Clete

 Clete is the 18^th James Lee Burke novel that we’ve reviewed in the blog, and it’s the 24^th book in this series. This is a story about Dave Robicheaux’s best buddy, Clete Purcell. Clete was introduced in Burke’s third novel in this series, Black Cherry Blues, which I reviewed in 2015. Burke won an Edgar Award for that book and I raved about it. Over the course of these novels, while Dave was able to get sober and stay sober, Clete has remained a severe and active alcoholic who occasionally attains brief periods of sobriety. Despite Clete’s frequent relapses, they have remained the best of friends although they are constantly questioning one another’s decisions about their private investigator cases.

In this novel, Clete is fascinated by repeated apparitions of Joan of Arc who he thinks has essentially become his guardian angel while he pursues a nasty fentanyl drug cartel. Those apparitions seem to be obvious aspects of Clete’s hopes and fears. However, it’s not always clear which figures are apparitions and which are alcoholic hallucinations. Clete finds himself infatuated with the very beautiful Clara Bow, the former wife of the main evil guy in the cartel. (In real life, Bow was a movie star from the 1920’s, and she is a person about whom Taylor Swift has been writing lyrics.) There are lots of brutal scenes and much brutal talk throughout the book.

 

As usual, Burke’s descriptive writing is better than nearly any other author that I’ve reviewed in this genre. However, as Burke has grown older and this series has matured, he has begun writing about the spirit world and the supernatural, a theme that does not really interest me.

A Death in Cornwall

 

A Death in Cornwall is Daniel Silva’s 24^th book in the Gabriel Allon series. I’ve read them all, and I’ve read most of them more than once. Without question, I’m a fan of this series. Silva publishes one book a year, and each time, upon getting it, I read it in a day or two and them and forced to wait another 364 days to get the next one.

 

Now retired from the Israeli secret service, Allon is active with his art restoration talents, which in this case takes the reader into the world of art purchases and restorations of the most valuable paintings in the world, specifically a Picasso worth more than $100,000,000. This takes us into the world of art forgeries which are a rampant problem in the sale of such pieces of art. But of course this story involves deaths that must be solved, and curiously, a murder victim, Professor Charlotte Blake turned out to be a world-renown expert in the history fine art, and she is especially known for researching the provenance of such works.

 

As Silva was called in by a friend from the police force in Cornwall, it becomes clear that Professor Blakes murder which was initially thought to be due to a local serial murderer, was actually due to a consortium of the megawealthy who have been using the “London Laundromat” to wash the proceeds from worldwide drug sales, thereby concealing billions of dollars. That operation brought the story to corruption at the highest level of English lawmakers.

 

As usual for Silva, the plot line is perfect, and his characters are both compelling, easy to love and easy to hate. For devote readers of this series, Silva includes many of the characters he has developed over the course of these three books. I will rate this book as a 5+. These books are always standalone novels, but if you’ve never read about Allon, I advise you to start with the first one, The Kill Artist, and work your way through this impressive series.

The Shadow Of War by Jeff Shaara

 The Shadow of War is another in a long line of retellings of the October 1962 standoff between the Americans and Russians over the USSR placing ballistic nuclear missiles in Cuba. Numerous books, theses, TV shows, and movies had been produced and this 2024 release is just the latest.

As the general events of this crisis should be reasonably well known, especially to those who fit the category of 'baby boomer,' I'll not go over the story. The main difference here is the author . . . Jeff Shaara.

Lots of readers may never have heard of Shaara despite him having written 19 books. His first two books were Gods and Generals followed by The Last Full Measure, both about the civil war. And the remaining 17 have been about various American armed conflicts that span our history. It's his style that sets his books apart from all others. 

