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A John Wells Novel, Book 11

Alex Berenson, who is a reporter for the New York Times, introduced the character of John Wells in his first published book. Wells stood out as one of the most amazing personages presented for readers in a novel. He was an American working for the CIA who had succeeded in joining a unit of the terrorist group Al Qaeda. They had gotten to trust him making him privy to their plans. John became so rapt in his role that he even learned to appreciate Islam’s religion and converted to it.

After leaving the group with this mission accomplished, further books described the deeds of this dark individual in fighting terrorism. The Prisoner returns full circle to the beginnings of Wells’ career.

A high level mole is thought to be active at the very top levels of the CIA. To find this traitor John is forced to repeat his actions of the first book. He must be arrested by Americans or their allies and be imprisoned with a terrorist who is thought to know who the mole is.

Wells gets himself captured in circumstances that would point to him being a member of ISIS, allowing him entree to the terrorist organization. What happens to John during his capture and while imprisoned is described graphically enough to follow Berenson’s thoughts of the U.S. handling of terrorist suspects held outside of our country.

This book, like its predecessors, moves rapidly and keeps the reader glued to the pages following the process to its conclusions. There should be further novels featuring John Wells. He is just too interesting a character to let go without maximum development during the current conflicts with Islamic Terrorists. All Berenson’s novels featuring Wells are all-nighters, and there is no reason not to assume that those following will be any different.

2/17 Paul Lane

THE PRISONER by Alex Berenson. G.P. Putnam’s Sons (January 31, 2017).  ISBN 978-0399176159. 432p.

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Billingham publishes a standalone novel about murder in both the United States and England. It first came out as a paperback, and is now being released as a hardcover.

The plot involves three initially unconnected British couples that meet at a pool in their vacation hotel in Florida. They become fast friends and enjoy the respite offered by time lounging away from pressures in their daily life.

The vacation is spoiled, however, by the disappearance of a young girl during their last day in the sun. Her body is discovered hidden in the mangroves close by.

The couples return to their homes and to the normality of work while thinking back about the horror of the murder occurring while they were vacationing. They decide to try and keep their new friendship alive by meeting at each of their homes for dinner.

The three dinners integral to the story bring out flaws and defects in their individual characters not seen during the relaxed atmosphere of their vacation. Also the investigation of the murder in Florida continues with the police in London doing interviews of the six vacationers and reporting the details to the U.S. authorities reviewing the crime.

A murder takes place in the area that the couples live in with details coinciding with the one in Florida. It is a young girl with a mental defect about the same age as the American crime victim. The combination of the effort in both England and the U.S. brings the murders close to a solution with attention focused on vacationers from the U.K. vacationing or traveling to Florida during the period of the first killing. An unexpected ending is logical and well done bringing the mysteries to a close.

I have enjoyed Mark Billingham’s novels in the past, like this one, but have one overall observation. The pace is slower than it should be, the characters just there but two dimensional. I read the book slowly not being led into any all nighter, but certainly did not toss it aside as uninteresting. This observation will not stop me, nor, I feel, other readers from seeking out future novels by the author.

2/17 Paul Lane

RUSH OF BLOOD by Mark Billingham. Atlantic Monthly Press (February 7, 2017).  ISBN 978-0802125910. 480p.

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Kate meets Peter at a dinner she attends with her husband, and becomes intrigued with the charming, married man. She wants a little fling and she sets out to seduce him. She succeeds, ending things then and there, but she has awakened the beast in Peter.

A few days later Kate is having lunch with her closest friend, Beth, a cop, and the women are caught up and severely injured in a terrorist attack in the busy San Francisco restaurant near Peter’s office. That event, coupled with his tryst with Kate, convince Peter to leave his wife and family and follow through on all his sexual desires, even though Kate has rebuffed him.

Months later, Kate and Beth are both on the road to recovery when they hear that Peter has been murdered. Beth is assigned the case and while her partner cares for his sick child, she follows every lead, getting nowhere fast.

These characters are well drawn and Beth would make a great continuing character should Lescroart choose to leave Dismas Hardy, his regular series character, behind. This is a terrific standalone thriller that melds police procedural with plenty of suspense and action, and should appeal to Harlan Coben or Gillian Flynn fans.

Copyright ©2017 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

1/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

FATAL by John Lescroart. Atria Books (January 24, 2017).  ISBN 978-1501115677. 320p.

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From the publisher:

In the tradition of The Girl on the Train, The Silent Wife, and Gone Girl comes an enthralling psychological thriller that spins one woman’s seemingly good fortune, and another woman’s mysterious fate, through a kaleidoscope of duplicity, death, and deception.

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY RON HOWARD

Please make a list of every possession you consider essential to your life.

The request seems odd, even intrusive—and for the two women who answer, the consequences are devastating.

EMMA
Reeling from a traumatic break-in, Emma wants a new place to live. But none of the apartments she sees are affordable or feel safe. Until One Folgate Street. The house is an architectural masterpiece: a minimalist design of pale stone, plate glass, and soaring ceilings. But there are rules. The enigmatic architect who designed the house retains full control: no books, no throw pillows, no photos or clutter or personal effects of any kind. The space is intended to transform its occupant—and it does.

JANE
After a personal tragedy, Jane needs a fresh start. When she finds One Folgate Street she is instantly drawn to the space—and to its aloof but seductive creator. Moving in, Jane soon learns about the untimely death of the home’s previous tenant, a woman similar to Jane in age and appearance. As Jane tries to untangle truth from lies, she unwittingly follows the same patterns, makes the same choices, crosses paths with the same people, and experiences the same terror, as the girl before.

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Usually I don’t bother with the publisher’s synopsis as they tend to run to lots of superlatives and not much substance. In this case, the superlatives are warranted. This was a terrific read and was an all nighter for me.

I loved the characters, they way the story moved between them, and the way the mystery builds. I am not always a fan of the “girl books”, the unreliable narrator as it were, but it definitely worked here. I loved it.

1/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE GIRL BEFORE by J.P. Delaney. Ballantine Books (January 24, 2017). ISBN 978-0425285046. 352p.