Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

Click book cover to purchase

Peter Deutermann had one brilliant career which essentially prepared him for his second successful career. He entered the United States Navy, receiving his commission upon graduating from Annapolis, and rose to the rank of Captain before retiring. He then embarked on his second career which is as a well received author with a great array of fiction dealing with police procedural as well as military novels to his credit. The Iceman is a rousing novel about submarine action in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters set during the early days of World War II.

Malachi Stormes takes a submarine through minefields right up to a base where Nazi submarines are moored and manages to sink three of them in a brilliant maneuver. Britain, under whose auspices he is sailing, decorates him, and the U.S. promotes him and assigns him as captain of a new class of submarine fighting Japan in the Pacific. Malachi finds that he has several problems that must be solved if he is to be successful with his new command. First and foremost the Admiral commanding the submarine fleet in the Pacific insists on use of a newly designed torpedo utilizing a magnetic action which has a very high failure rate. Malachi must actually circumvent official policy if he is to be successful in sinking Japanese ships. He also has to shape his crew up, especially so as they had a skipper who took no chances and consequently sank no ships. He also bucks the command chain alienating the admiral in charge.

The theme of the book is that success is only granted to men that do creative thinking and do not succumb to the rules of the game becoming hidebound by military regulation that prevents initiative. It does seem more than a little strange that a retired career military officer would take a bit of a jab against the institution that he spent 26 years of his life working with. But, this is not the first instance that Deutermann takes the tack that what the military needs for success is promoting some independent thought among it’s members. A difficult thing to accomplish due to the organization necessary to achieve goals in the chaos of battle.

Like his previous books, the writing is crisp and the technique and format guarantee sleepless nights to readers. The discussions of combat and use of the ordinance taking part in the battles is, of course, described by an expert. These are presented in terms that allow the reader to understand what the equipment is doing and what it takes to guide it in battle. A fascinating picture of naval warfare that took place 70 years ago and also of the men and women that fought it.

8/18 Paul Lane

THE ICEMAN by P. T. Deutermann. St. Martin’s Press (August 21, 2018).  ISBN 978-1250181374. 320p.

Kindle

Audible

Click book cover to purchase

The author is Danish, writes in Danish, but has evolved a wide audience in the rest of the world via translations and the well written novels he turns out. His knowledge of the political system in the United States and its constitutional checks and balances is certainly evident in the background and presentation of the “Washington Decree”. Although he is mainly known internationally for his books featuring “Department Q” this novel is a well done stand alone and includes one of the most mesmerizing conspiracy plots I have seen in a long time.

The leading characters met 16 years prior to the opening of The Washington Decree, during a trip to China, and the five individuals have maintained contact since then. Dorothy (Doggie) Rodgers and Wesley Barefoot are both working at the White house for Bruce Jansen, just elected President with both Doggie and Wesley active in the election campaign. Both people are romantically interested in the other but work and events have so far prevented a more heated exchange.

Doggie’s father is the wealthy owner of a chain of hotels and is a staunch Republican. While Jansen is a Democrat, Doggie’s father feels incumbent upon himself to offer one of his hotels as a place to hold the inaugural ball and ceremonies. While celebrating victory, tragedy strikes when the President’s wife is gunned down by one the workers at the hotel.

Jansen immediately decides to take the position of getting rid of the violence, unilaterally he comes up with new rules that cause chaos in the U.S. making international travel almost impossible. Constant roadblocks and stops by police and soldiers cause the same stalemate as in travel abroad. And for Doggie, the ultimate horror occurs when her father is accused of masterminding the murder of the President’s wife. To make matters worse President Jansen decides that the normal lapses between sentencing and carrying out of the death penalty will no longer include the normal appeals that can last as long as ten years. Therefore it looks like her father will be executed in a matter of a few weeks.

