 languages fluently, are experts in a half dozen martial arts, can run like the wind, hold their breath underwater like a pearl diver, can outsmart multiple levels of security at The Forbidden City and an impenetrable casino. Me? I like my characters a bit more flawed; Harry Bosch, Inspector Rebus, Bob Lee Swagger, et al. And there seemed to be far too many fortunate escapes and close calls. For me this was just OK. Too many fortunate conveniences happening to all-too beautiful people.

(while uploading this, I noticed that one of my partners in this venture, West Coast Don, had posted a review of this on Nov 11, 2012 that you may want to read. We arrived at the same 'conclusion.')

East Coast Don

Six Years by Harlan Coben

Six Years is a diversion from Harlan Coben’s usual formula.  In this stand alone thriller we meet Jake Fisher, a successful professor in a small prestigious New England college.  Six years earlier, Jake had a three month fling with Natalie Avery at a small town retreat several miles from the campus.  He thought he had found his soul mate when suddenly she ends their relationship and announces she is marrying her childhood sweetheart, Todd Sanderson.  She makes Jake promise to never contact them again.

Then six years later Jake sees the obituary of Todd Sanderson on the college website.  Still in love with Natalie, he decides to break his promise and attend Sanderson’s funeral in South Carolina.  Jake learns that Sanderson was brutally murdered and is stunned to find the dead man’s grieving wife is not Natalie.

Jake’s desire to find Natalie turns into an obsession.  He soon learns that Natalie has reason to be hidden and protected from a danger that Jake stumbles across.  He is beaten, kidnapped and shot in an effort to make him reveal Natalie’s whereabouts, something he does not know.  The deeper he digs the more he uncovers clues, secrets and betrayals that put him and Natalie deeper in danger.  Yet all the warnings serve to strengthen his perseverance to find the only woman he has ever loved and to try and save her life.

In Six Years, Coben is at his best, writing a suspense thriller with a creative, complex and compelling plotline. Yet the premise is simple, an ordinary man taking extraordinary measures…the classic definition of a hero.  Coben reveals layer after layer of mystery and intrigue, methodically exposing new information and tying it all together into a believable package…well done.

Son of Sedonia by Ben Chaney

As usual, full disclosure up front. The author was a groomsman in my daughter's wedding and is also a friend of my son. When Ben learned of this book review blog, he asked if I might give it a look. This is a first for MRB . . . an entirely self-published book. If you think you'd like to give this a go, your best bet is to go to the book's website (SonOfSedonia.com) for online purchase options.  In addition, this book is also a bit of a departure from the usual MRB fare in that it is more of a Sci-Fi thriller, set some 60 years in Earth's future. The book is entirely written, illustrated, and published by Ben.

Sedonia, the world's major city, is a class-revolution in waiting. The city is home to the privileged, walled off from the outside world, especially from the massive surrounding slums and the people unfortunate enough to have been born into the squalor.

Matteo is a sickly child who is being raised by his older brother Jogun. The slums are ruled by the T99 gang. They tear up wrecked transports by stripping them and selling the parts for something valuable - seeds. The shaky peace of the slums, particularly the most vicious of slums, Rasalla, is maintained by the police - EXOs - part man with sort of an exoskeleton that enhances their physical prowess. On one particular sweep, Jogun is picked up by the EXO and sent to prison.

Prison is a work camp on the moon where the inmates are chemically treated to make them docile enough to bear the cruel work conditions while forgetting their past. They are harvesting energy to be shipped back to Earth and meet Sedonia's increasing demands.

Years pass and Matteo is captured in a government imposed sweep to increase the number of workers in the mines because current production is not meeting Sedonia's needs. In the massive mining operation, Matteo accidentally comes across Jogun. Together they resist the mind numbing drugging and end up starting a revolt on the moon and now the inmates are controlling the asylum, intent on  heading back to Earth to sow what's been reaped upon the city-dwellers, especially on the government whose only existence seems to be to keep the city dwellers and slum dwellers each in their own place.  The mine revolt spreads back to Earth and the walls surrounding the city have been breeched. The fear of the ruling elite is that secrets of the future will be revealed, secrets that will have impact on city and slum-dwellers alike.

