DACHSHUND THROUGH THE SNOW by David Rosenfelt

October 10, 2019

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An Andy Carpenter Mystery, Book 20

In my recollection, there has never been a bad book featuring Andy Carpenter and his assorted team of assistants. This novel is certainly not an exception to the rule. It does, however, go a step further and delivers a story that connects in every which way, and if not his best, is certainly among David Rosenfelt’s top novels.

The basic idea is the same; Andy has inherited a large sum of money and really does not want to work. He is married to Laurie, his true love, they have a son, and of course two dogs that he walks while he thinks. He then is faced with a case to prove someone is not guilty of the murder of which they have been accused.

The present volume is released in time for Christmas, and the holiday spirit permeates the book. Laurie has developed the custom of filling the wishes of children that are undoubtedly poor. A pet store near the Carpenter’s home normally puts up a Christmas tree and allows children to place their wishes on it, instead of having ornaments. Laurie takes the wishes and gets the children what they wished for, delivering it confidentially.

One of the lists is from a boy named Danny, who would like a coat for his mother, a sweater for his dachshund, and to bring home his father, who has suddenly disappeared. The first two wishes are easy to fulfill when the answer to the third one becomes suddenly apparent. Danny’s father is arrested for murder.

The crime is 14 years old and never solved, but the DNA of the possible killer was located on the dead girl’s body and around the scene.  Noah, Danny’s father, has no criminal record so that his DNA, which was that found, has never been identified. Unfortunately, Noah’s brother sends a sample of his DNA to a website that matches DNA with possible groups, and of course, Noah is identified and arrested.

Andy has to take the case because it was part of Danny’s wishes. While the normal banter between Andy and others takes place, the handling of the case in court is a lesson in the scientific handling of DNA as evidence in police work. This sequence does take the novel to an area that is beyond the norm in Rosenfelt’s work. A very well done novel.

10/19 Paul Lane

DACHSHUND THROUGH THE SNOW by David Rosenfelt. Minotaur Books (October 1, 2019). ISBN 978-1250237682. 352p.

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EMPIRE OF LIES by Raymond Khoury

October 2, 2019

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Khoury has built his reputation as a top author on novels with a fantasy spin.  Not dragons, Greek gods, nor any of the many situations built on an unworldly story. All are well done, well written and based on a certain change to the real world.

“Empire of Lies” is no exception. The plot revolves around an alternative to our present world with changes to current reality that could be true if one subscribes to the difference between our world and what is presented. The novel opens in the alternative world postulated by the author.

This is a situation in which Polish King John Sobieski at the head of a combined European army defeated and stopped an invasion of Europe by Ottoman Turks in 1683. The Ottoman army had reached Vienna, were surrounding the city and were about to conquer it and then move further into Europe.  The situation at the beginning of this novel is that something happened to Sobieski and his staff killing them, and the Ottoman invasion succeeded setting up an alternative world stemming from the defeat of the west in 1683.

Kamal Arslan Agha, an officer in the Sultan’s secret police and, based in Paris has begun questioning the situation around him which is becoming more and more autocratic.  He feels that the freedoms guaranteed to the people are becoming eroded with the government becoming a dictatorship.

When he is called on to investigate a stranger appearing naked on the banks of the Seine and brought to a hospital, Kamal learns a strange secret which the Sultan wants to keep secret. He begins an investigation of this secret aided by his sister-in-law Nisreen, who is an outspoken civil rights lawyer. The two are caught up in the secrets of the enlarged Ottoman Empire and find themselves learning about the real circumstances of the battle of 1683, traveling through the empire and learning about a concept of time that is unknown to most of the world.

Very well written, ensuring that the reader will finish the book in one sitting this novel is Raymond Khoury at his best.

10/19 Paul Lane

EMPIRE OF LIES by Raymond Khoury. Forge Books (October 1, 2019). ISBN 978-1250210968. 448p.

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THE NOBODY PEOPLE by Bob Proehl

September 29, 2019

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Bob Proehl’s interesting story revolves around the possible next step in human evolution. People are being born with certain abilities beyond those of so called normal people. Levitation, turning invisible, mind control, ability to shape a room beyond the capacity of normal people to see and enter it. Suddenly people with these extraordinary characteristics are being born and growing to adulthood.

Avi Hirsch has noted that his daughter Emmeline is different, but can’t put his finger on how and why until more and more people are found that have an ability beyond the normal. And, as they are identified, the general population begins acting as if they are dangerous. Certainly a feeling held by most segments of the population towards a minority group in their midst. Over the centuries this has included race, religion, color of skin and other factors contributing to a marked difference between this minority and the larger, so called normal, segment of the population.

