Night Drop by Michael Sherer

Cutler Press

Imagine talking on the phone with someone you care about when suddenly that person's doorbell rings.  You remain on the phone while the person answers the door and then the next thing you hear are loud voices, then screaming, then dead silence. Frantic with fear you drive like a maniac across town only to find the house empty and blood on the living room floor.  You call the police.  Because you are the ex spouse of the person who has vanished, you become a prime suspect in the eyes of the police. What do you do?

If you are Blake Sanders, you immediately go on the offensive.  Your ex-wife Molly has rich parents and is a lawyer in a successful law firm.  It is not unreasonable to assume there will be a ransom demand so the FBI are in charge of the case.  Blake makes sure he is there when the ransom call comes in and he insists on implicating himself in the plans to rescue Molly.  He will bring her back alive or die trying.

It slowly comes to light that one of Molly's clients, Trip Macready, has also disappeared. He is an ex-Navy SEAL dolphin trainer turned animal rights activist.  The Navy connection brings Blake's sometime girlfriend, Reyna Chase, a Naval Intelligence Officer into the search and back by Blake's side. 

The story has three main threads.  Blake's attempt to find and rescue Molly; Macready's attempt to foil a terrorist plot and also rescue Molly; Yousef preparing his team to pull off an act of terror and elude Blake and the FBI. There was a point early on when it felt like I was reading three books and I wondered how everything was going to come together to make sense.  Trust me, it does. 

There is a lot happening in the story and quite a bit to remember and process. By maintaining three distinct threads, Sherer introduces the secondary characters in distinct, well-defined and separate settings, allowing you to get to know each of them well. Otherwise, you would easily lose track of whose who and what is going on. 

I happen to really like Blake Sanders as a character.  I find him to be sympathetic, understandable and believable.  He has his problems and he has his strengths; he's not perfect and he would make a reliable neighbor or solid friend.  Macready is also a character that I came to like and I hope he makes a return in a sequel. A team comprised of Blake, Reyna and Macready has the potential for one hell of an adventure.  

 

Night Drop kept me glued to my Kindle following the unexpected twists and turns and holding my breath waiting for what was going to happen next.  Looking forward to reading Night Strike, next in the series.

Summertime, All The Cats Are Bored by Philippe Georget

Europa Editions

I wish I could remember on whose recommendation I decided to buy this book, but since it has been sitting on my TBR pile for a year I simply don't remember.  Whoever it was - Thank You. 

Philippe Georget weaves a tale that involves murder and kidnapping in Perpignan, a town on the French Mediterranean near Spain.  Sebag and Molino, two tired cops who are being slowly devoured by dull routine and family worries, deal with the day’s misdemeanors and petty complaints without a trace of enthusiasm (from the book's cover). When the body of a young Dutch woman is found and another young Dutch woman goes missing as does a Spanish taxi driver she knew, the general lethargy that had an iron grip on the police department suddenly vanishes and a game of cat and mouse begins between Inspector Gilles Sebag and the kidnapper/murderer.

One of the amazing things about Georget's writing is his ability to create tone and atmosphere.  Georget is himself a resident of Perpignan and his intimate knowledge of the city permeates his descriptions of the residents and the city and surrounding areas. You feel the lethargy that has set in from the heat and humidity of summer. You sense the impact on the burgeoning small town invaded by summer tourists. You feel the pressure of a small police force under the microscopic eye of the international press. You witness the kidnap victim slowly acquiesce to her situation  - and you understand, completely.  You experience all these things not just through Sebag's eyes and thoughts, but also those of the kidnapped Dutch girl and her kidnapper. 

Sebag is an observer of life  who listens to his instincts about people and events.  He doesn't always immediately realize the significance of his observations and needs to let his thoughts ferment for awhile. He underestimates his own ability as a police inspector, as his wife, his partner and his boss often remind him.  The image of Sebag sitting beside the family pool with a glass of wine while he quietly mulls over the day's developments in his case, is reminiscent of Inspector Morse sitting in a pub with a pint, thinking things through. 

This is a police procedural and a well-written one that kept me reading late into the night.    The laid back atmosphere disguises a deceptively complex narrative.  The investigation is well thought through and develops at a very natural pace, but it is the characterizations that make this such an enjoyable read.  The relationships between Sebag and his colleagues, Sebag and his wife, Sebag and his children, all come together to create a character that you look forward to meeting again.