His style is a direct descendant of his father, Michael Shaara. His dad wrote a single book before an untimely death in his 50s. He was a professor at, I think, Florida State University. In the latter 50s, he took his family on a trip to NYC, but made a detour to visit Gettysburg, PA where he was bitten by the civil war bug. After the trip, he went to work on a book telling the story of the great battle from a different viewpoint. What he did was tell the Gettysburg story from the viewpoint of the various commanders of both sides. While the facts of the battle were spot on, what Shaara did was personalize the story with his fabricating the interactions between and amongst both Union and Confederate leaders. Fifteen publishers weren't impressed. When a publisher was finally found, the book went to press and shortly thereafter was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for literature for The Killer Angels. 

(and if you've never read it and find the civil war of interest, run out right now and buy it or borrow if from your public library. It is one outstanding piece of historical literature. Riveting)

Heart disease took his life. Years later, son Jeff picked up the family mantle and finished their civil war trilogy. In those books, he too followed his father's recipe - tell the story from the point of view of command be it political or military. The Shadow of War follows a winning pattern. 

His books are copiously researched with regards to the details of the subject. Given how much has been presented about the Cuban Missile Crisis, I doubt there are many new facts to further enlighten the reader. What is interesting is his presentation of the conversations/meeting/arguments/behaviors, etc on both sides of the naval quarantine that personalize the story and make the book a can't-put-it-down event.

While the main characters are the Kennedy's and Khrushchev (and families, aides, advisors), Shaara does add one (quasi-) fictional character as a way of presenting how the American public was reacting to the crisis . . . a Florida-based college teacher and his family. 

You do the math on the identity of the father.

East Coast Don

A Calamity of Souls

 A Calamity of Souls by David Baldacci was released in 4/24, and I would have gotten to it sooner, but it was very popular on Libby. After a three-month wait, I’ll tell you the wait was worth it. The story takes place in 1968, just four years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act which was spearheaded by Lyndon Johnson. The location is in rural Virginia and the action surrounds the murder of a white couple and a wrongfully accused black man. The county where the murder occurred produced a jury was on of all white men, and one could have assumed that the innocent man would be found guilty.

The courtroom setting was one that was obviously grossly unfair to the accused man with a judge that had a history of belonging to the Ku Klux Klan although that fact had been kept secret for many years. The prosecution was being supported by a wealthy white man who was also funding the 1968 campaign for president by George Wallace. The defense team was of two radically and experientially different people, a white local attorney, Jack Lee, and a nationally-known black activist, Desiree DuBose. There were times when the characters spouted old tropes about the unfairness of the state of civil rights and the firm belief of whites who spoke for the status quo, but for the most part, this was an action-packed, well-structured plot.

 

At the current age of 74, I grew up in an era of racial discrimination that is so much worse than it is today. As a youth, I remember seeing “Whites Only” signs on public bathrooms and water fountains when I traveled through southern states. I toured South Africa while Nelson Mandela was still in prison and a mixed-race couple I was traveling with was strongly warned not to do any public displays of affection. During two high school summers, I worked as a teller in a bank where a black female teller befriended me long enough to help me see racially-biased acts to which I had been ignorant. Baldacci captured all of that in his novel. I give it a 5-star rating and recommend it highly to all. It’s the best Baldacci book that I’ve ready in many years.

Something Bad Wrong by Eryk Pruitt

A few weeks ago, I reviewed Pruitt's latest book, Blood Red Summer. The story of a true crime blogger/podcaster (Jess Keeler) in south central Virginia along the VA-NC border. I had read a few of his earlier books and was impressed so I picked up Summer's predecessor, Something Bad Wrong; Pruitt's first book in the Jess Keeler series.  I said in my review that I'd find the first Keeler book for review. Wasn't hard to find. He's a NC native and the local library has a wall of books from NC authors. Piece of cake.

We learn a bit of Keeler's back story that was only alluded to in the 2nd book. What has grabbed Keeler's interest is an unsolved double murder in 1974 since referred to as the Christmas Eve Murders. A young couple left a holiday party for some private time on a local lover's lane. And that was the last they were seen. Most thought they'd run off to elope, but a few weeks later they are found under a pile of leaves, hog-tied to a tree. The two were from Lake Castor but were found in Deeton County, NC. That means competing jurisdictions by cops squaring off measuring dicks. 

