Her Last Breath

 Robert Dugoni is another one of the prolific who-done-it and mystery writers. Tracy Crosswhite is his protagonist in one 15-novel series. She’s a homicide detective in the Seattle Police Department who has a long problematic history with her police captain, Johnny Nolasco. When the case of a serial killer arises, he believes that it would be too much for Tracy to handle, so he assigned her to be lead on the investigation assuming that she would fail and then he could dismiss him from the department forever. As she pursued the investigation, and more and more exotic dancers were brutally and sadistically killed, there were roadblocks thrown in her way repeatedly. She had a loyal partner and a supportive attorney boyfriend. In this particular story, Dugoni provided a surprise ending that I did not see coming. It was a good story.

The Skin Collector

 

I’ve enjoyed a number of Jeffrey Dever’s novels over the years, but this one does not cut it for me. After losing my Kindle in a taxi when I was out of the country and was having trouble downloading new books, I felt like I was a captive audience to the audiobooks I had already downloaded to my phone. So I did finish it. This book was part of the Lincoln Rhyme novels, which was a very successful series. The first one, The Bone Collector, was published in 1997 and was made into a movie in 1999, starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. Along the way, Dever wrote about Lincoln Rhyme’s archenemy, The Watchmaker. Before The Skin Collector in 2014, The Watchmaker had apparently been killed off, but Dever brought him back in this book. Rhyme was a police captain in NYC until he was in an accident which left him as a quadriplegic. Still, his remarkable skills at solving murders was so good, that he continued to work on homicide cases. I just found this book to be tedious. The basic story line is good, and Rhyme was complemented by a strong cast of characters, but I also got bogged down in the details. There were lots of betrayals and surprise liaisons, but I was more than ready for the book to end by the time I hit the 50% mark. Nearly all prolific authors like Dever write one that does not live up to the standards they have set for themselves, and this book is one of those.

Battle Mountain

Battle Mountain, the latest of the Joe Pickett novels by C. J. Box, has already been reviewed in more detail by Midwest Dave (who introduced the other reviewers in the blog to the great novelist Box). I refer you to that review. After 25 great novels about Joe Pickett, it seems to me this could be the best of the series. If you are not familiar with these novels, then you must get to know Joe Pickett and learn about the predicaments that Box creates for Joe. All of the usual characters are in tis book, Joe, Mary Beth, Sheridan, Nate, Geronimo, and the ultimate psychopath, Axil. You’ll enjoy this one, I promise.

The Vatican Deal

 This is the first review in the blog for Michael Balter who has written a dynamite book. The Vatican Deal is subtitled A Marty and Bo Thriller. The main characters are Marty Schott and Bo Bishop are business partners. They’ve been buying businesses, but despite a solid plan, they were languishing until they took in a new partner, Natalya Danilenko, a Russian who is being back with seemingly unlimited funds from a Russian oligarch. They have a business opportunity with the Vatican who are willing to allow access to the secret Vatican achives, to sell various artifacts, and to make duplicates of countless Vatican treasures. It turns out that there are liars everywhere. The oligarch wants access to the Vatican bank for the purpose of money laundering, and the Naples Mafia also want in. Clearly Cardinal Bertolini who is making the deal for the Pope, is not telling all that he knows about this proposed deal.

 The book opens in one of my favorite places in Rome, Piazza Navona. Bo had been badly beaten up, although it is not clear who was behind the act. However, he is warned to stay away from the deal for the Italian foundry, Chiurazzi. On the other hand, the Vatican is claiming they want Marty and  Bo to make the deal. Finances at the church are very tight and they are badly in need of the money this deal would bring to them. Meanwhile Natalya is kidnapped and Marty and Bo are presented with a package that contains the fingernail from her little finger and a picture of her suffering from it’s removal. So the story moves forward in a rapid pace. I could not put it down.

 

I’m ready to give very high praise to Balter. His use of  simile is excellent and entertaining. Considering the content, it is reasonable to compare the writing of travel and mayhem to the works of Daniel Silva, Dan Brown, and Don Winslow – high praise indeed. The main characters are very different from one another, are believable, and they enliven the plot. I want more of these characters, so I hope Balter will be bringing more novels to the table.