 

I am kind of happy I only recently got around to reading this book since the next book in the series, Autumn, All the Cats Return, will be released this October.  With a bit of luck I will read it before next spring.

 

 

 

 

Herbie's Game by Timothy Hallinan

Soho Press/Soho Crime

Sometimes a fictional character comes along that you simply connect with. Maybe you admire the character, share a common life experience or just outright fall in love with the character.  Well, I am in with love Junior Bender, he is my Hero.  He's intelligent, decent, tall and handsome, vulnerable and in touch with his feminine side. Except for the small detail that he is the thief's thief, giving him that bad boy appeal, he is perfect.  He is always on the side of right even when he's on the wrong side of the law.

This case is extremely personal for Junior.  He is hired to find out who stole a list of names from the safe of Wattles the "executive crook".  The list contains a chain of names that Wattles uses when he sets up hits.  He uses this chain of people to pass along the instructions at blind drops so that nobody in the chain knows who the actual killer is, except the killer. As soon as Junior sees the aftermath in Wattles' office he knows who stole the list - Herbie Mott.  The same man who took a seventeen year old Junior under his wing and taught him everything he knew, his mentor and substitute father has his signature unmistakeably all over the job.

Junior sets out to confront Herbie and find out what is going on, except he is too late. Someone has tortured Herbie in an effort to get him to reveal where he hid the list. But Herbie's heart gave out and he died before revealing the whereabouts of the list or becoming the next murder victim.  Once Junior begins the investigation, the people on the list start turning up dead, one after the other, and Junior wonders if he is next.

In thinking about Herbie’s Game I was struck by the fact that the story is the classical Hero’s quest.  Junior receives The Call to go down a path that he is Reluctant to pursue.  After all, this investigation means dealing with people who murder for a living and that’s not something that leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling.  The Quest itself is, on the surface, about revenge and finding whoever tortured Herbie, but it is also about Junior’s emotional journey and how he discovers things about Herbie that he never knew.  We the readers meet Herbie through Junior’s reminiscences and Junior Re-Meets Herbie through the stories of others he encounters along the way.   He does not journey through the ordeal alone; he has his archetypical allies and helpers (especially female), most of whom we have met in previous stories, as well as a few intriguing new ones. 

The Road Back from the quest is life-changing.  Junior learns to reconcile the Herbie that he didn’t know with the one that he did and Junior matures and comes to terms with other relationships in his life.   Like all Hero quests, conquering the outer world entails mastering the inner world and Junior eventually finds peace and acceptance in his new found knowledge of Herbie and Herbie’s game.

 

I don’t want you to think that this is a serious deep book with the raison d'être to enlighten you as to the meaning of life. But it is multi-layered and Hallinan does his usual job of great characterizations, incredible dialogue and wonderful humour to demonstrate his  keen and sensitive insight into human nature as the characters come together to direct and tell the story.

 

I don’t know where Hallinan draws his inspiration from to create his characters but I hope it is a very deep well so that he can keep them coming.

Reading a book written by Timothy Hallinan is just great fun – don’t miss out.

Thank you NetGalley and Soho Press for the copy of the book. I want to mention that I love the cover art created by Katherine Grames for this series.

To read an excerpt go to the author's web site:
http://www.timothyhallinan.com/index.html

Great interview:
http://www.omnivoracious.com/2014/08/amazon-asks-timothy-hallinan-author-of-herbies-game.html

A Swollen Red Sun by Matthew McBride

Open Road Integrated Media
Mysterious Press

 

Normally when I start a book I want to be drawn in by the first sentence, the first paragraph or first page.  By the time I had finished the first page of A Swollen Red Sun all I wanted to do was hurl.  Page two never looked so good. 

Now, before you get the wrong idea, it wasn't that the writing was bad; it was the scene and the unfortunately good description.

The setting for this novel is Gasconade  County, Missouri, which was once called the methamphetamine capital of the world.  The essential premise is a deputy sheriff stumbles across some drug money and although he is basically an honest guy, this time he decides to keep the money.  This one impulsive decision sets into motion a series of actions that are disastrous and deadly. 