Avi is a journalist and begins investigating these “others” with the hope that his findings can help prevent harm to Emmeline. It is through him that knowledge of the “different” segment of humans emerges, and as has been done throughout human history suspicion emerges about the new para normals. The novel tracks events from the founding of secret schools to educate the new group to a war developing between them and normals. It certainly doesn’t help when one of the new group turns rogue and is involved with murder of the normals.

An interesting novel somewhat marred by a long mid book section that spends a good deal of time in redundant descriptions of the powers held, and the personal conflicts between the others. This section could force an interested reader to lose interest and elect not to complete the book. If one makes it through this part, the ending is well done and completes the novel.

9/19 Paul Lane

THE NOBODY PEOPLE by Bob Proehl. Del Rey (September 3, 2019). ISBN 978-1524798956. 496p.

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COLD STORAGE by David Koepp

September 23, 2019

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The novel opens as U.S. government bio terror operative, Roberto Diaz, and his partner, travel to a remote area in Australia. They are there to investigate the possible presence of a bio terror attack.

Instead, they find a highly contagious viral entity that, if allowed to spread, could very well wipe out the entire population of Earth. The two find the town that has been attacked filled with dead bodies of people killed by the virus. The virus is contained by the simple expedient of aerial bombing the town and area around it destroying everything. A small portion that survives the destruction is placed in a sealed container, taken back to the U.S. by Roberto and placed in an area that is underground and heavily fortified

Years later, we get to the “exciting” part of the book. The virus has leaked and is attacking the storage area it is contained in. Two security guards have detected it, and called the government agency indicated on an instruction sheet they are told to use if a leak has been detected by an internal guidance system. Roberto Diaz, now retired, is called upon to travel to the site and take any measures necessary to contain it. He does so and in an informal team up with the two security guards, takes those measures deemed necessary to destroy the virus. And WOW.

“Cold Storage” is the first book published by David Koepp, although his background certainly points to his ability to capture and keep his readers. As indicated in a resume of his credentials, we learn that he was the screenwriter for “Jurassic Park.”

That the novel is one that keeps the readers unable to put it down is a fact. I am anxiously awaiting his next book with an eye to being first on line to get it. And also wondering if the novel will be made into a movie; if so, it would be one exciting video experience.

9/19 Paul Lane

COLD STORAGE by David Koepp. Ecco (September 3, 2019). ISBN 978-0062916433. 320p.

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THE FIFTH COLUMN by Andrew Gross

September 21, 2019

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Andrew Gross’s latest novel is a well-done story dealing with falling and subsequent redemption. The book takes place in New York City during a period just prior to the U.S  entering World War II. Europe is ablaze with war with Great Britain, and France was confronting a German military machine set to overrun them. Feelings are running high in the U.S. with than president Franklin Roosevelt trying to keep the country out of the war.  There are groups of pro-Nazi sympathizers pushing an agenda for America to enter the war on the German side and others favoring the Allies.

Charles Mossman is a young man with little or no political agenda who is in the position of just losing his job teaching at the university level and also facing the end of his marriage.  He is in a bar getting drunk, across the street from a pro-Nazi rally in Madison Square Garden in Manhattan when several pro-Hitler men draped in Swastika flags and drunk enter the bar.  Charles gets into a fight with them and in a drunken wild swing accidentally kills a young man standing close to the melee.

Sentenced to prison for one count of accidental homicide, he serves two years and is released into a situation with no prospects for a job due to his prison record and his wife not wanting him around. The only bright spot is that his wife does allow him visits to Emma, his daughter twice a week. They live in a section of New York City with many people showing support for Hitler. In the course of his visits Charles meets neighbors Trudi and Willi Bauer living across the hall from his family and develops a feeling in his gut that these people are not the Swiss they claim they are but secret Nazi sympathizers.

Gross, in a mesmerizing chain of events, tells the story of Charles’ actions and results with what he knows and what he finds out. The attack on Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entrance on the side of the allies in the war is a well-described background to the story. Certainly a compelling all night read, “The Fifth Column” continues the author’s sequence of excellent books.

9/19 Paul Lane

THE FIFTH COLUMN by Andrew Gross. Minotaur Books (September 10, 2019). ISBN 978-1250180001. 336p.

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ELEVATOR PITCH by Linwood Barclay

September 18, 2019

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Events in this novel begin on a Monday when an elevator in a high rise office building breaks through its safety features and plunges down, killing all four passengers riding in it. Popular conjecture is that it is a fluke in as much as elevator accidents are fortunately very few and far between. But another accident occurs in a different building on Tuesday indicating quite clearly that these are not accidents. Then again a third accident takes place on Wednesday.

