The Winter Over by Matthew Iden

The Shackleton South Pole Research Facility hosts about 150 people during the summer, mid-November to mid-February.  Only about forty stay for the nine winter months, mid-February to mid-November.  The population includes scientists and support staff only, all of whom are carefully selected for their skill sets and only after rigorous psychological testing.  The winter over period is grueling given four full months of complete darkness and four plus more of twilight only and outdoor temperatures as low as 100 degrees below zero Fahrenheit—a reminder that “Antarctica wants to kill you.”  Consequently, the station attracts some odd but hardy souls.

Cass Jennings is a thirty something mechanical engineer who signed on to Shackleton to forget her minor role in an industrial accident at a previous job that killed and/or injured several people.  Her introverted personality fits well for the long hours in isolation of detailed tasks required to maintain the station’s ground transportation equipment.  She is surprised one day, just as winter over was about to begin, to be asked to accompany a search crew sent out from the post to look for a missing co-worker.  The apparent runaway is found dead in the snow a couple miles away.  The body without proper examination is quickly loaded on the last plane out of the season.  Most everyone knew the victim and can’t believe in a suicide scenario.

A couple weeks later the heat goes out in the main living area and the temperature drops to below freezing in just a couple hours.  Management assures everyone that the furnaces will be fixed soon but no one knows why the main furnaces and the backup system both failed at once.  Plus, no one can find the lead engineer assigned to maintain the heating system.  Then the lights go out and panic sets in, revealing ugly personality traits in the station inhabitants.  Fortunately, the lights and heat suddenly come back on before permanent physical damage is done—but the troops are now restless and suspicious.

Is there some type of psychological experiment going on?  Are they being used like rats in cage to study human behavior?  Who of their forty knows about the experiment and is controlling events and observing the outcome?  At what point does panic take over and it’s every man for himself?  Is it better to freeze to death in fear of being killed by a crazed co-worker or freeze to death walking to a Russian station thirty miles away?

I am a big fan of Matthew Iden’s Marty Singer series and for that reason decided to give his stand-alone work a try.  His writing does not disappoint and as much background is necessary, his descriptive prose encompasses a great deal of the book.  But I could not warm up (pardon the pun) to the subject matter.  Winter is my least favorite season, I detest short daylight days, and extreme cold is a challenge for even the younger set.  Further, I couldn’t relate to the characters and with a plot that has been done so many times before, I struggled to finish this one.  For me this was once again a reminder of how narrow my interests truly are.  Please, Mr. Iden, write more Marty Singer books.  

Once Was Lost by Matthew Iden

Once Was Lost is Matthew Iden’s sixth book in his Marty Singer series.  Marty is a fifty something retired D.C. homicide detective who is recovering from colon cancer.  His live-in girlfriend, Julie is a lawyer and he looks out for Amanda, a twenty something social worker who has become like an adopted daughter to him.  Marty dabbles unofficially in P.I. cases since his retirement.

Tommy Dolan is trying to escape from his Philadelphia mobster Uncle Patrick for agreeing to testify against him.  Tommy’s wife, Grace is kidnapped in public by the Dolan gang and is presumed dead.  Tommy had agreed to enter the witness protection program with his son, Bobby but he just doesn’t trust the Feds and tries hiding out at the shelter where Amanda works.  Julie and Amanda team up on Marty and encourage him to help Tommy and Bobby permanently disappear on their own.  Marty knows some folks in the biz and a skiptrace pal advises them on how to hide out without discovery.  After intense instruction, Tommy and Bobby leave for parts unknown… unknown even to Marty.

Then Grace appears with a different story about Tommy’s intensions.  She wants her son back and convinces Marty to help.  Marty feels like a sucker for believing Tommy and agrees to try and find him.  A US marshal also appears looking for Tommy.  Marty has reason to believe the marshal is working for the Dolan gang and tries to divert him.  Not sure who are the good guys and who are the bad, Marty has to use his training and intuition to figure it out.  But that requires some bumps and bruises to his body as well as his ego and puts him in the middle of a federal investigation, a mob family and a questionable victim.

