Crime Fiction | Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

CAPTURED by Neil Cross

March 22, 2015

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Kenny has just learned that he only has a few weeks left to live. Before he dies, he vows to track down the people he feels he owes the most to and somehow make amends. The list is short: Mary, his ex wife; Thomas Kintry, a boy Kenny witnessed almost being kidnapped; Mr. Jeganathan, the convenience store owner who saved Kintry (Kenny was unable to identify the kidnapper in interviews with the police, something he’s always regretted); and Callie Barton, the only schoolmate who showed him kindness in his worst years of childhood.

Mary is easy, they’ve remained the best of friends but Kenny doesn’t want to tell her he’s about to die. Even Kintry and Jeganathan are fairly quick to track down. But Callie… Callie is a tough one. It seems Callie has been missing for quite some time and her husband is the prime suspect.

Cross, the creator of BBC’s Luther, has a very clipped and short style. His prose is quick and tight, but there’s very little in the way of setting or character development. Instead, much of the effort is in unexpected twists and violence. And in Captured he does excel at both.

All in all, this isn’t one that will likely blow you away with its clever plotting but it is one that reads quick and easy and packs a wallop in terms of action.

3/15 Becky LeJeune

CAPTURED by Neil Cross. Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller (January 27, 2015). ISBN: 978-1497692749. 268p.

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COST OF LIFE by Joshua Corin

March 20, 2015

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Larry Walder, veteran airline pilot, is fast asleep on the morning of July 4th. If events move as they should he will awaken normally and ready himself to fly a plane filled with vacationers to Cozumel, Mexico. But events do not move as planned. He and his wife and child are rudely awakened when three men break into their house, take his family hostage, and tell Larry that he will fly the plane as planned, but to an airfield of their choosing.

Corin takes his readers on a giddy ride into terror with a plot that could occur in today’s world of extremist attacks with no aversion to murder. Captain Walder is forced into a car and driven to the airport to take command of his flight. On the way a police officer stopping the car for a minor infraction is shot to death by the terrorists. And that is just the first of many killings at the hands of the people kidnapping him and telling him that if he doesn’t do as told his wife and child will be murdered.

Why the take over and rerouting of the plane is the centerpiece of Corin’s engrossing novel. The terrorists have planned their actions with great care, and look like they have thought of every possible counter action that could thwart their interests. To call the book “an all nighter” does not do it justice. The reader will be caught up in details that are carefully plotted by Joshua Corin and will find it almost impossible to put the book down before finishing it.

Well done and certainly presenting the author as a master of plot and character and one to follow in the future.

3/15 Paul Lane

COST OF LIFE by Joshua Corin. Alibi (March 17, 2015). ASIN: B00N6PEWCS. Print Length: 294 pages

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FIERCOMBE MANOR by Kate Riordan

March 19, 2015

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While Alice’s mother is pressing her to find a man and settle down, she doesn’t know that her young daughter has indeed found someone. But that someone is married and Alice becomes pregnant after just one night together.

It’s 1933 and to avoid the inevitable scandal, Alice’s mother reaches out to her childhood friend, a maid at Fiercombe Manor. Lord Stanton and his wife live abroad and after the story Alice’s mother spins – a tragic tale a young husband struck down in an accident – they offer up their home as a place of rest and respite for the duration of Alice’s pregnancy.

Fiercombe Manor is an ominous place and Alice immediately begins to feel weighed down by the secrets of its past. But as she tries to learn more, the few remaining servants become very secretive, especially when Alice asks them about the previous Lady Stanton, a woman whose fate seems to be a mystery even to the locals.

Kate Riordan spins this tale with two narrators and two timelines – Alice in 1933 as she waits out her term and Elizabeth in 1898 who is expecting her second child. Strangely, in Alice’s timeline no one really talks about Elizabeth. Alice learns that Elizabeth’s husband died, leaving his brother to inherit both the estate and mounting debts. She also learns that Elizabeth’s home, built by the deceased Lord Stanton, and its contents were all auctioned off just ten years after being built. All that remains of that home – Stanton House – is an overgrown foundation, the garden wall, and a glasshouse Alice has been forbidden from entering.

As Alice finds more and more clues about Elizabeth, Elizabeth herself shares pieces of her story. We meet her in alternating chapters as well as diary entries that Alice discovers hidden on the estate. Both women are very well drawn and their stories are both captivating and suspense laden. Fiercombe Manor is a great atmospheric read and a nice blend of mystery and drama.

(Published as The Girl in the Photograph in the UK.)

3/15 Becky LeJeune

FIERCOMBE MANOR by Kate Riordan. Harper (February 17, 2015). ISBN: 978-0062332943. 416p.

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OLD EARTH by Gary Grossman

March 15, 2015

There is some agreement that mankind, homo sapiens, rather than ape like creatures, walked the earth less than 100,000 years ago, although recently bone fragments have been found dating about 100.000 years ago traced to Cro Magnon rather than Neanderthal men.

Grossman brings us a fascinating and plausible book postulating a highly evolved civilization existing about 200,000 years ago. He begins with a story about a discovery made by Galileo Galilei in 1601, that if revealed, was felt could possibly destroy religions, bring down governments and lead to worldwide turmoil.