As stated above, this is sort of a Sci-Fi thriller. It's a story of upheaval by the most lowly who rise up against a ruling class, many of who barely know of the slum's existence. Of reluctant heros and the difficult efforts of those who struggle to reveal the truth. Ben presents a stark presentation of our future that, hopefully, never will come to fruition. Think of this as being equal parts Blade Runner (for the look at a grim future), City of God (for life in the slums), and Blackhawk Down (for the eventual battle between classes). Pretty good combination if you ask me. Not sure how many Sci-Fi fans read MRB, but if this sounds like it would trip your trigger, this is a very unique offering. This may be Ben's first novel, but that doesn't mean that you will be disappointed. Ben could very well find a solid following with the right audience.

East Coast Don

Standing in Another Man’s Grave by Ian Rankin

Interesting coincidence that Midwest Dave and myself posting Inspector Rebus stories.

In this episode, Rebus is sort of retired, but working as a civilian attached to a cold case unit in his former precinct. In comes Nina Hazlett to register a missing person, her daughter, who has been missing since New Year’s Eve of the new Millennium. Apparently she asked way back when happened and keeps coming back but after 10+ years, she is largely ignored. Rebus takes a bit of pity on the lady and starts checking.

And what he finds is that 4 other girls have gone missing over the subsequent years and during his investigation another goes missing. That makes things an active case pushing the now civilian Rebus to the back burner.

A local mobster is romancing the mother of the latest missing girl. And her 18yo son is a recent MIT grad – mobster in training. And there are mobsters all around, including a quasi-retired heavy who Rebus actually saved by performing CPR while the guy was in the hospital; now he’s Rebus’ new best friend, sort of, and continues to provide, and pump, Rebus for information. Not only does Rebus reluctantly take tips from a mobster, he also has been know to do whatever it takes to solve the case, even if his antics run afoul of their internal affairs, who really can't sink their teeth in Rebus cuz he really isn't on the force. 

The investigation centers on a tiny waterside village on the North Scotland coast with enough possible perps for both the cops and mobsters to stay busy. And it's not just the cops who are wrong when they think they have their man in the crosshairs. 

I’ve read a couple of Rankin’s Rebus books and find them extremely entertaining. His Rebus character’s career has been established over nearly 20 books and reminds me a bit of MRB fav Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch. The main difference between Rebus and Bosch is that Bosch seems far more world-weary while Rebus just can’t seem to keep his mouth shut when he should. If Connelly is high on your list and you are looking for something to tide you over while awaiting the next Bosch entry, head direct to Ian Rankin. You’ll enjoy his Inspector Rebus series. 

East Coast Don

The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality

This one is way out of our genre, so it probably is not be up your international spy thriller, crime novel alley.

“The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality” will only appeal to you if you are very interested in what the title suggests is its theme. This 2006 book explores the misunderstanding of so many people in the western culture that one must have a faith in deity in order to be spiritual. He initiates the book by defining God and religion, God being transcendent, religion being immanent (of this world). God is reputed to be perfect, and religion could never be so. After he poses the question, “Can we do without religion?” Comte-Sponville opines that we can do fine without religion, but we cannot do without communion, fidelity or love. He writes that love is more precious than hope or despair and that there is no need to wait until we are saved to be human.

The author announces that no one can either prove or disprove the existence of God. He does not claim to know that God does not exist, but he believes that he does not, and he titles himself a “nondogmatic atheist.” He wrote that physicists teach us that being is energy. “But to believe in God is not to believe in an energy; it is to believe in Someone! And that – that will, that love, that Someone – the God of Abraham and Jacob, the God of Jesus or the God of Mahomet – is what I personally do not believe in.”