Two years ago, I was thrilled to discover Iden’s Marty Singer series.  Iden’s descriptive prose and easy to like protagonist made for satisfying mysteries.  But Once Was Lost is a little different.  Marty is gullible, wishy washy, and less sure of his values which I think is out of character for the Marty of the previous five novels and for a former police detective.  Granted Marty Singer does not have the cynical, black vs white nature of the stereotypic ex-policeman but he does have the suspicious nature and powers of observation that the police training instills.  For this reason, Marty’s gullibility just doesn’t ring true for me and that is disappointing.  Hopefully, that is redeemed in the next Marty Singer installment.    

Stealing Sturgis by Matthew Iden

Stealing Sturgis is the first Matthew Iden novel I’ve read that does not feature his Marty Singer character.  Consequently, I was supremely disappointed.

Randy Watson gets out of prison and heads to his hometown of Brumley.  Brumley is a small burg in Southwestern Virginia and doesn’t offer much in the way of employment.  Lee Baylor, a former high school friend to Randy owns an auto repair garage but can barely generate enough cash to make his mortgage payments… a fact that Lee’s girlfriend, Raylene won’t let him forget.  Nonetheless, he hires Randy hoping to raise his volume of business.  After a few weeks Lee’s plan just isn’t working and the bank threatens to foreclose.  Randy, always looking for the quick easy score, comes up with a scheme to visit the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, North Dakota and steal Jason Ford’s vintage motorcycle.  Ford is a somewhat successful movie star/ producer who gets his grins from slumming with his biker buddies in Sturgis every year.  Randy and Lee now desperate for a break, head for Sturgis with larceny on their minds and a half-baked plan to strike it rich.  They don’t know that Ford is near financial bankruptcy himself.  Plus, Raylene has sent her hillbilly thug brother to Sturgis to bring Lee home.  So the outlaws’ plans have bigger risks and smaller rewards than they’d hoped.

I love Iden’s Marty Singer series and thus picked up Stealing Sturgis with great expectations.  While the writing is sound and the plot plausible, I just don’t like the characters.  I can’t relate to them or feel any empathy for their situation… it’s like Dumb and Dumber without the comedy or the heart.  I advise taking a pass on this one and wait for Iden’s next Marty Singer novel.  This book aside, Matthew Iden is the best new author I’d found this year.

The Wicked Flee by Matthew Iden

The Wicked Flee is Matthew Iden’s fifth in his Marty Singer series.  Singer is an ex-DC cop who retired to fight his cancer.  Now a PI he uses his skill set, contacts within law enforcement and new found empathy to solve other people’s problems.

Singer’s friend and current DC police officer, Chuck Rhee pounds on Singer’s door in the middle of the night.  Rhee’s teenage sister, Lucy has disappeared and he fears she may have been abducted.  He can’t wait for the bureaucracy within law enforcement to help him find her… she could already be out of local jurisdiction.  Together Marty and Chuck roust Lucy’s former boyfriend and his pals.  After busting some heads they learn Lucy is with a dangerous dude known for sex trafficking.  Without his name they begin searching for and rousting the sex offender’s known accomplices.

   

Meanwhile, rookie Maryland State Trooper, Sarah Hayesworth abducts a perpetrator disposing of a young woman’s body… a sex for hire gig gone wrong.  She knows the perp can lead her to the prostitution ring but her boss makes her turn over the case to the local county sheriff.  Haunted by the prospect of young women being abused, she decides to work the case on her own time.  Her investigation leads her to a rundown hotel used to house the hookers.  In the lobby she finds a young DC cop and an aging PI ‘pressuring’ the night clerk for information.  After learning the likely whereabouts of Lucy and her abductor, the three join forces in a sprint to the finish to save Lucy’s life.

The Wicked Flee is the fastest paced Marty Singer novel to date.  In fact the character of Marty is not expanded upon at all… you have to know him from previous works.  Instead the hook here is the chase itself… will the heroes get there in time to save the day?  I’m impressed by Iden’s skill to keep that suspense in play to the end… a true page turner.  What I do miss from Iden’s earlier work is the vulnerability factor in Marty Singer… that thing that makes him appealing and significant.  Maybe we’ll get more of that next time… I’m in either way.

The Spike by Matthew Iden

The Spike by Matthew Iden is his fourth in a series featuring Marty Singer, retired DC homicide detective and cancer survivor.  Ironically, while Marty is struggling with post-cancer depression caused by the partial removal of his colon, he is thrust into the bowels of corruption in Washington, DC’s urban renewal process.