Except for the main character Deputy Sheriff Dale Banks and his family, the majority of the characters are involved in the drug trade both as producers and users.  McBride takes us inside their heads so we can see how they see themselves and their dreams, especially when they are high, and leaves us to compare it to their downtrodden reality.  Life in Gasconade county is hard with very few rewards.

The character of Olsen Brandt is well drawn.  He is a lonely old man living out his days with his cherished dog on what is left of his farm.  Olsen is a sympathetic character whose strength is tested on a daily basis.  A tragic accident killed one of his sons at a young age, the surviving son is serving time in prison, and since his wife died a year ago all he wants to do is join her. 

Some of the characters are true degenerates like the very unsavory self-appointed Reverend,  Butch Pogue.  Yup - the name says it all. 

When thinking about this book I decided this simply isn't my type of book because it contains some rather graphic scenes.  Yet I realized I have read other books with scenes at least as violent, perhaps even more violent.  It's McBride's writing.  He can turn simple words into very powerful images.  The descriptions of the dry rural landscape in the humid heat, the dusty back roads with their "buffet" of potholes will leave you feeling parched. I particularly liked this description:

The sun went down behind the mobile home like a burst of egg yolk that dripped from the sky and consumed the trees. Sycamores on the river cast long shadows in the burnt auburn hue, and golden shafts punched holes through plump clouds that looked ripe to carry wetness for days.

The story itself is slow paced to start but picks up speed about two thirds of the way through.  All the loose ends are nicely tied up and will leave you feeling satisfied that some justice has been served.

If you like your suspense stories with a touch of red neck then this one is for you.

Author's tweet

Runner by Patrick Lee

St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books

You need to be in shape to read this book.  Your eyes will devour the pages at a frantic pace and your mind will try to keep up with the action. Your futile attempts to unravel the plot will leave you red-eyed from lack of sleep.   There is an end.  You will get there.  You will arrive relieved and exhausted, ready to get on with your life - just like Sam.

Sam Dryden has been having trouble sleeping and has gotten into the habit of running along the boardwalk in the middle of the night.  There aren't usually many people out and about at that time of night, except for a few sitting at bon fires on the beach.  This night is different.  This night a young girl, barefoot and terrified, runs right into him.  She is being chased by a group of armed men who are intent on killing her. He helps her escape and in so doing he becomes entangled in Rachel's race to remember who she is and why someone wants her dead.

Keeping Rachel and himself alive is no easy task.  The people they are up against are devious and ruthless, highly trained professionals.  They reach deep into the highest level of government and have endless resources at their means to track the pair down.  Sam's skills as a former Ranger, Delta and member of an elite black ops team are a little rusty and his technical knowledge is out of date - but he knows how to survive.  The pair form a special bond as they try to figure out what is going on and how to outsmart their pursuers.  Over the course of events, their special bond will be sorely tested.

The main thread in the plot is about mind control, not the sodium pentothal type, but something much more devious.  Patrick Lee conveys his ideas in such a convincing manner, you may have to remind yourself that you are reading fiction.   The possibility that this type of mind control could be real is very, very, scary.  Here's hoping the bad guys don't read Patrick Lee books.

The other thread in the plot is about learning to trust and love again. The necessity to let go of old memories, good and bad, so that you can move forward with your life.  Sam and Rachel both need to run along this path, for different reasons and in different ways, together and apart, so each can have a future.

I found reading this book was like being pulled into a vortex of intense action and suspense. This is a thriller in every sense of the word and it definitely won't disappoint.

Night Tide by Michael W. Sherer

When I read the synopsis of this book on NetGalley what first caught my interest was the mention of one character, Perry Langford, who is being released from jail after spending the last 20 years of his life in prison for a crime he insists he never committed. My thoughts immediately went to Donald Marshall, David Milgaard and Steven Truscott, some (certainly not all) famous miscarriages of justice in the Canadian legal system.  The price these individuals paid and the toll on their family and friends is difficult to imagine. Perhaps easier to understand is the need for retribution. 

 

Langford is out of prison and he wants to even the score with the people that put him there.  He has had twenty years to think about what happened that night, the night the lab was blown up at the university he and his friend Blake Sanders attended.  The night that an innocent young woman died and he was blamed for her murder.  That young woman's sister, Kealey, ends up at Blake's home, begging him to help her find Langdon.  She believes in his innocence and she wants to find the real murderer. 