Resurrection Walk

Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly is the most recent of the Lincoln Lawyer series, the seventh novel which was published in 2023. Harry Bosch has retired from being a homicide investigator for the police department, but he has developed some form of cancer for which he was being treated with chemotherapy at UCLA, so he was sick from both his illness and the cure. He has gone to work on a part-time basis for his half-brother, Mickey Haller, the Lincoln Lawyer. However, after working for the entirely of his career on the prosecution side, Haller was a tried and true defense attorney who is hated by all cops and the prosecuting attorneys for getting people off. Haller’s license plate on one of his blue Lincoln’s is “I Walk’em.” Meanwhile, Harry has a conflict about working for any criminals, which was Haller’s specialty.

 

The book begins with the exciting end to the prison term for Jorge Ochoa who has been behind bars for 14 years for a crime he did not commit shooting a cop. Not only was Haller able to prove Ochoa was not guilty, but rather, that he was actually innocent of the crime he was accused of doing,. The Ochoas were celebrating, as were the entire Haller defense team. Jorge had been held at Corcoran State Prison, a place that was dedicated to housing lifers, and it was rare for anyone to get released. Usually death had been the only way out, whether than by old age or by murder.

 

Harry’s part-time work for Haller, in addition to being Haller’s driver, was supposed to be limited to looking through the stacks of mail from prisoners who wanted Haller to represent them, but of course, most of those people were really guilty. However, given his long life in prosecutorial cases, Harry had a gift for quickly going through such letters and files to determine if any of them deserved another look. He found one such case of Lucinda Sands who had been accused of shooting and killing her former husband who happened to be an LA cop. Lucinda, or Cindy, had already been in jail for six years. She claimed her innocence and that her former attorney had gotten her to plead guilty in order avoid a life sentence. Cindy wanted to get out of jail so she could be a mother to her 14-year-old son.

 

This was another good court room drama in which Haller bounced back and forth between thinking he had a path to victory for his client, then to seemingly impossible roadblocks by the legal system that would keep her in prison for the duration of her sentence. Connelly used his usual cast of characters and the story was also about the slowly building relationship of the half-brothers.

The Law of Innocence

 

The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly is the sixth of seven books in the Lincoln Lawyer series. Defense star attorney Mickey Haller had just won another case, setting an innocent man free. He spent several hours in a bar while celebrating with his team although Haller had been sober for about five years. When he was pulled over by a cop on his way home, he was baffled because he knew he had not violated and traffic rules. It was then that he found that his license plate was missing, and allegedly, that was why the cop pulled him over. Upon was appeared to be blood dripping from his trunk, the cop demanded that he open the trunk, and that was when they discovered the body of one of Haller’s former clients who had been shot in the head. Haller was promptly taken to jail and charged with murder.

 

This book had Connelly’s usual cast of great characters. The young DA was hard hitting and uncompromising. She clearly believed that Haller was guilty and that this would be a great victory for her. Haller planned to have his up and coming law partner, Jennifer Arronson, be his co-council on the case. She was making progress until she was called away to be with her father who was dying. Interestingly, Haller’s first wife. Maggie McPherson, a life-time prosecutor, then stepped into take over the defense co-council role. This was another dramatic courtroom drama of highs and lows as the case developed.

 

To some extent, those of us who love such murder mysteries and thrillers, must be willing to accept some hits on reality testing of these stories. I think Connelly’s remarkable success with this series has been do in part to making the circumstances of his characters to be believable. However, this book does not live up to that standard. It just seemed ridiculous to me that the mighty Lincoln Lawyer was blindly held for a crime he would not have committed. Unlike my take on nearly ever book Connelly has written, I simply can’t give this one a solid recommendation.

Heroic Measures by Joel Shulkin, MD

We meet Stephen Englehart, MD, a US Army medical examiner. A thankless job that he approaches with a heartfelt dedication to bring some sense of peace to the deceased soldier’s family. This devotion to honor and duty is why he’s one of the Army’s best.

A spec ops mission in Afghanistan is ambushed. The soldiers were caught in a literal firestorm. The after-action reports that Englehart reads suggest that the remains were burned beyond recognition. No rookie or otherwise inexperienced examiners for these soldiers. Englehart’s the head dog so he pulls rank and takes charge.

