Entry to the Past

Sime Mackenzie, a detective still dealing with a divorce, is sent to remote Entry Island in the Gulf of St Lawrence to investigate a murder. Upon first meeting the victim’s widow, he is sure he has known her before. While dealing with his strong sense of déjà vu, Sime begins investigating the case, along with the crime scene investigator, unfortunately for Sime, the investigator happens to be his ex-wife.  The story alternates between the current investigation and Sime’s memories of stories told to him by his grandmother of his Scottish ancestor, also named Sime.  Sime is sure deep down that there is a connection between his family and the widow Kirsty, as he beings to remember memories of a past, of his ancestor and another Kirsty, while also trying to resolve his emotions with his recent divorce. Both Sime’s memories of the past and the present converge together to the present, as he attempts to solve the murder and learn why the widow seems to be tied to his family’s history, and to Sime himself.  A great read which also gives the reader more insight into the emigration of Scottish families after Culloden and the perils of that era.

May,Peter: Entry Island, Quercus, New York. September 2015. Isbn: 978-1-62365-663-8 

Inside Man

Sam Capra is just a man trying to run a bar, or so it seems, until one day his friend Steve asks him to help out on an investigation. Readers unfamiliar to the series will soon learn that Sam has a past, far from his cover as a bar owner. After Steve is murdered, Sam is determined to find the killers and bring them to justice. Using his previous contacts in the CIA for a cover identity, Sam works to infiltrate the Varela family in order to find Steve's killer. Sam discovers quickly that he will have to play it carefully with the Varelas, one slip and he is a dead man like Steve. Headed by a man who is slowly losing his faculties, each of the Varela family members have their own agendas, and their own secrets to keep. 

A daughter with a desire to help others, a son who wants to protect his family, along with a stepdaughter who wants it all for herself makes the reader continually guess as to who is controlling things behind the scenes. Add in interference from Sam's off-the-books operatives from the Round Table, Russian thugs, and the Varela security teams, and Sam tries to stay one step ahead of everyone in order to get the answers he is looking for. After Sam is abducted and sent to a secret facility headed by a sadistic woman who enjoys her work too well, Sam discovers a secret that will alter the Varela family forever.  The book has plenty of twists and turns, and kept me guessing until the end.  Luckily, the ending also promises another book to come in the Capra series.

Abbott, Jeff, Inside Man. Grand Central Publishing, New York. July 2014. Isbn:978-1-4555-2845-5

Tattoos- A New Poison

Jeffery Deaver has a new Lincoln Rhyme novel out, The Skin Collector, and this one will either make you think twice about getting a tattoo, or at the very least make damn sure that you find the right tattoo artist. There is a new "unsub" in Rhyme's sights, that of an individual that first knocks out his victims with a tranquilizer, then proceeds to tattoo their torsos, with poison. After the victims wake from their drugged state, each then dies within the hour from the concentrated doses that have been inked into their bodies. Rhyme and his team, including Amelia Sachs of course, race against time to find the killer before he finishes his work. There are plenty of twists and turns in this novel, as Deaver is the master of making the reader think they have it figured out midway through, only to keep reading and have their assumptions proved wrong. There is a larger plot at play here with the unsub's needlework, which threatens the entire city of New York, and the team of detectives are kept on their toes trying to figure it all out while attempting to avoid being among the victim's list of the unsub as well. Another protagonist of earlier Rhyme novels, the Watchmaker, also makes an appearance, and gives a hint of more to come. If you haven't read Deaver before, this novel is a good standalone from the series, but Rhyme fans will definitely enjoy it.

Deaver, Jeffery, The Skin Collector, Grand Central Publishing, May 2014. New York. Isbn: 978-1-4555-1713-8

Reel Stuff- A New Lessor and Moore Mystery

Don Bruns has written another novel about two of my favorite characters,James Lessor and Skip Moore. The duo have their own private investigation business, which is always one bill short of bankruptcy, and they supplement their meager incomes with odd jobs, usually winding up investigating a murder in the process. This latest story, Reel Stuff, is set first in Miami, where the duo have managed to wind up temping as part of a security team on a television series shoot. Unfortunately for Moore, he is on set when the show's guest star, takes an unplanned leap to his death while filming a stunt. Pretty soon, Moore and Lessor are on the job when one of the show's stars tearfully asks them to find out who is responsible for the apparent "suicide". Along with Moore's girlfriend Emily, the duo start investigating, and soon find that they are ahead of the police in their theories on who is responsible. While Lessor is wooing the gorgeous co-star on the show, Moore and Emily fly to L.A. to investigate the actor's wife. Within a short time,  Moore is faced with fears on potentially losing his too-good-for-him girlfriend when she goes undercover to pose as a potential actress. Moore's reactions when actors show interest in Emily, think Leonardo and The Rock here, make you really feel for the guy, especially when every reader at one time has thought their guy/girl are too good for them. Lessor and Moore figure out who is behind the murder, and manage to get the job done and collect their pay. If you haven't already been introduced to the duo, I recommend reading any of Brun's novels-they don't need to be read in sequence but you might wish to. (PS. Bruns' The Mick Sever series is also always a good read)

Bruns, Don, Reel Stuff, Oceanview Publishing, Florida. 2013. Isbn: 978-1-60809-096-9

First Time Author Does It Right

The Life We Bury, a first novel out by Allen Eskens, is a fantastic read hands down, and one of the best novels that I have read from a new author recently.