The public in New York City, the scene of the accidents panics and the city is thrown into chaos with doubt in everyone’s mind about the safety of riding elevators up and down going and coming from work.  A body is then discovered that has had its fingers cut off, and is tied to the elevator tragedy.

The novel then follows the work of two New York City detectives and an active journalist in looking at the facts discovered, the possibilities that exist, and key persons to solve the mystery.

Barclay, as is his custom and his talent, grabs hold of his readers and holds them until the very logical ending. Personal facts brought out about each of the individuals working the case make for a better read in the sense that each becomes more of a real person. The use of elevators as murder weapons and the reasons for doing so are clearly explained and help the novel become another typical interesting Linwood Barclay read.

9/19 Paul Lane

ELEVATOR PITCH by Linwood Barclay. William Morrow (September 17, 2019). ISBN 978-1250182296. 464p.

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THE STRANGER INSIDE by Lisa Unger

September 17, 2019

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BLOG TOUR

From the publisher:

PEOPLE Best Books of Fall 2019

“A darkly thrilling tale of survival and obsession. Lisa Unger never disappoints.” —Riley Sager, bestselling author of Lock Every Door

Even good people are drawn to do evil things…

Twelve-year-old Rain Winter narrowly escaped an abduction while walking to a friend’s house. Her two best friends, Tess and Hank, were not as lucky. Tess never came home, and Hank was held in captivity before managing to escape. Their abductor was sent to prison but years later was released. Then someone delivered real justice—and killed him in cold blood.

Now Rain is living the perfect suburban life, her dark childhood buried deep. She spends her days as a stay-at-home mom, having put aside her career as a hard-hitting journalist to care for her infant daughter. But when another brutal murderer who escaped justice is found dead, Rain is unexpectedly drawn into the case. Eerie similarities to the murder of her friends’ abductor force Rain to revisit memories she’s worked hard to leave behind. Is there a vigilante at work? Who is the next target? Why can’t Rain just let it go?

Introducing one of the most compelling and original killers in crime fiction today, Lisa Unger takes readers deep inside the minds of both perpetrator and victim, blurring the lines between right and wrong, crime and justice, and showing that sometimes people deserve what comes to them.

Hurricane shutters

 

I haven’t read a serial killer book this good in a long time. Unger does an incredible job of bringing these characters to life in such a way that I felt like I could have passed Rain in the supermarket. Or helped Rain find books for her kid at my library. Real real!

The idea of a serial killer sitting in judgment and eking out punishment or vengeance isn’t really new, but somehow it feels new here. There are enough twists and turns that it kept me guessing throughout.

I read this over the weekend we were waiting for Hurricane Dorian (which thankfully, blew past us, leaving us unharmed). The thing is, when you prepare for a hurricane, the first thing you do is put up your shutters, unless you have the luxury of having hurricane windows, which I do not. The hurricane shutters we have are metal and completely cover all the windows and sliding glass doors in my house. I’m telling you this because it leaves the house very, very dark. Reading a serial killer book essentially in the dark just brings it to another level. Needless to say, I couldn’t put it down!

9/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE STRANGER INSIDE by Lisa Unger. Park Row; Original edition (September 17, 2019). ISBN 978-0778308720. 384p.

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About Lisa Unger

Lisa Unger is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of seventeen novels, including THE STRANGER INSIDE. With millions of readers worldwide and books published in twenty-six languages, Lisa Unger is widely regarded as a master of suspense. In 2019, she received two Edgar Award nominations, an honor held by only a few writers including Ruth Rendell and Agatha Christie. The Edgar-nominated UNDER MY SKIN is also a finalist for the prestigious Hammett Prize, and the Macavity Award for Best Novel. And the original short story THE SLEEP TIGHT MOTEL is a #1 bestselling single.

Unger’s critically acclaimed books have been voted “Best of the Year” or top picks by the Today show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly, Amazon, IndieBound and many others. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and Travel+Leisure. She lives on the west coast of Florida with her family. Visit LisaUnger.com

Lisa & The BookBitch back in 2013!

 

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AKIN by Emma Donoghue

September 16, 2019

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Noah Selvaggio is a widowed and now retired Chemistry professor living alone in New York City. We find him preparing to take a trip back to Nice, a city in the south of France, and the place of his birth. He is planning to take along a series of puzzling photographs that were taken by his mother living there during the Nazi occupation.

