Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

I chose to ready Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, as a follow-up to Stephen King’s book “On Writing” which I recently reviewed. Given that I’ve read at least 2,000 novels in the thriller genre, I’m surprised that I had not thought more about the authors’ writing processes. I had always assumed that most authors did outlines of their books with regard to both plot and character development, but neither King nor Lamott did that. Rather, King said he would start from a situation or event, and then let the characters tell him what would happen next. Similarly, Lamott said she would listen to the characters and take them where they should go. Both King and Lamott were alcoholics, as is not uncommon among writers, perhaps popularized by Hemingway, but perhaps stoked by the rigors of so many hours of solitude while constructing a novel. It’s probably both, and more. Fortunately, both King and Lamott were able to overcome their addictions, but Lamott was a bit more open than King, sometimes mentioning her group of sober friends.

Bird by Bird is a phrase that Lamott explained means to take one step at a time, to focus on the task at hand and to do it with full gusto, and after that was done, the next step with the same passionate focus. It’s clear that like King, Lamott is fascinated by the world of words and she obsessively spends her time finding the right words and phrases to bring about the effect that she wants. She believes in editing and re-editing. As a writing teacher, this book is an instruction manual about all aspects of the novel writing process, from starting with an idea, writing every day, taking notes about anything that is happening in one’s day-to-day life, getting an agent, getting an advance on a book, the struggle to get one’s thoughts on paper, the insecurity of turning over a finished work, the celebration of a book well done. She is passionate about her craft, a passion that she would like to stimulate in her students.

 

I loved this book, and now I’m intrigued enough to soon dive into one of her novels. It was written in 1994, but it is entirely a contemporary work. Lamott is obviously a talented and clever author, and if you’re curious how a seasoned and accomplished writer goes about her craft, this is a great book for you.

 

WCD

Storm Rising by Chris Hauty

Storm Rising is the third book by Chris Hauty with Hayley Chill as the protagonist. At Men Reading books, we’ve raved about the first two novels, Deep State and Savage Road. See our reviews in this blog of both books. In this third novel, Chill takes on a US based group that wants to secede from the union, and the means of achieving this are carefully hidden through a very clever plot. But, Hayley, a part of an unnamed group that is hell bent on protecting the Constitution, seems to be every where at once, leaving dead bodies in her wake. It’s a disturbing series of events to her own “deeper state” bosses, but even more so to the forces that want to see her dead.

At the outset of this book, I thought there was something cheesy about it, and Hayley reminds me of Dirk Pitt from the Clive Cussler series. I loved Dirk Pitt, but Hayley is more than that. Pitt was always a rather two-dimensional character, and Hayley is portrayed as much more than. She struggles with her dedication to her job and country, and what that commitment means to having any real emotional balance in her life. 

 

I can’t say I didn’t put this book down, but I did read it over the course of a couple days – very eager to see what the author had in store for his characters. I hope Hauty has plans for more Chill stories.

 

Thanks to Emily Bestler Books for the advance reader copy. 

The Bone Track by Sara E. Johnson

Let’s see. Where to start. The family issue or the crime? Let's do family.

Alexa and Charlie Glock (‘like the gun’) grew up in North Carolina. As children, Alexa suffered some severe burns leaving scars still evident in adulthood. Went to college. He became an accountant, married, had two kids, now lives in Atlanta. She ended up becoming a forensic scientist with a special interest in teeth. Unmarried. Took in internship with the North Island Forensics Service Center in New Zealand and stayed when she was offered a job. She is in a relationship with Bruce, a senior detective based in Auckland. Charlie and his wife are recently separated. Brother and sister are not real close.

To strengthen their relationship, Charlie agrees to fly to New Zealand where they will take a popular multiday through hike (a ‘tramp’) in Fiordland National Park (on the South Island). Trampers can go it alone for primitive camping or they can sign up for a ‘luxe’ tramp, a guided trek where they’d sleep indoors and get prepared meals each day. They choose the primitive tramp, but quickly learn the two groups are interconnected.

Trampers take off at their leisure and arrive at cabin/campsites whenever they get there. Charlie and Alexa get separated leaving Alexa to fend for herself that first day. Weather and landslides are common issues and both further separate Alexa from Charlie. A rockslide obscures the track and Alexa must do some serious rock-hopping to traverse. As she concludes a successful traverse of the rock field, she rests in the forest, and something catches her forensic eye – a piece of bone. Curious to see if the bone in animal or human, she digs it from the earth and in doing so, finds more bones, and not just fragments. Whole ribs and some long bones. And the ribs look to have been damaged by a knife.

The local indigenous Maori feel that disturbing bones isn’t to be done, but she bags a couple fragments (what forensic scientist travels without their evidence bags?), marks the location, and plans to get them sent to her lab. While taking care of business, a helicopter buzzes her location even to the point of dropping a sack full of riff rock near where she is working. Intentional or trying to stabilize the landslide?

She reaches the luxe tramper destination and meets up with Charlie. The luxe host is counting heads and is one short. An Auckland orthopaedic surgeon who gifted her office staff with this adventure. A search is initiated. Charlie and Alexa find the doctor. Looks like she fell off a possibly defective rope bridge over a roaring creek. After some tense cliff challenges, the doctor’s body is pulled out. Alexa does a cursory exam and notices two holes in the doctor’s back, both about the size of the end of a trekking pole. The question is no longer did she fall, but was she pushed.