A society of very powerful men was formed that for 400 years closely guarded the secret to prevent the vast problems foreseen by Galileo from becoming public. Quinn McCauley and Katrina Alpert, both paleontologists and well respected in their field leads an expedition to caves in Montana to explore possibilities for new discoveries. What emerges from their exploration are discoveries which are so startling in nature that they lead the pair to other sites around the world. These discoveries might be the answer to why Galileo turned his interests to studying the stars,and why he was convicted of heresy by the Inquisition.

Old Earth touches upon arguments between science and religion in developing the story and provides what is a fascinating exploration for an alternative theory of the history of our planet. The term mesmerizing is quite applicable to the book as well as the concept of thought provoking.

3/15 Paul Lane

OLD EARTH by Gary Grossman. Diversion Publishing (March 10, 2015). ISBN: 978-1626816343. 374p.

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LACY EYE by Jessica Treadway

March 14, 2015

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Three years after the attack that left her widowed and permanently disfigured, Hanna still has no memory of the actual event. Then the man she’s sure is responsible is granted a retrial and without her testimony there is a chance that he could walk free.

Rud Petty, their daughter Dawn’s boyfriend, had come to visit for the Thanksgiving holiday but while everyone else was out, the house was apparently broken into. Rud claimed innocence saying he must have slept through the whole thing, but it was clear the police believed he was responsible. And so Rud and Dawn left.

Hours later someone entered the home, disarmed the alarm system, and beat Hanna and her husband with a croquet mallet. Initially Dawn was considered a suspect along with Rud, but Hanna has always been certain that Rud acted alone. A mother knows this kind of thing. And yet, in spite of that, there are many who still believe Dawn played a part in the crime. Now Dawn is back and everyone but Hanna wonders what her real motivation in returning might be.

Lacy Eye is a scary premise – not only the fact that a potential murderer could walk free, but that he could walk free because his only surviving victim is mentally incapable of remembering the actual crime. And then there’s the prospect that someone near and dear could have some role in such a horrendous attack. The reader isn’t sure because Hanna isn’t sure. And Hanna is pretty unwavering in her conviction that Dawn didn’t do anything wrong. But Treadway does a fabulous job playing on that niggling bit of doubt in both Hanna’s mind as well as the reader’s.

3/15 Becky LeJeune

LACY EYE by Jessica Treadway. Grand Central Publishing; First Edition edition (March 10, 2015). ISBN: 978-1455554072. 352p.

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THE TERRORIST’S HOLIDAY by Andrew Neiderman

March 13, 2015

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After a meeting of the Jewish Defense League in New York, one of their members is murdered by two Islamic terrorists. NYPD Lt. Barry Wintraub is called upon to investigate the crime.

While investigating the murder, Lt. Wintraub comes up with evidence that the group the two terrorists belong to is planning to blow up the dining room of a huge hotel in the Catskill mountains. Their reasons for doing so are the speech planned there by an Israeli military hero and a huge gathering and dinner honoring Chaim Eban, the Israeli general.

The speech and the dinner will take place during the Passover celebration with a large amount of wealthy Jews who are expecting to make donations for Israel during General Eban’s visit.

Mr Neiderman’s novel is a very interesting deviation from most books about terrorist’s plots. Both sides are well fleshed out. The Islamic group is portrayed as doing their best to aid their country and advance the cause they are fighting for. The Americans include a member of the Israeli Mossad and Wintraub’s wife and daughter.

Wintraub’s supervisor does not believe that there is enough evidence to substantiate the planned attack on the hotel. Barry is convinced enough to take a vacation and go with his family to stay there.

Neiderman brings in a large group of characters and does an excellent job of fleshing them out. Beside Wintraub’s family, a member of the Israeli Mossad,the owner of the hotel and his son and others working on the case the Islamic terrorists are also made into thinking beings. Neiderman goes into the terrorist’s minds and develops them into people who feel that for many reasons they are fighting for their country. There is a love between one of the terrorists and his girl friend. The girl is not aware of the totality of the plot and would be appalled if made aware of the devastation planned.

The plot is not complicated, but the reader is treated to a well written book and an insight into people that are caught up in it on both sides. Very well done.

3/15 Paul Lane

THE TERRORIST’S HOLIDAY by Andrew Neiderman. Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller (March 10, 2015). ISBN: 978-1497693951.

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ASHES TO DUST by Yrsa Sigurdardóttir

March 12, 2015

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A Thora Gudmundsdottir Thriller

Thora is used to odd cases but her latest seems innocent enough at the start. Markús and his family were residents on Heimaey Island when the volcano erupted in 1973. Their house, along with many others, was buried under layers of ash and abandoned in the aftermath. Now, a group has begun excavating those houses and Markús has tried everything to stop his from being dug up.