Part of the reason Jess is so interested is that her deceased grandfather was the lead detective on the NC side of the crime. She finds some old notebooks of his and she wants to understand what he was going through as he tried to narrow down potential suspects while he battles with the VA cops. 

To help her dig around, she enlists the help of a local TV news anchor whose off-camera behavior got him booted out of TV journalism. Throughout the story, Pruitt takes us through the agendas of all the cops, friends of the deceased couple, suspects, and Jess' family. If that wasn't enough, Pruitt presents perhaps the most heartbreaking descent of Jess' grandfather into Alzheimers that I've ever read. Some might see that as a distraction. Not me. I thought it was both critical and sensitively presented.

I mentioned before that I met Pruitt while he was out humping Blood Red Summer. Thankfully, he said that he plans to keep Jess Keeler front and center in our consciousness. And that's great because he is rapidly maturing as a crime novelist and may soon muscle his way into our power rotation.

If you are looking for new talent in the mystery/thriller genre, look no further. 

And keep your eyes open for ads about a gathering called Noir At The Bar where mystery writers present readings of their work in taverns, mostly up and down the east coast (so far). I think the Noir outings are Pruitt's baby and he's likely to be present. Been to a couple. Worth going.

ECD

Front Sight by Stephen Hunter

Anyone who has paid attention to this blog knows that one of our favorite writers is Stephen Hunter who has entertained us repeatedly with stories about the Swagger men. He brought us Charles Swagger, an investigator for the Justice Department, who brought down John Dillinger. Charles' son Earl, after WW2 heroics on Iwo Jima became an Arkansas State Trooper without peer who and settled scores all across the south. Then there is Earl's boy Bob Lee (aka, Bob the Nailer), the #2 sniper of the Vietnam era whose sense of right and wrong can't be denied. 

And now, he gives us novellas about all three in Front Sight, brand spanking new for summer 2024.

City of Meat. Charles Swagger is working Chicago on the trail of Baby Face Nelson. A tip sends him to the city stockyards where he discovers a down on his luck hobo acting crazy, forces himself on Charles who defends himself the best way he knows . . . with his .44. The precinct crime scene team is set to just toss it off. Who's gonna miss another bum? But that won't sit with Charles. Then another out of control derelict. Then another. With the help of Washington, a beat cop, Charles works the cases nobody wants. The effects of a new street drug raises the stakes

Johnny Tuesday. A small town bank robbery in the eastern peninsula of Maryland leaves a couple citizens dead along with a few puzzling clues. Clues that implicate local political corruption, drug smuggling, and plans for what could turn small town Maryland into Las Vegas before Vegas became Vegas. How Earl gets involved in a case so distant from his Arkansas home is almost as big a part of the story as the bank robbery. 

Five Dolls for the Gut Hook. Bob Lee is back home from Vietnam carrying his demons around in a whiskey bottle. He's awakened from his latest hangover by some Hot Springs, Arkansas detectives. Seems a serial killer is targeting working girls in the Hot Springs area and the cops are stumped. Seeing as how Bob Lee is from the family tree of two legendary Arkansas' policemen, the cops think Bob Lee might be able to look at what's going on with a fresh set of eyes. So Bob Lee has to struggle with his own demons while he tracks down the killer before he can claim another victim. 

Three short tales. Three great stories. Three of the best to worship at the altar of The Gun. For Swagger fans, this is without a doubt, not to be missed. No question. Summer reading perfection.

East Coast Don

 

Master and Commander

 Master and Commander is the first book of the 21-book Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian, Jack Aubrey having just been promoted to command of his first ship, the Sophie, and Stephen Maturin, a physician at loose ends regarding his practice, who was hired by Jack as the Sophie’s surgeon. The first book in the series was written in 1969, and it was made into a movie in 2003 staring Russell Crowe. O’Brian died in 2000, and the 21^st book was published in 2004. These are naval adventures, and while I’ve now only read the first, I know someone who was quickly hooked on these main characters and he has read them all.