In one day of tramping, Alexa has stumbled into two potential murders. One fresh, the other a cold case. Once Alexa gets the bit, she returns to full-scale forensic mode. Local law enforcement is called, and a possible murder requires a senior detective and her current flame, DI Bruce Horne, is helicoptered in to manage the investigation into both crimes.

I chose this book for two reasons. First, the story is set in the wilderness, on a through hike, which I like to do. No place I’d rather be than in the forest. Second, the principles are from North Carolina, where I live (props to the author for her accurate NC geography). The story, once the investigations get going, is routine police procedural work. There are some hairy wilderness moments, some touchy helicopter encounters, and the attempts at mending the strained brother-sister relationship. Not to mention, the importance of her burn scars. The author is a former middle school reading specialist in Durham, NC who spent a year in NZ with her family. This book is the third of three (so far) Alexa Glock Forensics Mystery titles that are published by Poisoned Pen Press.

Available February 15, 2022.

On Writing by Stephen King

Although I’ve never been a fan of the horror genre, just does not grab me like a great thriller, a friend suggested I have a look at “On Writing by Stephen King – A Memoir of the Craft.” I don’t think I’ve ever finished a Stephen King novel, but I’m aware of his success as a writer, and some of his books that have become very successful movies (like Carrie and Misery). Given my aversion to horror movies, I can’t imagine going to see a movie titled Misery. I go to the movies to be entertained, not to be reminded of other people’s misery and horror. But, I was pleasantly surprised by this nonfiction work which is partly about his writing method and style, and partly a memoir. I can imagine that someone who is really a fan and has read most of his books would thoroughly enjoy this book.

For me, the most remarkable part of his writing experience is that he does not start with an outline of his books and characters, and where he wants the story to go. He starts with some event/situation and then develops the stories from where his characters lead him. He describes a sort of passive role in the story creation, just lets the story take him wherever the characters tell him. Actually, it's quite similar to what Anne Lamott describes in her own writing, as will be reviewed shortly.

 

In the memoir, King recounts his difficult childhood and his escape into literature, both reading voluminously and writing stories from an early age. Clearly he is obsessed with the written word and has spent a lifetime at being good at it. Notably, he is an alcoholic who was able to respond to his wife’s demands that he give it up. He has had one long marriage with a woman he deeply loves. He obviously thinks about and studies his craft, and he is able to quote his own literature as well as others for examples of good and bad prose. 

 

For me, this is a weird example of being impressed with a writer, but not liking the genre in which he has produced some of his most famous works. However, if you’re a King fan, then I think this is a must-read book.

 

WCD

The Cellist by Daniel Silva

I’m very late in reviewing Daniel Silva’s most recent book. He always publishes his new novels of July, and I have a history of reading the new book within a day of it’s publication and usually finishing it during a single day. Then, I have to wait a whole year for the next installment. What can I say, the late summer and fall months were busy with my own writing project, as well as some other books I had committed to read. Finally came vacation, which I inaugurated by re-reading Silva’s last book, a brilliant plot, The Order. 

 

The Cellist is the 21^st Gabriel Allon novel. This is a a story about the international money laundering effort by Putin who is stashing his money in real estate in the West, including the U.S. and London. I must say that I think I understand massive money laundering in a way I had not previously appreciated, all of which was fascilitated by Deutsche Bank for which Silva substituted the fictitious RhineBank, “the dirtiest bank in the world.”

 

As usual, the book contains a cast of characters, most of whom we’ve come to know over the course of these novels. It was great to once again read about Christopher Keller, who we haven’t seen in a few novels, but who seems destined to take over the spy actions for the aging Allon. In a prior book, we met one of the two cellists in this. Anna Rolfe was an internationally renown player whose career was negatively impacted by the pandemic, but given the temporary easing of the virus, she was used as a draw for a charity acution for a recently discovered painting which had secretly been restored by Allon. This was Rolfe’s first public performance after being in isolation for nearly two years. The other cellist was Isabel Brenner, a brilliant woman with numbers who had won a major prize as a junior cellist. Although she chose to pursue a career in finance, she had kept up her cello chops. When Ms. Rolfe heard her play, she was impressed and got this unknown cellist to close the show for her at the charity. Importantly, Brenner had worked for RhineBank before she gave away some damning records to a reporter and was fired for it. But, because of her skill at laundering money, as she had been doing for RhineBank, she was hired by Martin Landesmann, known by all as St. Martin because of his remarkable work for various human interest charities, and the environment. However, he used the good stuff as a coverup for his clandestine banking. He really was all about profit.

 

It was Brenner, through Landesmann, who was pulled into the scheme to launder more Russian money, but she was placed there by Allon who wanted to hurt a prior enemy, Arkady Akimov, Russia’s largest oiler dealer. Putin had allowed Arkday to become monstrously wealthy. Arkady donated $20 Milion Swiss Francs just to get a seat for Rolfe’s performance. Allon was after $11 Billion of money that Putin wanted converted into Western real estate..

 

There’s lots of action in this story which takes place mainly in Switzerland, but moves swifty to Moscow, London, and Washington. The author just happens to be a gifted travel writer. Silva clearly follows U.S. politics as he weaves his story about the last two presidential elections and the divisive activity that came from the campaigns.

 

You won’t be disappointed in this book by Silva. He lives up to his own impossible high standards.