Imagine his surprise when he opens the body bag and finds a corpse with hardly a scratch on him. Thinking that the body has been accidentally switched, he starts by trying to identify the corpse on his table.

Yep. It matches. Must be something wrong with the accompanying report. He starts in on the autopsy with plans to work out the messed-up paperwork later.

The autopsy begins as normal . . . until the corpse awakens. Sits up and storms out. That’ll get one’s attention.

Now, the story takes a huge turn. Englehart is less concerned about cause of death. He needs to learn just what the hell is going on . . .

. . . and this is where I started to lose interest. There’s a place for fantasy and sci-fi stories like this. Hey, I loved the Terminator as much as the next. This one, however, left me cold. For me (and only me), a story needs some grounding in even the remotest chance of reality. Others who like fantasy could well be enthralled with the science and plot development. It was work for me to get through. Guess I’m just not the target audience.

Too old and too grumpy.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All you ask for in exchange is my honest review.

 

East Coast Don

 

Hot Metal Hobo by David Chadwick

Summer 1976 in the pre-election days in DC. The wounds of Vietnam are still fresh. Two generals, Keith Zetchik and ‘Holy Joe’ Tedstone, are itching for the same Pentagon opening. Washington Tribune crime reporter Wat Tyler (former Army Special Forces Captain, spec ops and CMH award recipient) is good friend of Holy Joe’s son Johnny Tedstone. One fateful night, Zetchik and Johnny are gunned down. This follows a few days earlier when Zetchik’s wife was killed at their Chesapeake Bay home.

Tedstone and Zetchik were in Vietnam together. Each ended up being involved in a My Lai style slaughter. And one was involved with a local drug smuggler funneling cash to the VC. Wat had a young local girl on the inside of the smuggling ring and was closing in on the American connection until she was brutally murdered.

A third general, Hector Weschler, is retired and positioning himself for a cabinet post in whatever new administration is put into office. Has done well for himself. Married into an old money family, politically middle of the road, hoping for the Secretary of State, Defense, or NSA with an eye on the oval office following. He provides Wat with valuable background intel from Vietnam about Zetchik and Tedstone.

DC Homicide is hot to trot on this high-profile case. Three murders and worried there are more to come. So it the DEA. So is the CIA. The CIA agent is a Vietnamese national who used to work for the VC, got turned and joined up with the CIA. This all makes for an uneasy set of alliances between Metro DC cops, DEA, CIA, and a nosy reporter who’s connected by his friendship with the now-deceased Johnny Tedstone and wondering if he might be next on the killer's list.

Wat is far from just a curious reporter. The connections to Vietnam and Johnny drive Wat to dig far deeper and faster than DC Homicide, finding a tangled web of connections between and amongst the players of this saga. We are kept at a distance about just how it all comes together until very late, so be patient. You will be reworded. Wat is an engaging character and having him partner with the CIA agent is fortuitous. Apparently this book is part three in the author’s Nixon’s America trilogy. Do the other two feature Wat or is the link that all three are set in the middle 1970s.The time frame and location are right up my alley.

I’ll let you know.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Published a month ago, Feb 28, 2025. 

 

East Coast Don

 

The Reversal

The Reversal is the third Lincoln Lawyer novel by Michael Connelly. Defense attorney Mickey Haller makes the stunning decision to accept a special appointment from the District Attorney of Los Angeles, to prosecute the retrial of Jason Jessup, a man who has sat in jail for 24 years for a crime he allegedly committed 24 years in the past. The crime, a murder of a 12 year old girl, was done before DNA evidence was allowed into the court, but the DNA from sperm found on the girl’s dress was not from Jessup, which seems to contradict the guilty verdict which had sent him to live in prison. This was a potentially highly embarrassing to the DA’s office and the DA told Haller that he had to step outside of his office to get an attorney who would be believed to push the matter forward. Pretrial publicity about this matter was highly favorable to Jessup.

 

Haller’s decision to take the case gave him the opportunity to name his exwife Maggie McPherson, as his second chair for the case. She was not appreciated by the new DA since she had supported Haller in his recent failed attempt to run for DA, and she had been moved out of LA’s central office to the backwater of the Van Nuys division. One of the conditions of Haller accepting the case is that when they got a guilty verdict, that Maggie would be shuttled back to the major crimes in the downtown office. The trial also meant that Haller’s half-brother, Harry Bosch would work for Haller as his investigator.