He summarized the three arguments in favor of God’s existence, all of which were deemed to be quite weak, as well as three stronger arguments against God’s existence. Epicurus was quoted: “Either God wanted to eliminate evil and could not; or he could and did not want to; or he neither could nor wanted to; or he could and wanted to. If he wanted to and could not, he is impotent, which cannot be the case for God; if he could and did not want to, he is evil, which is foreign to God’s nature. If he neither could nor wanted to, he is both impotent and evil, in which case he is not God. If he both wanted to and could – the only hypothesis that corresponds to God – where does evil come from, or why did God not eliminate it.” Lucretius added, “Life is too difficult, humanity too weak, labor too exhausting, pleasures too frivolous or rare, pain too frequent or atrocious, chance too unfair and haphazard for us to be able to believe that so imperfect a world is of divine origin!”

One of my own rather frequent remarks is that I’m not impressed with our species, and Comte-Sponville picks up on that point when he describes human mediocrity: “Let’s say I don’t have a sufficiently lofty conception of humanity in general or myself in particular to believe that a God could be at the origin of this species and this individual. Everywhere I look, there is too much mediocrity, too much pettiness, too much of what Montaigne called nothingness or vanity – ‘Of all the vanities, the vainest is man.’ What a poor result for omnipotence!”

One of the author’s most moving passages was in his discussion of the term acceptance. He told the story of Etty Hillesum, and he quoted her just a few days before her death at Auschwitz: “People sometimes say to me, ‘Oh, yes, you look on the bright side of everything.’ What a platitude! Everything is perfectly good, and at the same time perfectly bad…. I have never felt that I had to force myself to see the bright side of things; everything is always perfectly good, just as it is. Everything situation, no matter how deplorable, is an absolute and contains good and evil within itself. By this I simply mean that I find the expression ‘seeing the bright side of everything’ just as repugnant as ‘taking advantage of everything.’” He commented that the suffering and death of Ms. Hillesum “in no way obliterates what she lived, what she called ‘acceptance,’ ‘acquiescence’ or ‘comprehension,’ and which is very akin to love.”

This is a scholarly work that refers to a wide range of literature and philosophy, but like so many books about atheism, this one is overly intellectualized. It seems to me that atheists, like myself, spend far more time talking about God than many of my very religious friends. Still, given my own interests in the topic, I’m glad that I read this, and I come away from the book feeling less defensive about my own atheism – let others prove that God exists before I get into an argument that he does not.

Doors Open by Ian Rankin

Doors Open is not Ian Rankin’s usual formula featuring Inspector John Rebus.  It is however set in Edinburgh and crime is at its core.  Three art loving friends meet one day and hatch a plan to steal authentic paintings from Scotland’s National Gallery by substituting forgeries.

Michael MacKenzie is a rich but bored ex-computer geek who sold his software company for a sum that has allowed him a very early retirement.  He develops an interest in paintings and becomes friends with an art professor and a banker that share his interest.  The professor suggests a plan to steal some paintings and replace them with forgeries painted by one of his students.  Such a plan even if successful would yield them valuable paintings they could never show or sell without revealing their guilt.  The caper becomes more complicated when a gangster, Chib Callaway is included to provide the muscle.  While the devious plan is challenging and entertaining for the art lovers, not all the partners share the same appetite for adventure given the seemingly intangible reward for the risk of incarceration. 

The plot line in Doors Open had a reasonable chance to entertain.  However, the author presented it in a very straight forward manner and made the outcome too predictable.  While it’s fun to cheer for the villain at times, a few more twists and turns would have heightened the appeal and entertainment value a bit.  I’ll read more Ian Rankin but probably look for those featuring the John Rebus character.

When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops by George Carlin

This is a book that you can leave by your bed, pick up and read a few paragraphs when you don't want to get into anything too long or complicated, entertain yourself for a few minutes, put it down and come back to it a month later. That's how I read this one. If you like George Carlin, you'll like this book.