 

WCD

Relentless Strike by Sean Naylor

One of my rare forays into non-fiction. The subtitle for this book tells you all you need to know: “The secret history of Joint Special Operations Command” otherwise known as JSOC.

It’s late summer 1980. A handful of military brass are in conference about a new organization. About a year earlier, Operation Eagle Claw had failed. The attempted rescue of American hostages held in Iran fell apart. Deep inside Iran, the operation was postponed by a day because only five of eight helicopters were air worthy. Upon withdrawing to their staging ground in Oman, a helicopter crashed into a plane loaded with fuel and Delta soldiers. Eight died. The mission was scrubbed. An opportunity was lost. Men died. But in the immediate days later, President Carter wanted a mission ready to go on a moment’s notice if it became apparent that the lives of the hostages were in imminent danger.

The 2^nd shot at a rescue would require coordination of a Naval aircraft carrier group, Air Force transport and fighter support, Army Delta and Rangers, and on-ground surveillance (CIA). A whole bunch of folks not used to talking with each other much less working together. Who answers to whom was at issue. The commander of the Eagle Claw rescue wanted a direct line to the White House, not the normal circuitous route ‘up the chain’ for approval. Targets could disappear while the military stepped all over itself to get the go-no go answer. 

This new organization under discussion in 1980 was be just that. A mostly autonomous military organization designed not along the lines of the traditional military. Rather, this group would be charged with getting in fast, fixing the problem fast, and get out quietly leaving as little of a footprint as possible . . . at the behest of the Joint Chiefs and President. 

The genesis of JSOC.

Being a history book, the birth of JSOC begins a journey through the labyrinth of the military and Pentagon. Commanders and command structure changed regularly. Spec Op units come and go. Weapons begin as a jury-rigged contraption that end up going into production. Information gathering starts out by piggybacking with the CIA before JSOC develops its own network. Electronic surveillance techniques, that began as more of an exercise by some nerd soldiers before accelerating the field of electronic surveillance, cell phone tracking, and designing the protocols and equipment that brought real time surveillance using drones. And from surveillance drones came armed drones.And the military is trying to keep up with the technology at home and with an increasingly sophisticated enemy.

The bulk of the book (and it's a beast. Text, notes, glossary, index comes in at 540 pages) is about how each new commander tweaked JSOC operations to meet their vision. Lots of organizational revisions and the mandatory acronyms the military is known for. Select missions are described to make a point, not for the salacious details. The Bin Laden raid, the subject of books and movies, is told in just a couple pages because finding him and tracking him was JSOC’s mission and that is where Naylor spends considerable effort. Finding him was hard. Killing him was the easy part.

Mission successes and failures alike are revealed. Training locations for JSOC strikes in both the US and the world are discussed about what made each location important. Locations of this developing cadre of elite, secretive soldiers get attention, a couple of which are nearby.

How’d I learn about this book? I teach an online class twice a year. In it, I do a series of group  ‘zoom' calls. I logged in early and one student was there. Just chitchatting, I asked where he lived (Texas), what was his ‘day job’ (retired military), what branch of the service was he in (Army), what was his MOS (military occupational specialty – military-speak for ‘his job’). He said Spec Ops. 

That got my attention. Now Spec Ops can mean command (the micromanagers), logistics (getting people and equipment from point A to point B), operations (the day-to-day stuff of a military unit), or the operators (the hard men who carry out the missions). Probably a dozen others MOS operations to support those gun-carrying operators. I mentioned that I like to read espionage thrillers and those can involve CIA, FBI, LEO, and the military. He said, ‘I worked for JSOC. Heard of it?’ Yeah. Of course. From those espionage books. Said he’s retired but he sometimes ‘gets called back in’ and, that 'you never know, I might be called back in during this class' (he hasn’t yet). Never said what his MOS was in the JSOC spiderweb of connections. He can’t.

He asked if I’d read Relentless Strike. Never heard of it. He said get it. It’s good. A history book that reads almost like a novel. Thoroughly researched and reported. But since its publication, the author (an award winning reporter with special expertise and connections in special operations) has been shunned by the spec ops community. Ex-communicated if you will. I asked why and was told me it was because Naylor did the indefensible. He had pulled the curtain back on an organization that is obsessive about mission security and silence. A neighbor of my daughter is a pilot out of Ft. Bragg (Delta and 86^th Airborne home) and he flies spec op missions. All his flights are secret even from his wife. When he's called, she has no clue where he's going or when he’ll be back. He’s read the book. Yes, the author is persona-non-Grata in the spec op community.

I asked if he (the pilot) is JSOC. He didn’t respond.

City of the Dead

 

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby

 

Earlier this month, East Coast Don wrote a sparkling review of this riveting novel. For some reason we could not figure out, the picture of the book cover appeared in the list of reviews, but not on the main page. That's never happened before. Let me just quote two of his paragraphs: 

"If this book doesn’t take your breath away, then something’s missing inside you. It’s filled with themes of revenge, redemption, begrudging acceptance, white privilege, the underclass being kept in their place, political power, and cruelty fueled by that most violent of weapons – love.

"Buckle up because Cosby tackles all these issues in a way that bloodies your knuckles, punches you in the gut, kicks you in your groin, slashes your throat. This isn't for the faint of heart. It's for the brave who want or need to dig deeply into the emotions that drive hard men out to correct wrongs poured on their sons."