 This first historical novel is a gripping naval adventure that starts in the Mediterranean Sea, and then moves further away from that part of the world. The book gives a day-by-day detailed descriptions of what life was like on board such a ship, especially what it was like to be in the midst of a sea battle when ships are exchanging cannon fire. The main part of the book described the daring behavior by Captain Jack as he challenged a mighty Spanish galleon with his own under-gunned and under-powered HMS Sophie. Just how does a four-man crew operate a cannon? Read the book and you’ll learn the art and danger of it.

 

I listened to this book in audio format at the same time I was reading Pitcairn’s Island. Both stories take place in the beginning of the 19^th, and they essentially complimented each other in terms of the descriptions of the life of those people who were willing to go on serious adventures at that time of our history. Given some free time, I’d love to dive into O’Brien’s second book, Post Captain.

Pitcairn's Island

 

Pitcairn’s Island is the third book of a trilogy, written by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. The first book, Mutiny on the Bounty, was about the sailing to Tahiti under the brutal control of Captain Bligh. The second book, Men Against the Sea, began as Blight and 18 of his loyal followers were cast a drift in an open boat that was 23 feet in length. The book was about their remarkable journey of 3,600 miles until they reached Timor which is now part of Indonesia. The final book, Pitcairn’s Island was about the fate of the mutineers and those who joined them along the way. The third book was first published in 1934 and it was the result of extensive research, much of it coming from a verbal history presented directly or indirectly by Alex Smith, the sole survivor of the mutineers from the famous mutiny when they were finally discovered in 1808. I had recently seen a short article about the very isolated Pitcairn’s island which in current times continues to be populated by the descendants of the mutineers, and that me to finding this book.

 

The Bounty sailed from Spithead, England in 1788. As the result of knowledge learned in prior expeditions to Tahiti, Captain Bligh was planning to gather breadfruit trees which were to be delivered to English plantations in the West Indies. After an extended stay in Tahiti, as it began the trip to the West Indies, the mutiny of the H.M.S. Bounty occurred on April 28, 1789. The crew was fed up by their harsh treatment by Bligh, but the mutiny itself was not well planned and was a nearly spontaneous event led by Fletcher Christian, the second in command. Fletcher and his crew returned to Tahiti for a relatively short time before sailing again. Nothing was heard of these mutineers for another 18 years when the Topaz, an American seal-hunting ship, Topaz operated by Captain Folger, stumbled upon Pitcairn Island in 1808.

 

After having made unsuccessful attempts to settle on Tupai (or Tubuai) Christian left Tahiti on the Bounty for the last time in September 1789.  His company consisted of himself, eight of his own men, and 18 Polynesians (consisting of 12 women and 6 men). Christian knew he could never return to the known world because if he tried to do so, he would be captured, returned to England, tried, and hanged. There had been a report of Pitcairn Island from 1767 when Commodore Byron reported having sighted the a very remote and tiny island although he never actually landed there. But his reports of the island’s location were actually150 miles in error. Christian thought it was so far from any other land mass that they were unlikely to be discovered, so it was there they were headed as they left Tahiti for the last time. After searching for the island for three months, they were fortunate to have found it.

 

While there were some happy times during the next years, for the most part, the fate of the survivors was mostly a story of tragedy. Among the eight seamen were people who thought themselves to be superior to the Polynesians, but they also sought to lay claim to the Polynesian women, including the wife of the chief. In addition, one of the sailors figured out how to brew his own alcoholic drink and that led to serious alcoholic consumption by at least five of the white men. Christian was one of the few mutineers who did not succumb to that malady. The women were mostly terrified of those white men who wanted to treat them as slaves, but the Polynesian men and white men ended up in a war in which the Polynesian men were murdered. It seems the only bright spot was the birth of a total of 18 children. By 1808, Alex Smith was the only living man, and 16 of the men who set sail from Tahiti had come to violent ends. Along with logs written by Christian, it was Smith who told the story of Pitcairn’s Island.

 

I found this to be a fascinating book of historical fiction which brought proper closure to the story of the Bounty.