He is suddenly disturbed by a call from social service advising him that he is a great uncle to a child he has never seen. And he is the only available relative since the boy’s father has died and his mother is currently incarcerated. Noah reluctantly agrees to take the eleven year old boy with him to France while the agency finds another relative to take the lad in.

The story is about the trip and the relationship of Noah and the boy during the week that they spend together in France. Yes, it is a heartwarming portrait involving several factors. Noah investigates the photos taken by his mother and develops a picture of her past and her role in the French resistance movement. He also begins to look at Michael, the young boy as something other than an inconvenience.

Donoghue is a wordsmith, presenting her wonderful story in a manner that quickly draws in the reader by the creation of people that act and feel as many would if taking part in the happenings described. It’s a five star book, one that will cause a good feeling for the people that read it.

9/19 Paul Lane

AKIN by Emma Donoghue. Little, Brown and Company (September 10, 2019). ISBN 978-0316491990. 352p.

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29 SECONDS by T. M. Logan

September 12, 2019

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Sarah is a young instructor at Queen Ann’s University located near London. We meet her at the point of several crossroads in her life.

First, her beloved husband has just taken a break from the marriage and gone away to have a fling with another woman. Second, her appointment as a tenured instructor at the university is coming up for review. Without this status her place at the university becomes very tenuous as well as her ability to get another position if the current job is declared redundant causing her to lose that position.

The head of her department, and the one man holding the key to her promotion, is Alan Hawthorne. Professor Hawthorne is renowned at the university, hosts a television show, and has managed to marry a wealthy woman that insures his job via her gifts to the school. Unfortunately, Alan has a history of behaving inappropriately to women working at the university and insuring their sexual favors by holding their jobs over their heads. He has decided that Sarah is to become his next conquest and starts to demand that she satisfy his demands. Between her errant husband and Hawthorne, Sarah has arrived at the end of her rope and does not know where to turn.

Fate suddenly lends a hand. Sarah finds herself in a position to fend off kidnappers from taking a young girl prisoner by her prompt action against them. The girl’s father insists upon expressing his gratitude to Sarah, and due to the coincidental fact that he is a crime boss, is able to make her an offer that is strange, criminal, but arriving at a very appropriate time in her life. She is told that all she has to do is give him a name and that person will be made to disappear. Sarah now has a husband that has taken a vacation to be with another woman, and a supervisor that has make it clear that her continuance at her work depends upon how well Sarah fulfills his demands.

The situation is not as easy as it would appear, and the novel creates the wonderful need to continue to devour the pages until completely read. The reader will change his or her mind several times as Sarah’s thoughts go back and forth over what to do, and of course, who to do it to. A very engrossing novel and certainly one that assures that we will continue to seek out future books by Logan.

9/19 Paul Lane

29 SECONDS by T. M. Logan. St. Martin’s Press (September 10, 2019). ISBN 978-1250182296. 368p.

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NOTHING VENTURED by Jeffrey Archer

September 7, 2019

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William Warwick Novels, Book 1

“Nothing Ventured” marks the start of a new series by the very versatile Jeffrey Archer. As in all his other works, the writing is crisp, characterizations well done, and the plot captures the reader’s immediate attention. It is a novel about a detective and it does definitely involve cases that are believable and solved only by hard police work.

William Warwick is the son of a very successful defense attorney, who would like nothing better than to have his son enter his practice when the time has come. But William, at the tender age of eight, wants nothing less than to work as a detective and aims for that goal. While both his father and his sister Grace are attorneys, William doesn’t lose sight of his goal.

After finishing university, he applies to and is accepted for London’s Metropolitan Police Force .After undergoing an apprenticeship under the watchful eye of an experienced patrolman, William manages an appointment to Scotland Yard’s Arts and Antiquities Squad.

The story follows William’s first case, does not gloss over his initial trials and possible errors, and becomes a very engrossing novel. In tracing a possible lead in a case involving a missing Rembrandt masterpiece, he visits an art gallery and meets Beth Rainsford. Beth is a beautiful woman and does become the person that William is interested in marrying. To add a bit of spice, Beth has a secret of her own which she is reluctant to share with William and one which will have a bearing on an action of his.

Archer points out his probable future plans for this series by placing the start of William’s police career in the mid 1980’s. This would mean that future novels will bring him into the 21st century, certainly books that will reflect his literary skills and attract the reader to seek them out.

9/19 Paul Lane

NOTHING VENTURED by Jeffrey Archer. St. Martin’s Press (September 3, 2019). ISBN 978-1250200761. 336p.

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