I've never seen a story anything close to this, and I agree that this book by Cosby needs to get your attention.

As a post script to my having listened to the audio version of  this book in 7/23, I must say it is the most violent book that I've read, and I've read many of those. However, there is a sense of purpose to that violence, not a feeling that it was just contrived to capture the reader who seeks that. All of the themes outlined by ECD in the second paragraph are soul grabbing - a phrase I've never used before. Southern noir, no doubt.

The Machine Murders: Island Buoys

Razorblade Tears by SA Cosby

My God, where do I start?

Start with Ike (aka Riot, as in 'one-man Riot')? Had been in the life for years. Earned his nickname honestly for whatever gang he was running with. Did serious time at the Hotel Graybar and missed most of his son Isiah’s early years. When released, he swore he was out for good. Started a landscaping business and has 15yrs on the straight and narrow highway, but always on the cops radar for most any legal transgression that happens in and around Red Hill, VA. Linebacker big. Country strong. Black.

Start with Buddy Lee? A self-aware man who knows he’s a “hell-raising, whiskey-drinking, hard-loving  redneck son of a bitch” who slept like a baby. Also did some time at the Hotel. Divorced from Margo and estranged from his son Derek. Rail thin. Lives in a shit trailer and does mostly day jobs and the occasional 'delivery.'  Buddy Lee is the living, breathing epitome of white trash in the flesh.

Start with Isiah? Never really saw eye-to-eye with his dad, Ike. Went to college. Graduated with a degree in journalism. Works for a Richmond-based newspaper that focuses on LGBTQ issues.

Start with Derek? He was the oil to Buddy Lee’s water. Every exchange seemed to end in an argument. And those got worse after coming out. Still in the process of perfecting his chef credentials.

Start with Isiah and Derek? Instant connection upon meeting. Moved in together. Got married. Adopted a mixed-race toddler daughter. A marriage so loving that most could only dream they had. Living a blessed life in Richmond.

Start with Isiah and Derek shopping at a sweets and spice shop? Upon exiting, both are summarily executed on the sidewalk. From behind. In the back of the head. Rolled over and the killers added a double-tap to the face. Forget about open casket funerals. Buried side-by-side. Ike and his wife Mya take in the adorable Arianna. 

A professional, hired hit. After a few months, the cops put the case in the unsolved pile.

Buddy Lee is steaming. Ike is red hot. Neither want justice. They want outright down in the dirt, violent and bloody revenge. Driven by vengeance, these two unlikely partners start looking into the murders. To hell with the police. To hell with the consequences. This is their one chance to make things right with themselves and for their sons.

These two don’t like each other. A white redneck loser and a black former enforcer who continues to live under the oppressive boot that is Virginia. Neither was able to accept their son’s lifestyles. Never able to even talk about much less speak the words. But they have a common goal and the where-with-all to see that vision through regardless of the cost.

Starting with the spice store, Ike and Buddy Lee backtrack their son’s last steps. And in doing so, must slug their way through the Virginia mire that no one wants to see, to talk about, or to  experience. And when faced with lethal obstructions, they abandon traditional methods and resort to machetes, blades, landscape tampers, fully automatic shotguns, wood chippers, MAC 10s and 11s, a mace-like weapon from a baseball bat and nails, rusted out trucks as battering rams.

At first this is all in the name of Isiah and Derek, but when the perpetrator pulling the strings takes their . . . can they finally admit it? . . .  granddaughter, all differences vanish as they plan out and execute a brutally lethal plan that results in dozens of dead in the pasture of a 2^nd amendment mob’s practice ground.

If this book doesn’t take your breath away, then something’s missing inside you. It’s filled with themes of revenge, redemption, begrudging acceptance, white privilege, the underclass being kept in their place, political power, and cruelty fueled by that most violent of weapons – love.

Buckle up because Cosby tackles all these issues in a way that bloodies your knuckles, punches you in the gut, kicks you in your groin, slashes your throat. This isn't for the faint of heart. It's for the brave who want or need to dig deeply into the emotions that drive hard men out to correct wrongs poured on their sons.

Call it what you will: country noir, southern noir, redneck noir. Whatever it is, Cosby will duke it out with guys like JD Rhoades and Brian Panowich for genre supremacy. And I’ll be there reading every title they put out. Good lord, Hollywood. Why are you wasting time on comic books?

Just make sure that you put SA Cosby at the top of your must-read list. If you don't, I may just send the author to find you. If you see this guy up at the Wal-Mart or waiting for you outside of Costco, be afraid.

Healing - Beyond Pills & Potions

 

The Judge's List

 

Daughter of the Morning Star by Craig Johnson

We pick up the Longmire saga with Walt being asked by tribal police chief Lolo Long in Montana to look into a case with which she has had little luck. Jaya One Moon is a high school phenom basketball player for the Lady Morning Stars. D1 quality. WNBA is not our of the realm of possibility. The team is a bunch of OK players and Jaya. Problem is that Jaya has been receiving threatening messages, many of which threaten her life.

Walt’s first question has to do with her older sister, Jeanie. November, a year ago, Jeanie caught a ride with other locals to Billings for a party. On the ride home, the car had issues. While the guys were trying to figure out what’s wrong, Jeanie said to no one in particular that she was going to walk over the creek . . . and never came back. Just disappeared. Local cops, state cops, FBI found nothing. Like she’d been picked up off the earth as she walked. Lolo Long didn’t think the two were connected.