Thora is unable to halt the excavation, but she is able to get Markús permission to be the first to enter the house’s basement. He swears, though, that he knew absolutely nothing about the three murdered men and the disembodied head that he found when he entered under Thora’s watchful eye. Now Thora’s job has gone from a simple intervention to a full-blown murder investigation. If she can’t prove that Markús not only had no part in what was hidden in his family’s basement but that he also had no previous knowledge of the apparent crime, he’ll go away for murder. And when the only witness who could prove Markús’s innocence is also found dead, Thora begins to worry that her task could be an impossible one.

This third in the Thora Gudmundsdóttir series begins with one of the most bizarre murders I’ve ever read. And it does set the tone for the rest of the book. Once again Sigurdardóttir weaves fascinating Icelandic history into the story – the eruption on Heimaey Island and the Cod War (yes, Cod War).

I do love the setting and Thora, but there are some little inconsistencies throughout the story that I generally have to err on the side of being possibly lost in translation. It was pretty maddening, though, when the characters kept returning to what seemed like very apparent clues without ever unraveling them. Regardless, I have to say I’m a solid fan of Sigurdardóttir and her work. Each book proves to be more weird and twisted than the one before.

3/15 Becky LeJeune

ASHES TO DUST by Yrsa Sigurdardóttir. Minotaur Books; Reprint edition (March 27, 2012). ISBN: 978-0312641740. 368p.

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WORLD GONE BY by Dennis Lehane

March 11, 2015

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Joe Coughlin Series (Book 2)

World Gone By is a continuation of Live By Night, which is perhaps the only flaw in a fascinating novel by Lehane. The book brings the characters created in the first book ten years into the future during the time of the Second World War, but without the information of the first novel there is a loss of continuity that the reader will miss.

Joe Coughlin, who had built an empire in Tampa, Florida for the Boston crime family he worked for, sees his work destroyed and his beloved wife killed in the first book, and is now the consigliere to the Bartolo crime family traveling back and forth for them between his home base in Tampa to Cuba. Joe works with and meets the mob families of Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano, connections with naval intelligence as well as the mob financed Cuban dictator Batista.

Lehane describes the rise of the mobs during World War Two, the murders, public official corruption and the intercine battles between the mob families. A gun battle on Ash Wednesday on the streets of Ybor City, Tampa is described in exacting detail bringing to life the violence and the complete disregard of law and order of the mobs.

The ending serves up a picture of ultimate payment by many of those that have lived a life without regard for the rights of others. It is another superb read served up by a master of his craft. Very well done.

3/15 Paul Lane

WORLD GONE BY by Dennis Lehane. William Morrow (March 10, 2015). ISBN: 978-0060004903. 320p.

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ASYLUM by Jeannette de Beauvoir

March 10, 2015

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There is a serial killer loose in Montréal, and the mayor asks Martine LeDuc, his director of PR, to act as liaison with the police department. Four women have been killed, their bodies left posed obscenely on park benches.

When the police charge a homeless man with the murders, Martine is afraid they are grasping at straws and the real killer is still out there. Luckily, renegade police detective Julian Fletcher is assigned the case, and they both go rogue.

Martine uncovers a link between the four women; all were involved with the Duplessis orphans, a decades old scandal. Orphanages found they could get more money from the government if the orphans were mentally ill, so the children were sent to asylums where many of them received lobotomies, electroshock treatments and hallucinogens and other drugs.

The story alternates between the present day investigation and one of the orphans telling their story, which really brings the tragedy intimately to life. Why the Duplessis orphans are involved after so many years is at the crux of this complex and heartbreaking mystery.

3/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

ASYLUM by Jeannette de Beauvoir. Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (March 10, 2015). ISBN 978-1250045393. 320p.

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LIFE OR DEATH by Michael Robotham

March 8, 2015

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What would cause a man to escape from prison one day before he is to be released? A perplexing question seeing that if caught escaping he faces another 20-25 years behind bars.

Audie Palmer does just that. After 10 years in jail, subject to constant physical and mental harassment, and without telling anyone Audie escapes. He was imprisoned after being caught at a holdup of an armored car carrying seven million dollars in which four people were killed. He pleaded guilty to participation in the crime and a plea bargain sent him away for the 10 years. During the robbery he was shot in the head by police arriving at the scene but survived after months in the hospital.

Michael Robotham, in a mesmerizing novel, answers the questions posed and treats his readers to an excellent read. The seven million dollars stolen from the armored car never reappeared and Audie is suspected of knowing where it is. Moreover, the cash is old bills, unmarked and destined for destruction by the authorities as a normal activity to keep the money supply clean. This means that it is easily spendable and untraceable. The armored car company has a contract to collect these bills from several banks at set periods and transport them to the site where they will be burned.

Robotham fleshes out the characters involved in his book quite well. Audie is a complex individual with a very high I.Q. who thinks things out and does not act rashly. We meet the authorities chasing him and learn to understand their motives in what is happening. This is definitely a book to finish in one sitting in order to satisfy the interest in what is really happening. Easily a five star novel and one that, if the reader has not read a book by Michael Robotham yet, will make sure that his future writings are anticipated and obtained.

3/15 Paul Lane

LIFE OR DEATH by Michael Robotham. Mulholland Books (March 10, 2015). ISBN: 978-0316252058. 432p.

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