My favorite passage, a startling example of descriptive technique, entitled:

"Not Martha Stewart"

"Vinny had just squeezed off three really vicious, warm, partially liquid farts and was now trying with all his might to suck down from the back of his nose a huge gob of hardened snot that felt as big as a human embryo. Ignoring the dog shit encrusted under his fingernails from several weeks earlier, he reached deep into his throat, pulled loose some partially digested food, swallowed it and again continued to make hamburger patties for the kids."

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

It’s the dawn of a new century. And Frank Drum is reliving the defining summer of his life. He was 13, 1961, in New Bremen, Minnesota, about 40 miles west of Mankato on the south central prairie.

Frank is the kid in the middle. His older sister Ariel has the scars from a harelip and is bound for Julliard to study keyboard and composition. His younger brother Jake stutters and is far too insightful  for his young age.  His dad, Nathan, is a Methodist minister of nearly unimaginable, bottomless moral strength who also covers 2 other rural congregations with his mom, Ruth, who runs the choir and can’t cook worth a lick.

And there is Gus, Nathan’s war buddy who lives in the church basement, does odd jobs around town and is the surrogate uncle to Frank and Jake. The town royalty is the Brandt family. In high school, Emil Brandt and Ruth were really tight, but that went south and Ruth hooked up with hard charging first year law student Nathan Drum who, after the war, dropped man’s law for the Bible’s law. Emil suffered severe facial burns in Korea and is blind. He now lives with his deaf, autistic sister Lise in an old farmhouse. The real money is with his brother whose son Kurt dates Ariel. Then there is Doyle (a jerkoff deputy), Warren Redstone (old Sioux), and Morris Engdahl (local punk).

The summer doesn’t start well. Sweet looking Bobby Cole was lost in his own world while sitting on the railroad tracks when he was struck and killed. Not long after, Frank and Jake are rummaging around the train trestle and find a dead itinerant underneath. Over the course of the summer, we follow Jake and Frank’s adventures at Halverston’s Drug Store, the barbershop, ball field, the jail, the river’s edge, an old quarry, 4^th of July. And another death.

Make that 2 deaths. And the town starts to fall apart. Threats, innuendo, centuries old and modern prejudices and jealousy boils over as the investigation into deaths 3 and 4 unfolds. Then there is a 5^th.

Through all the turmoil, Pastor Nathan is a rock who bears the weight of his family, the town, and an unspoken tragedy carried from the war that neither Nathan nor Gus will speak about. And Jake. Too young Jake - in his silence and embarrassment of his stutter, correctly interprets events that no child his age should have to comprehend. It’s Jake, who during the town’s darkest hour utters a simple prayer that no adult can bring themselves to say that quietly begins the healing that the town so desperately needs.

This book is way off the typical themes reviewed here at MRB and was sent to me by an MRB friend at Simon and Schuster, somewhat because I had reviewed Krueger's Trickster’s Point; a more typical small town police mystery.  The themes and emotions explored by Krueger are rarely dealt with in the political thrillers or police procedurals normally reviewed here.

But make no mistake. This isn’t a book you will casually read at your leisure. It is far too engrossing to be viewed as anything other than an astonishingly deeply moving account of a defining period of time in the life of two young boys, a family, a town and the simple steps begun by the most innocent among them that begins the community's redemption. A book that you can't put down and don't want to end. Is this a modern take on some Greek or Shakespearean tragedy? I wouldn't know. 

What I do know is that Ordinary Grace isn’t a good book. Ordinary Grace is a great book. And it deserves as wide an audience as it can get. I’ve said to anyone that will listen that Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon was one of the very best coming of age books I’ve ever read. If asked now, I shall reply saying the best are Boy’s Life and Ordinary Grace.

Give it a chance. This really is that good.

East Coast Don