Walt brought Henry Standing Bear with him because Henry is more familiar with the territory, and it also involved Native American high school girls’ basketball which is a big deal in that part of the world. After first getting to know the surly Jaya, they decide to investigate Jeanie’s disappearance, too. First stop was the other kids in the car. Not much there. Next stop was Jeanie’s and Jaya’s boyfriend. Not plural. Both dated the same guy. But he’s a good guy and doesn’t seem to be connected.

Walt and Henry then look at the parents. Mom is a drunk. Dad is an ex-con. His next conviction is for life. While Dad was in the joint, he got connected with some white supremacists. In Montana, the prime targets are the Native American population. In the towns around Billings is a small cadre that cops would love to exterminate, but the legal proof has been hard to collect.

Percolating underneath Walt’s inquiries lies some Native American mysticism. Èveohtsé-heómesé are the collective of lost souls that hunger for the living. Sounds like the Native American equivalent of purgatory. Souls that have not fully crossed over flip in and out of the present looking for people who might be able to help them ‘get home.’ In their wanderings, some people swear they see the soul in the flesh. The living fear these souls, afraid they will be the next to be pulled in. Seriously scared. Walt may not be a believer, but he's also not close-minded. Particularly after a night search in a narrow canyon.

Jaya is coming apart at the seams. So much so that after one monumental blow-up, the team and coach let her walk away knowing that the team has no chance without her. As the annual tournament is coming up, further tensions bubble to the surface. People are assaulted, including Walt. Then a couple of the Neo-Nazi crowd are killed. The basketball coach is assaulted and put in the hospital forcing a last-minute substitution. And does Jeanie make an appearance at the basketball tournament?

I’ve read all 17 Walt Longmire books. Have also watched all six seasons of the show on Netflix a couple of times. Craig Johnson’s books are my comfort food. Every fall season means a new Longmire book. Another reason to love fall. For me, there is nothing to question. Johnson is splendid storyteller that keeps you engaged from page 1. If life hadn’t interfered, this would’ve been a one sitting read. Five Stars. No. Make that 10 stars. Gold medal. Top shelf. Can’t be beat. For me, Johnson is as close to perfect as an author can get.

State of Terror

Better Off Dead

The Second List

Madness of Crowds

Sooley

Treachery Times Two

Another Kind of Eden

James Lee Burke is a prolific author, having written 41 books since 1965. We’ve reviewed 12 of them, mostly in the Robicheaux series. He also has written 12 more in The Holland Novels, as well as some other fiction novels. The quality of his writing has always been wonderful, and he clearly is more literate and thoughtful that most authors in this genre. This being the 13^th novel that I’ve read by Burke, you know I love him. It was many years ago when I was looking for a new author and was browsing through the mystery/thriller section at Heathrow Airport, that a woman suggested I give Burke a try – a wonderful recommendation.

 

Another Kind of Eden is the first one I’ve read in The Holland Novels, and it is his most recent novel. The protagonist is Aaron Holland Broussard, and the next important character is Joanne McDuffy. Broussard has been diagnosed with a dissociative disorder, specifically, multiple personality disorder. He’s in his mid 20’s, knows he had dissociative episodes and worries that he could do great harm to others and know nothing about it. He’s a vagabond, but obviously bright and talented. McDuffy is a beautiful woman, probably in the range of 17-19, and by the time she meets Broussard in a small western town, she has already had lots of relationships, sometimes with some highly questionable characters. Broussard falls in love with her. She’s trying to make her way as an artist, but she’s encountered an art teacher, Henri Devos, who is a sociopath. Broussard does not understand what she sees in him, but they are clearly competing with each other to win her over.

 

Burke introduces a number of characters to fill out the story. Broussard has found work on a ranch, and his ranch hands become part of the story, as does the ranch owner, Jude Lowry and his wife. It’s Lowry’s ranch competitors who are key antagonists, like Mr. Vickers and his son, Darrel, both of whom are evil and violent people. I enjoyed this novel until near the end when Burke seemed to introduce elements of mysticism. It was hard to tell because of the issue of Broussard’s multiple personality, his confusion of dreams and reality, and what may have been periods of flagrant psychosis. There was ample mayhem among the characters. This was not an uplifting story in any sense and did not end with any sort of clarity. It’s the first time I recall reading one of Burke’s novel and not having felt I could recommend it to my friends.

The Evil Men Do

 

The Wilkes Insurrection

Targeted by Stephen Hunter

[Full disclosure right up front: Hunter’s Bob Lee Swagger books sit alone at the top as my favorite character series. Pretty sure I’ll like this latest installment]

Bob Lee is 74y now. Spend his days at his Idaho ranch splitting time between self-reflection in his rocking chair on his porch or fiddling around with rifles and ammunition because that’s what he does, that's what he is.

No matter how hard Bob Lee tried to shun the limelight, taking out Juba the Sniper (see 'Game of Snipers') in a sniper showdown means the press just will not leave him alone. And his notoriety with the gun has made him a bit of a cultural icon. Elected officials, unfortunately, prefer a more peaceable populace where icons should be the negotiators and law makers who think Neanderthals like Swagger need to just go away.