Marty is waiting for a ride at an underground DC Metro station when a woman is pushed in front of the arriving train… killing her instantly.  Marty catches a glimpse of the perpetrator and pursues him on foot.  The suspect disappears into the crowd but Marty reports all he has witnessed to the MPDC.  The victim, Wendy Gerson is from a wealthy family and after the MPDC exhausts all leads, Wendy’s brother, Paul hires Singer to investigate.  Turns out Ms. Gerson was a lawyer with a high powered DC law firm specializing in DC real estate and urban renewal.  Singer starts by interviewing Wendy’s former boss, Alex Montero.  He appears nervous and is evasive and after Singer’s visit, warns all employees not to discuss Ms. Gerson with anyone.  Montero is found murdered the next morning.  Marty finds Ms. Gerson’s former assistant, the scared but outraged Caitlin, and coaxes her to reveal Gerson’s most recent appointments.  Singer is quickly submerged into DC urban renewal.  Developers, brokers, lawyers, city councilmen, residents, property owners and anti-urban renewal activists all have skin in this high stakes game… much of it quasi-legal and politically charged. (The Spike is that last property owner to sell in a development project- the holdout for the highest dollar.) Faced with too many suspects and too little information, Singer can only provoke each of the players until the thugs show up to make him stop… then figure out who sent the thugs… a dangerous game.

The Spike is an excellent installment to Matthew Iden’s repertoire.  I continue to be impressed with this author.  I love his descriptive but efficient writing style.  His plots are intriguing and the setting in the coarse underbelly of our nation’s capital is captivating.  He entertains and educates while keeping you riveted to the page.  His protagonist, Marty Singer has his unique code of honor that makes him courageous and vulnerable simultaneously.  You applaud the character’s tactics, become concerned for his welfare and anxiously await the outcome.  Iden has proven himself a gifted story teller with a winning formula.

One Right Thing by Matthew Iden

One Right Thing by Matthew Iden is the third in the series featuring Marty Singer, retired DC homicide detective and cancer survivor.  Marty was a good detective but like any over committed homicide cop, there were cases that Marty wishes he could do over… either he didn’t do enough to solve the case or he stood by and watched an innocent man be convicted.  Now with his cancer to remind him of his mortality, these perceived indiscretions haunt him and redemption becomes a priority.

Marty is driving in rural Virginia near Cain’s Crossing when he sees a billboard picturing J.D. Hope with the caption, ‘J.D. Hope was murdered on May 6^th.  Do you know why?’ and a phone number.  Singer had arrested J.D. for murder more than twenty years earlier and testified against him at his trial.  J.D. was found guilty, sentenced to prison and served his time.  During the trial Singer was not 100% convinced that J.D. was guilty but as a detective you follow the evidence.  In this case, Singer later learned that his partner planted the incriminating evidence declaring that J.D. was guilty of something.

 

Marty calls the number on the billboard and learns from J.D.’s mother and sister that Cain’s Crossing is J.D.’s hometown and he had returned after prison only to be murdered.  J.D.’s kin think local authorities aren’t doing enough to solve the murder so they construct the billboard to solicit help.  Singer grasps at the chance for redemption but is not greeted warmly for his intervention.  The local cops tell him to butt out, the local hooligans attempt to intimidate him, and even J.D.’s mother appears not to trust him.  Marty learns J.D. had lived (and died) in a rundown motel on the edge of town.  Sorting through his personal effects, Marty discovers J.D. had been diagnosed with ALS and was working with the DEA to expose a major methamphetamine ring… searching for his own redemption… looking to do one right thing.  Now Marty has a new mission: find and destroy the drug traffickers, solve J.D’s murder, and vindicate his memory.  But that’s a tall order for a retired cop who is physically weakened by cancer therapy… and has no authority and no backup.

With One Right Thing, Matthew Iden has earned a place in my power rotation.  His writing style is very efficient… descriptions are vivid without being obsessive and plot lines are complex without unnecessary diversions.  His protagonist, Marty Singer is the right mix of machismo, empathy, and vulnerability to make him appealing and very likable.  I can’t wait to see how he’s doing in his next escapade.