 

Sanders isn't keen on the idea of helping Kealey.  His life is simple.  He delivers papers and has a second job washing dishes in a restaurant.  A comedown from where he once was, but as long as he has enough money to pay for his meds to keep his ADHD under control and stay out of trouble, life is okay, maybe.  However, while at a BBQ at the home of the parents of his police friend Charlie, commandos show-up and start shooting.  The end result is Charlie is injured, his parents have disappeared and Blake becomes inextricably entangled in an intricate puzzle that he wanted nothing to do with.  He soon realizes that Langdon, the lab explosion and the disappearance of Charlie's parents are all somehow connected.  He finds himself in need of figuring out what, how and why, if he wants to stay alive.

In order to find all the pieces to the puzzle, the past must be re-visited, re-examined and re-imagined to decipher and illuminate current events.  The people and events are not now and were not then, what they first appeared to be.  Sanders has his work cut out for him and needs all the help he can get. 

Underlying and complementing the action, is an examination of friendship.  Can the friendship between Sanders and Langford be resurrected after all that has happened over the past twenty years?  Does deep friendship ever really die?  Can the friendship between Blake and Charlie survive the accusations being made by Blake against Charlie's parents?  Can Blake and his ex-wife Molly ever be 'just friends'?

This is a thriller and a page turner with commandos, disgruntled FBI agents, unhappy exes, some American history from the 60's and a very sought after revolutionary design worth killing for.  The plot is credible and well constructed with a myriad of twists and turns that will keep you up at nights wondering what's next.    A great engrossing read.
 

http://www.michaelwsherer.com/

When I first downloaded this book from NetGalley, for some strange reason, it wasn't readable.  The author emailed me a link to a new copy and I thank him.

The Bleiberg Project by David Khara

Translated by Simon John

Le French Book

I’m not a big fan of books that relate to World War II, the Holocaust, and famous Nazis etc.;  but I do like a good thriller.  I also very much like the books I have read from Le French Book and that is why I decided to read The Bleiberg Project. 

 

The story centers on Jay Novacek, real name Jeremy Corbin, a trader who has made himself a small fortune on Wall Street, enough money to last him the rest of his life if he chooses.  Money however, can’t buy him happiness or the peace of mind he so desperately seeks. 

The news of his estranged father’s death is the first domino in the series to fall.  When he tells his mother the news, she gives him the locket she has always worn and asks him to leave her alone. Before he has the chance to ask his mother about the locket’s contents she is assassinated and he turns to the one person he knows he can trust, his boss, only to discover that he too has been keeping secrets.

Suddenly, men in black cars with Argentinian plates are after Jeremy and they mean business.  The first attack on his life ends with him being inexplicably saved by a giant of a man, Eytan Morg, a very dangerous Mossad agent.  At this point the CIA enters the picture and Jeremy finds himself on a plane to Zurich with Jackie, a very petite and attractive CIA agent.  Jeremy soon realizes he needs to discover what his father had been involved in if he stands any chance of staying alive long enough to enjoy the fortune he has amassed.

The story ricochets between past events and the present to gradually make sense of what is happening in the present. The WWII backdrop provides real monsters to interact with the fictional ones to reveal a consortium at work to gain the ultimate power to rule the world. This may sound a little like Austin Powers, especially when a scientific formula is included in the plot, but it is much, much better than that.

Khara has written a fast-paced race against time thriller with sympathetic characters.  Everyone has a secret it seems and it is this vulnerability of each of the main characters that serves as a stark contrast to the power seekers for whom life is cheap.  The pace is a bit slow at the very beginning but once it picks up it doesn’t let up. My one criticism is that the epilogue could have been fleshed out a bit more but that is really a small detail.

This is a thriller that fans of John Grisham, Robert Ludlum or Ian Fleming will enjoy.


http://www.lefrenchbook.com/

A Darkness Descending by Christobel Kent

Open Road Integrated Media

Pegasus Books

 

There is a new political movement in Florence Italy, the Frazione Verde.  The party's young members are mostly intellectuals, die-hard greens, communists and war protesters.  At the party's helm is Niccolo Rosselli, a humble, unassuming individual,  who once he is on the podium becomes a charismatic speaker with the innate ability to ignite a crowd and create a following. One evening while addressing his followers he mysteriously collapses.  Following this, it becomes known that his wife, Flavia, has disappeared, deserting Niccolo and their newborn son.  Then the attacks on the party start.