The elder stateswoman in the US House, Charlotte Venable, chairs the House Judicial Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism. All House members, as we know, seek the limelight of the 30 second sound bite and the Sunday talk show circuit. In Swagger, she has the perfect foil to haul into her committee chambers to show the country just how wrong it is to deal with terrorists via the business end of a gun vs. other more ‘civil’ solutions. Ergo . . . Bob Lee gets subpoenaed. Let the agendas begin.

In deference to Bob Lee’s injuries from his confrontation with Juba, Rep. Venable has agreed to hold the hearings in Boise.

All that remains of the Shishani clan is Vakha and four nephews. The Shishanis are Chechen who were near eliminated when the Russians stormed that Moscow theater killing the terrorists along with about half the hostages. Vakha and his nephews fled and made it to NYC where they got by doing hard work for some Russian Mafia groups in the area. They were hired to transport a shipment of heroin bound for Mexico, but Vahka saw the shipment as a gift for them to bankroll the Shishani family as players in the US. 

A semi riding along an Idaho interstate well under the speed limit is unusual. Most truckers tend to drive 15-20mph above the limit. An Idaho state trooper pulls them over. Vahka tells the nephews to be cool. A few things about their paperwork were curious so the trooper calls for backup. The trailer doors are opened, and a hothead nephew takes out the trooper. A gun battle ensues and the Shishanis are taken in. Given that they were carrying forged governmental papers secured them a trip to an Idaho prison until formal proceedings can begin.

The Russian mafia folks are pissed that their delivery was hijacked. The Mexican cartel is also pissed that the product they’ve purchased, while not found in the truck, is still in the wind. A for-hire merc is given two tasks. First, take out the Shishanis. Second, if he can, get the lost product back. The guy goes by the name of Delta in reference to an earlier training stop in his career.

Bob Lee is facing what looks like two weeks of hearings. While the Committee of eight Representatives state up front that Bob Lee is not ‘on trial’, the progress of each day sure seems like he’s on trial and prison is the likely outcome. Representative Baker, a punk of a schmuck who sees the hearing as his ticket to the Senate, pulls some trivial point from an obscure law about the ammunition Bob Lee used to take out Juba. Saying it was experimental and un-approved by the military, Bob Lee effectively put the public in danger if a bullet was off target. ‘Wanton Endangerment’. Baker wants to send that detail to the DOJ who, given the current political winds, would likely put Bob Lee behind bars.

The hearings make for some engrossing daytime TV. Even behind bars. Vahka works up a plan. First, get them transferred to another facility. Second, during the transfer, take over the bus and crash the hearings. Third, take a bucketload of hostages and use them as their ticket home.

While Vahka has watched the hearings and respects Bob Lee’s career, a 74yo man in a wheelchair isn’t an obstacle. And fans of Bob Lee Swagger know that is the wrong assumption to make. Not to mention that Delta is lying in wait an opportunity.

Hunter presents this story as three parts. Part 1: The Set Up. Bob Lee, the Committee, the Shishani’s theft of the heroin, Delta’s assignment. Part 2: The Hearings. Part 3: The Takedown. Some of the best repartee occurs between Reps Baker and Venable with Bob Lee. Venable is a tough old battleax of a woman. Vain, foul mouth. Loves her vodka almost as much as she loves the power she wields. She thinks Baker is just another Harvard twit, but he’s useful for her purposes. The Shishais are ultraviolent with little care for human life. Delta? We don’t really know much about him (makes one wonder if he’ll show up in the next Bob Lee book, if there is one. He is, after all 74 years old).

The set-up introduces us to the players. The Hearings are an entertaining back and forth between opposites on all things gun related. The Takedown is a breathless dash over the course of about an hour before sunrise. You know that when Hunter starts inserting the time of day for each chapter that shit is about to get real.

If you’ve never read any of the novels by Stephan Hunter, listen carefully: no one (not Lee Child, not Brad Thor, not Jack Carr, etc.) can develop plot and characters and then stage a ‘takedown’ like Hunter. When I say breathless, I mean breathless. You will, like me, find yourself holding your breath. Start too late in the evening and you’ll get jerked back to reality when you realize the clock says 130am. First Hunter book I read was iSniper and have not looked back. Another stunning story from a thriller writer without peer.

Most of Hunter’s earlier books were published by Random House. I don’t know anything about the switch, but Targeted is published by one of my favorites, Emily Bestler Books. Again, boys and girls. Pay attention to those publishers. Emily Bestler Books.

Available January 18, 2022. Get your order in now. 

 And Thanks to the GREAT FOLKS at Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the advance reader copy. I audibly gasped with I opened the package containing the book.

East Coast Don

 

BTW: Hunter expertly weaves in a backstory of how the Swagger family 'began' in the Revolutionary War era and ended up in Arkansas. Quite interesting. 

Murder at Rat Alley by Mark de Castrique

PARI is the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute. Sitting deep in the Pisgah National Forest SW of Asheville. Started out as a NASA site for keeping in touch with the Apollo program. After NASA, it became part of an intelligence gathering network where Russia and the US were tapping the other’s communications. With the end of the cold war, it became a research setting for astronomers. And with that come the alien nuts and conspiracy wackos. Asheville is ground zero for alien watchers (all that is true).

The hot dry summer means forest fires. And one is dangerously close to PARI. Firefighters use a bulldoze to dig in a fire line around PARI. In the process, a skeleton is dug up. When something like surfaces, law enforcement assumes the worst until proven otherwise. The Asheville ME’s first observation is murder given the gaping slash across the back of the skull.