Blueblood by Matthew Iden

Blueblood by Matthew Iden in the second in a series of crime novels featuring Marty Singer, retired DC homicide detective.  Marty’s 30 year career ended a year earlier after he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer.  But he can’t quite leave the job behind or the cancer either for that matter.  In the previous book, A Reason to Live, Marty is called upon to protect the daughter of a murder victim.  That murder was one of his old cases from twelve years earlier.  Now Sam Bloch, a MPDC lieutenant in the narcotics branch enlists his help to investigate the murders of several area police officers, none from the same jurisdiction.  Interdepartmental politics are complicating any joint effort to solve the murders but Bloch expects Singer can streamline the process.  Meanwhile Marty learns his chemo treatments have failed to completely obliterate his cancer.  Grasping at the chance to give his life purpose, Marty decides to postpone the surgery that would partially remove his colon.

Singer’s investigation starts with undercover narc officer, Danny Garcia.  Garcia was shot in the head with a .22 then beaten post mortem.  The other victims include a beat cop from a sketchy Southeast DC suburb, an Arlington PD officer working gang related crimes, a Montgomery County patrolman, and a Rockville, MD cop… all similarly brutalized and murdered.  With little information forthcoming from the victim’s families, Singer starts poking around at the gangs in Southeastern DC.  He learns that Garcia was on the take, an action that could provoke the wide reach of the Salvadorian gangs.  But Garcia’s connection to the other victims is not obvious.  Some other motive has to be in play. Singer stirs the pot within the various departments, within the gangs, and within the victim’s families to see what ugly secrets spill out.

OK so Blueblood is not quite the caliber of A Reason to Live, the previous Matthew Iden novel which I raved about in an earlier review...  the plot not quite as clever, the prose not quite as polished, and Marty not quite as appealing.  Nonetheless, it offers a credible story, a likable character and an enjoyable quick paced read… a solid performance in my estimation.  I’m chalking up my mild disappointment to over expectation.  As for more from Matthew Iden, I’m in.

A Reason to Live by Matthew Iden

A Reason to Live by Matthew Iden is the first in a series of crime fiction novels featuring Marty Singer, retired DC homicide detective.  Marty didn’t want to retire.  He loved his job and it consumed his life for 30 years leaving him in his early 50’s without a wife or children or even a hobby to look forward to enjoying.  Marty has cancer and his treatment promises to sap his physicality… make him a lesser cop.  Marty can’t tolerate that so he retires planning to deal with the consequences of starting a new life if he survives the cancer.

Before his first chemo treatment, Marty is approached by a George Washington University graduate student, Amanda Lane.  Twelve years earlier when Amanda was a child, her mother was murdered by a rouge DC cop, Michael Wheeler.  Marty worked the case but Wheeler was acquitted through some apparent behind the scenes political influence.  Marty blamed himself for his role in allowing the murderer to walk. Now years later, Amanda is being stalked… she thinks by her mother’s killer.  She’s scared and doesn’t know where to turn for help so she calls Singer.  He seizes the opportunity for redemption… a reason to live.

But Marty is no longer a cop.  He doesn’t have access to the MPDC resources needed to protect Amanda let alone find the killer.  He calls on his former partner, Kransky who is still in the police department.  He engages Wheeler’s former attorney who unknown to Singer craves her own chance at redemption.  Meanwhile, Marty begins his chemo treatments and is seriously hampered from his new found quest.  So this trio of part time crusaders stumble through a scarcity of stale clues hoping to right a wrong and prevent further tragedy.

I’m excited about this new found author, Matthew Iden.  First, I like his writing.  When he describes a place it jumps out at you and makes you feel like you are there… you know exactly what he means and can picture it in your mind.  Second, I like this character, Marty Singer.  The guy has his own self-imposed sense of justice like Lee Child’s Jack Reacher or Robert B. Parker’s Spenser but with a vulnerability that makes him more human.  Third, Iden is self-published.  I read where he gives away more copies of his books than he sells… makes me feel like I stumbled onto something.  The quality of his writing is as good as any of the more prolific authors I normally read.  I have two more Marty Singer books loaded on my Kindle and hear a fourth is in the works.  It’s what we live for at MRB.