     Joe is a college student who has enrolled in classes at the last minute, and has to take one English class that still has available space. The problem is, his assignment over the semester is to interview and write a biography of someone who is elderly. Joe has no family who fits this category, so he goes to a local nursing home attempting to find a subject to write about. Enter Carl, dying of pancreatic cancer, and who has been paroled from prison for committing a rape and murder of a teenage neighbor thirty years before. Joe begins doing research on the murder, and begins to see that the evidence against Carl, while at the time of his trial seemed ironclad, some of the details don't quite add up. Joe meets Virgil, one of Carl's army buddies in Vietnam, and Carl's only supporter, and he begins to look at Carl's case in a different light. Now Joe is racing against time and Carl's impending death from cancer to try and clear his name, and persuade the authorities to reopen the case for a second look. Along with trying to determine the truth about the night of the murder, Joe is also dealing with his alcoholic mother, who pulls frequent "disappearing acts", leaving Joe to look out for his younger autistic brother. The story sweeps the reader along at a fast pace, and leaves you hoping that Joe can determine Carl's innocence before it is too late. I am looking forward to reading more from Eskens after reading his debut novel.

Eskens, Allen, The Life We Bury, Seventh Street Books, New York, October 2014. 

Isbn: 978-1-61614-998-7

The Forgotten Girl

I finished reading The Forgotten Girl, by David Bell this morning,

and I think the title is a bit of a misnomer here. While the story centers on a younger sister who has returned unexpectedly to her brother's doorstep, the story is really about her brother, his past, and events that took place one night during his high school graduation. Jason has returned with his wife to his hometown that he grew up in, with the hopes of rekindling their marriage by leaving the large city they had been in. Things seem to be going well, but the return to his old town starts to bring back memories of Jason's best friend Logan, who disappeared after graduation, and who no one has seen to this day. When Jason's sister turns up at his house, with her teenage daughter, asking Jason to keep her daughter there while she makes amends with her past and her recovery from addiction, Jason begins to think his sister and Logan's disappearance are somehow connected. He beings delving into the past, talking to Logan's remaining family and others who knew Logan, including Regan, a girl who both he and Logan had wanted to be romantically involved with during school. While trying to keep an eye out for his sister who has disappeared to take care of loose ends, worrying about his niece who is concerned about her mother, along with dealing with memories about the night Logan disappeared, he also has to deal with the bully from school, who is still living in town and has more to do with that night than Jason originally thought. The novel isn't really about a "forgotten girl" but more about confronting the past, and small town secrets that come to light years after the fact. Despite the title, the novel is an interesting read, and keeps you guessing until the final chapter about the truth of Logan's disappearance. 

Bell, David. The Forgotten Girl, New American Library, New York. October 2014.
 Isbn: 978-0-451-41752-7

Junior Bender is back

  A new Junior Bender novel will be out soon, Herbie's Game, and Timothy Hallinan doesn't disappoint with this novel. Junior is a professional burglar who somehow or another manages to get the goods while stepping around murders and mysteries in the process. (Think Lawrence Block's-Bernie Rhodenbarr character)

     Junior receives a summons from an associate known by the name of Wattles, who has set up a hit using a chain of cutouts-and wrote the list down of the players in the chain due to worries of a memory lapse. Now that list has been stolen, and everyone on it is now at risk, including Junior's mentor in the burglary trade, who is suspected of stealing the list.  Junior visits his mentor-for the last time, and after he is murdered Junior vows to avenge his death. The players all start being knocked off at an alarming rate, and it is up to Junior to get the list back, as well as figure out which name on the list is next.  Along the way, Junior has someone after him as well, and is forced to hire other hit men and criminals to watch over him and his family. Happily the characters of Bones returns, as well as Junior's love interest Ronnie, who Junior is finally realizing he really needs in his life. Added in are some of the characters from previous Bender novels, along with some new players, including a couple of humorous teenage hackers who are making more money annually than I will ever hope to. The novel is fine as a stand-alone read, but those not familiar with Junior might want to read the previous novels before reading more of Junior in Herbie's Game.

Herbie's Game, Timothy Halinan, Soho Press, New York. July 2014. ISBN: 978-1-61695-429-1