Soon it is discovered that Flavia has committed suicide at a small beachside resort.  Sandro Cellini, a private investigator, becomes involved in the case and he can't believe that someone with so much to live for could commit suicide. And so the investigation begins.  The investigation examines some of the ideals that are the basis of the Frazione Verde as well as basic human emotions and desire.  Power, control, manipulation and the many facets of love, including altruistic love, are examined through the lives of Niccollo, Flavia, Sandro, Luisa (Sandro's wife), Giuli (Sandro's assistant) and Enzo (Giuli's boyfriend) and a number of other secondary characters.

This story is not a breathtaking race to find out whodunit.  This is a mystery about human nature that requires observation, compassion, intellect and common sense to solve. Christobel Kent very skillfully unveils the story by peeling through the layers of human emotions to get at the vulnerable core of the human psyche.  The darkness that descends is one that can easily be imagined in today's world and I think that makes it all the more tragic.

I received my copy of this book from NetGalley and did not realize that this is the fourth book featuring the character Sandro Cellini.  It seems like it stands alone, but I think if I had been familiar with the characters, the first few chapters would have gone by faster.  Once I got to know the characters, however, I liked them, especially Sandro and his wife Luisa. 

This is a well-written story by an author who pays attention to the small details that make a person an individual.  There are just enough details in the telling to create interesting and believable characters without being a cumbersome read.

This one should be on your "want to read it" list.

A link to an interesting interview with Christobel Kent:
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Whats-on-leisure/Books/Some-people-write-for-therapy-but-I-always-wanted-an-audience-Christobel-Kent-20130402115749.htm

The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler

Gallery Books

Chic lit isn’t a genre that I normally read.  However, a book about a bookstore with a charming British girl for the main character piqued my interest.  The description of the book describes the bookstore as an all-night haven for some quirky characters.  I do love quirky characters.  So I figured, why not?

Esme Garland is a young British woman who has come to Columbia University to do her PhD in art history.  As intelligent as she is, Esme is naïve about life in general and love in particular.  Her social skills aren’t always the greatest either. She falls for Mitchell who is also scholarly and intelligent.  He is charming and romantic and plays Esme like a fine violin.  The only words I can think of to describe him are obnoxious, contemptible and schmuck.  He is definitely a grade A highbrow schmuck, but a schmuck nonetheless.

Essentially the story centers on Esme’s unplanned pregnancy and how she deals with her life suddenly veering off course.  Anyone who has herself been or had a friend in this position is familiar with the range of emotions and decisions that Esme deals with as part and parcel of the circumstance.   Many of us also know someone who has been dumped by a lover, more than once, yet will return to the relationship at any given opportunity.  That’s Esme – there are times you just want to shake her so she will wake up.  But you can’t and she doesn’t - until she becomes a mother. 

In order to be able to support herself once the baby arrives, Esme gets a job at the Owl, a second hand bookstore.  This is where we meet a handful of secondary characters that come and go through the story.  This aspect of the book you are either going to love or hate.  Personally, I enjoyed the diversions provided by these characters but I suspect others may see them as detractors from the main event. 

Being privy to Esme’s thoughts, her quick wit and occasional lack of filters makes for an endearing character and an amusing read.   I enjoyed how Meyler uses Esme’s knowledge of art, Luke’s (works at the bookstore) knowledge of music, and George’s (bookstore owner) knowledge of literature to contrast and compare different ways of looking at life in general and in detail.   There are numerous references to great works of art and music and numerous literary references threaded through the dialogues, but you don’t need to be familiar with these references to understand the points that are being made, at least I don’t think so.  After all this is chick lit, an examination of womanhood not of philosophy or the classics. If you like, allow your eyes to glaze over, yawn or flip the page at these parts; that’s what I always do when things get too sappy in a book. 

Overall this is an enjoyable read from a new author who shows potential. 

For those who are interested, I am providing two links:.

The first is to Bookshipper, a blog written by a friend who loves chick lit.

http://bookshipper.blogspot.ca/
 
The second link is to a short article in USA Today about this book and a brief bio on Deborah Meyler.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2013/08/14/deborah-meyler-the-bookstore/2608937/