 

This was a high action drama, great court room action, and lots of content from outside the courtroom to support the plot. There were surprises that I did not see coming. I keep wondering which of these books is Connelly at his best, and it’s hard to choose from this master of the crime drama.

 

East Coast Don reviewed this book 15 years ago, and his more complete review is available in the blog. I recommend you to that.

The Brass Verdict

After being underwhelmed by Connelly’s Lincoln Lawyer novel The Gods of Guilt, in my opinion he remains the master of this crime genre with The Brass Verdict. This book was reviewed in more detail in the blog on 9/15/11 by Midwest Dave. It’s an excellent review so please refer to that. This is the story in which defense attorney Mickey Haller meets his half-brother, LA police detective Harry Bosch. Bosch is apparently aware of them having a father in common, but Haller does not figure that out until the end of the book. Although there is constant friction between these two figures that have historically been on opposite sides of criminal trials, Bosch and Haller begrudgingly learn to work together.

As the novel begins, Haller has been out of lawyerly action for more than a year while coming to terms with his pain drug addiction, and then ready to get back into action although still without any clients of his own, his colleague Jerry Vincent is murdered and Vincent’s entire caseload is given to Haller, including the very big case of Walter Elliott, an important movie executive in LA. Elliott who had been accused of murdering his wife and her lover in Elliot's Malibu beach house. The pace of the plot is perfect, and I could hardly turn off the audio version. Great characters, great plot with unexpected twists, good writing – Connelly at his best.

The Gods of Guilt

 

Within the Bosch series, Michael Connelly has written the Lincoln Lawyer series which consists of seven books, and I’ve been on a quest to read any of the Connelly novels that I’ve missed, or reread others. The Gods of Guilt is his fifth Lincoln Lawyer story, and unlike the rest of his catalogue, this one may not have been the best. The title is a reference to the jury to which he pitches his stories. By reminding himself that all accused people have a right to a good defense, Haller harnesses his own guilt over helping to free some people and reduce the sentence of others who have done truly bad acts against fellow humans. This is mostly a courtroom drama. As usual Connelly has created a cast of characters that are present and enrich the experience. His first ex-wife with whom he had his one child, is a skilled prosecutor, and his second wife is his case and office manager. Meanwhile, she has gotten married to his investigator. Over the course of his drama, Micky Haller goes through the ups and downs of a litigator, first having a great plan for a trial which then falls apart only to head in a different direction. Although Connelly's best, I was adequately entertained as I listened to the audio version while continue my early morning dog walking activities.

Live All You Can

If you’re a baseball fan, particularly if the history of baseball matters to you, then Live All You Can by Jay Martin is a must read. The subtitle is Alexander Joy Cartwright and The Invention of Modern Baseball. It’s a mystery to me why the invention of baseball was credited to Abner Doubleday for so many years, but the myth was perpetrated by Albert Spaulding, a star pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in the 1880's. It turned out Spaulding was an entrepreneur in the 1880’s, he organized a world tour as the popularity of baseball really took off. Although acknowledging Cartwright’s role in laying out the bases 90 feet apart, limiting the games to nine innings and nine men on the field, Spaulding still like to credit his buddy Doubleday as having a key role in the creation of the game.

 There’s no doubt that Cartwright had a key role. He was born in New York City in 1820. He was a founder of the New York Knickerbockers in 1845, the same year he wrote down the rules of the game. Clearly obsessed with the game, when he chose to leave New York, Cartwright taught baseball everywhere he went. He traveled briefly to California but then moved to Honolulu where he continued to actively promote the sport. He died there in 1892.

 

The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, was founded in 1936, and it was only two years later that Cartwright was inducted. There’s a plague there which honors Cartwright as the “Father of Modern Base Ball.” The plague reads, “Set Bases 90 feet apart. Established 9 innings as game and 9 players as team. Organized the Knickerbocker Baseball Club of N.Y. in 1845. Carried baseball to Pacific Coast and Hawaii in Pioneer Days.”

 

This book is a biography of baseball’s creator who led a most interesting life. If you love baseball, I recommend that you take a look at this one.