Sam Blackman is a veteran of Afghanistan, minus his lower left leg. He partners with Nakayla Robertson in a PI business. They are lunching with a colorful bunch of locals, including a latter-day hippie/defense attorney and a few from his office. When Sam brings up the skeleton, the lawyer’s paralegal Cory goes pale, saying, ‘It’s him.’

‘Him’ would be her uncle she never met, Frank DeMille. He used to work at the PARI site in its Apollo days, but just fell off the face of the earth in 1971. DNA from her and the skeleton reveal the connection. Now they must tell her aunt and Frank’s sister up in Roanoke. Sam, Nakayla, and Cory drive up there. During the conversation, we learn that the sister’s husband, an army intelligence officer, were good friends. And that the officer died in Vietnam within a month of Frank’s disappearance.

Frank also had a girlfriend. A local mountain girl who worked at PARI site when it was with NASA. Her family wasn’t happy. Not one bit. Didn’t like that an outsider had taken up with her. And that’s not all. Given the location of the find and what it was used for when Frank disappeared makes for jurisdictional nightmare with local, county, state, and feds trying to work in an uneasy alliance. The cops are focused on the family. But Max and Nakayla do what every good PI should do. Follow the evidence no matter where it goes.

And it goes all over the place. Charlotte, Raleigh, Army chief warrant officers, Vietnam records, Putin (really?), alien abduction theorists, mountain family musicians, local bars and alleys, and (something I’d never heard of) the National Centers for Environmental Information (THE place for weather information. Their data storage facility is measured in the petrabytes – that’s a lot).

Wow. That’s a lot for a small book (6x9 inches, 252 pages) and yet the story doesn’t seem forced or cluttered. I read that the author has 40 years of production experience in theater and Hollywood. Obviously, that experience works because de Cristique is a very good storyteller.

I was at the local library picking up an interlibrary loan item and took a few minutes to stroll through the racks. Lots of options, but nothing that couldn’t wait. Noticed a new section promoting NC authors. Now I’m a sucker for NC authors so I glanced at some titles. Saw several books by de Castrique. Mysteries. That’s good. PI stories. Even better. All based in Asheville. SOLD! Asheville is one of my favorite places in the US. Then I see that this story spends a lot of time at PARI, the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute, which is off a winding mountain road near Rosman/Brevard/Balsom Grove, NC, maybe a half hour from Asheville. All places I’ve been when camping and hiking while on the prowl for waterfalls. Familiar terrain. I checked it out.

I really liked this book. The setting was a delight. Easily identifiable characters. A smart and complex plot. And just enough ‘wink-wink’ dialogue to make it all more realistic. De Castrique was a chance find that will give me plenty of options when I find myself between books and looking for something comfortable. With around 20 novels to his credit, I don’t think I’ll be lacking for options.

Next time I’m camping in Pisgah, a side trip to PARI will be a must.

Head Shot by Otho Eskin

Even if you’re a DC homicide cop, getting shot at in your front yard is out of the ordinary. And that’s just chapter 1, page 1. Next day, you and your partner are called to a DC theater where the leading lady goes offstage after her last line and gets shot. Oh, forgot to mention that Detective Marko Zorn used to date the deceased actress back when he was a new-ish NYPD uniform cop and she was a starving artist.

But that’s just a sidelight. For some reason, the State Department has requested Zorn by name to be a part of the security detail for the visiting Prime Minister from Montenegro. Apparently, the request came from the visiting delegation. It’s not as though the Feds don’t have enough people to provide security, but SecState insists, much to Zorn’s chagrin.

The new Prime Minister of Montenegro is a liberal opposition leader who came up through a student protest movement back in the day. She was elected to their version of the House. A coup brought down a neofascist government, but not before the outgoing head of state orchestrated some racial cleansing. The primary ruler and brother fled to Chicago away from the mob bent on revenge.

Zorn has a side gig. He’s on-call for a fixer of sorts. A recent assignment was to find the brothers in Chicago. Just find them. That’s it. But as Zorn learns the atrocities committed, he lets it slip when and where the former dictator would be transiting from shelter to car. A crowd of ex-pats who had lost family arrives, surrounds the prick and beats him to death.

Right before Zorn meets with SecState, his fixer calls him again. Wants to hire him to provide some security to the current PM. Now he’s serving two masters. And he wants to find whoever killed his former paramour.

Two more people connected with the theater killing end up dead. A code clerk at the Montenegro embassy also ends up dead. It’s obvious that somehow, the two circumstances are connected because the MO of each murder is the same. And Zorn’s fixer tells him that one of the world’s most expensive assassins has been hired to kill the PM and Zorn before the end of her state visit. Juggling has become Zorn's middle name what with the two cases, 5 or so victims, local/national/international politics, his 3 bosses, local and foreign security. And this guy doesn't like to carry a weapon.

Eskin’s initial Marko Zorn was Reflecting Pool, a DC-based mystery that I liked a great deal. Zorn gets it done, legally or otherwise. Zorn knows DC and the political scene and Eskin keeps this plot moving with his foot slammed to the accelerator. The story takes place over the week that the Prime Minister is in DC – that’s a lot to squeeze into a week, but Eskin handles the packed calendar like a seasoned pro. Guessing we haven’t seen the last of Marko Zorn. With Zorn around, DC is in safe hands.

City Problems by Steve Goble

Mifflin County, Ohio is basically a fueling stop on the I-71 between Columbus and Cleveland (A fictitious county, but most all the stops between Columbus and Cleveland are just that. I used to live in Ohio so I can say that with some impunity). It’s where former NYPD detective Ed Runyon finally landed after a particularly heinous missing persons case sent him over the edge. 

Running from city issues, he’s now a detective for the Mifflin County Sheriffs Office. Lives in a trailer off a road that is off a road. Near a creek. Plays his guitar. Battles depression and his own guilt about not having done enough to save a teenage girl from a gruesome death. Still drinks too much. Resists an 80yo resident’s invitations to church. Provides overwatch for the regional SWAT team. A local high school English teacher is his current friend with benefits. Decent co-workers. Occasional work-related outbursts. But so far, he prefers cases of a missing tractor to sliced and diced victims nailed in effigy to a wall covered with bloody graffiti.

A big party in Columbus drew kids from all around central Ohio. A girl has gone missing. All the local cops have to go on is that she left with some guy(s?) in a truck not from Franklin County (Columbus). The search is focused on stops along I-71 north. Columbus is sending cops and detectives asking for local help. The Sheriff assigns Runyon to help Columbus Detective Michelle Beckworth.

There is the usual give and take about who is in charge. Who is the good cop and who is the bad cop. Basic cop banter. It’s a crap shoot that the missing girl arrived in the county, but they still have to look and start in with the local high school and ne’er do wells in the county like a punk band, football heros, survialists, and so forth.

When Runyon gets a scent, he narrows his laser focus on a suspect. Problem is his interview techniques tend to be a little coarse and Beckworth is continually reigning him in. Problem is that he zeros in on a suspect, he sees only two things. That girl in NY he failed to save (because his case load was so heavy) and how this case parallels that case, and he ain’t gonna let that happen again.

But it does. A drunk lady pointing a handgun in his face. Said missing tractor. domestic calls. A day of SWAT duty. Every minute he’s on something else is one minute lost to find the missing girl. And it’s wearing on him to the point of making bad decisions particularly when facing an AR-15.

Goble isn’t a rookie, but he’s not grocery store book rack worthy yet. Has maybe a half dozen titles to his credit. This book is presented as the first in an Ed Runyon series and I think it’ll be a fruitful venture. Runyon is a seriously flawed cop from his days in NYC. He battles his depression, the bottle, his temper and more with the help of his latter-day hippie girlfriend who gladly accepts a Svengali role to help keep Ed’s feet on the ground. Not to mention this is an Oceanview Publishing book and so far I’ve met with good success with Oceanview books.

Serious readers tend to be on the prowl for new authors. Give Steve Goble a go. Glad I did.

Available July 2021.

 

ECD

 

Black Ice by Brad Thor

Most of the big time thriller heros are getting up there in age. Jack Ryan. Mitch Rapp. Scot Harvath, Bob Lee Swagger, Jack Reacher, et al. They’ve all been at it for 20+ years. And all the havoc they’ve created is showing as most seem to be more introspective and leaning towards cutting back on saving humanity from itself.

Scot Harvath has lost how many friends, girlfriends, wife (or is it wives?). In his last mission (Near Dark), he met up a Norwegian operative, Solvi Kolstad, now a Deputy Director of the Norwegian Intelligence Service. They are moving ahead with their relationship with Scot spending more and more time in Norway while he considers the Nordic way of life together. And that means making a decision: return to active duty (so to speak) or resign.

Sitting at a sidewalk café, he recognizes a man get out of a taxi that can’t be. It’s a man he knows he killed years ago. Alive and in Norway? He’s got to know. And he knows Solvi could provide vital information while he tries to track down this dead man, but in doing so, could well end Solvi’s NIS career.Surveilling citizens is as much a no-no in Norway as it is in the US.

Scot has two tasks ahead of him. Find out the identity of this guy and find out what he is doing in Oslo. But those answers are just the beginning when we learn that the Russians and the Chinese are working on something that will put a serious dent in the US’s ability to monitor polar traffic, both physical and digital.

As usual, politics come into play. Like an American operative, thought to be ‘on leave’ being activated within the borders of a friendly NATO country. And in doing so, any actions taken against what appears to be a legitimate Russian/Chinese ‘business’ could well be considered to be an act of war, especially if SEALs are involved. Any failure of the hush-hush aspects done by Harvath and his team will have enormous geopolitical repercussions. Not to mention, Norway wouldn’t be all that happy by being left out of the loop and could expel Harvath and that would kill any future he and Solvi might have.

The key element is that any action must look accidental. Man vs. Nature way north in the Arctic Circle where Nature wins.

This makes the 20^th Brad Thor thriller I’ve read. Spotted #1, The Lions of Lucerne during a random stroll through the stacks at the local library and haven’t looked back. All are first rate thrillers (OK, maybe The Athena Project was a rare misstep). One of the great things about the Harvath storyline is that Thor makes sure to take Harvath’s aging into account (something Lee Child doesn’t do as well with Jack Reacher). And in this one, Harvath spends considerable time weighing his happiness vs. his love of country. For followers of Harvath, that alone is a major plot line that will hold our interest. But the action is pretty cool, too.

Thanks to the good folks at Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the advance reader copy. Just did go on sale August 1, 2021. And don't forget to check out West Coast Don's review. Not often we review the same title.

East Coast Don