Beside Doggie’s natural urge to exonerate her father and get him out of prison, there is an evolving censorship of all media, the probable insurrection by militia against Jansen’s dictatorial decrees and the complete insecurity of the citizenry unable to count on previously guaranteed rights and liberties. Adler-Olsen’s description of the chaos running rampant in the United states is quite vivid and possibly even understated if such conditions were to actually occur. What is done to alleviate the problem will certainly provide the reader with some sleepless time and a keen interest in getting more novels from the author.

An A+ novel at the very least.

8/18 Paul Lane

THE WASHINGTON DECREE by Jussi Adler-Olsen. Dutton (August 7, 2018).  ISBN 978-1524742522. 592p.

Kindle

Audible

Click book cover to purchase

Elkins delivers us a two for one delightful trip into the complex world of fine art buying, selling and exhibiting. The first part of the trip is a well done “who done it” concerning the theft of two priceless paintings. The second part is a primer on the intricacies of dealing with art; its valuations, its insiders that make livings off it and why some paintings are worth fortunes and others almost nothing.

Art curator Val Caruso is an assistant to the head curator at the prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He has reached a triple whammy in his life. He has been passed over for promotion, his divorce from his wife has just been finalized, and he feels in a rut in general. A group of paintings in Italy have been offered for exhibit at museums around the United States and Val is chosen to travel to Milan on behalf of all the prospective exhibitors to coordinate necessary details and requirements to bring the works to the America. The trip might be made to order for him to temporarily get out of Dodge.

Before leaving on the trip he is asked while in Italy if he would attempt to obtain a pair of Renoir paintings from their owner in Milan and restore them to a man whose family had them stolen by Italian Fascists at the end of World War II. The art work is early Renoir and not listed in catalogs delineating the artist’s later paintings. This fact alone makes them extremely valuable. Val understands that the legalities surrounding art stolen and than resold to legitimate buyers is fuzzy in the extreme, but does promise to see if the present owner will consent to lend the two paintings to Sol Bezzecca the last living descendant of the family that originally owned them. Apparently this is an action that might satisfy all concerned with the paintings restored upon the death of Bezzecca to the owner.

Arriving in Milan Val finds himself involved with the present day remnants of a plot beginning decades ago involving forgers, thieves and an unknown someone that wants him out of the way due to his art expertise. Val had lived in Milan years ago to work with and learn the trade of art dealing and still has friends there that he can call upon for help.

The novel is a well done story set within the technical confines of the movement of fine art from sellers to buyers. Elkins gives the reader all the information necessary to understand the intricacies of fine art buying and selling without too much redundancy to spoil the read. I found myself in a welcome learning experience while enjoying a very good novel.

8/18 Paul Lane

A LONG TIME COMING by Aaron Elkins. Thomas & Mercer (August 7, 2018).  ISBN 978-1503902381. 268p.

Click book cover to purchase

Steinhauer postulates a United States on the brink  of revolution due to the uncaring and selfish policies of our elected leaders. Consequently, in the early summer of 2017, four hundred people just disappear, leaving their worldly possessions behind them.  Where have they gone to and what is the reason for the disappearance? When heard from the group styles itself the Massive Brigade and they believe that necessary change is not coming fast enough to really bring the country to again be prepared to take care of the cultural needs as well as those necessities vital for life such as food and shelter for the population.

FBI Special Agent Rachel Proulx has been following the sprouting of left wing political groups for several years and is very familiar with Martin Bishop who is the charismatic leader of the Massive Brigade. But Rachel has her work cut out for her in getting her peers and supervisors at the FBI to take thedissidents seriously. She digs into the workings and leadership of the Massive Brigade and what she discovers, including murder shocks the country and sends a wake up call to the Administration as well as the leadership of the FBI.

Character development leaves something to be desired and I felt that the emphasis on a lot of conversation does detract somewhat from what is a great idea and worthy of an Olen Steinhauer novel.

8/18 Paul Lane

THE MIDDLEMAN by Olen Steinhauer. Minotaur Books (August 7, 2018).  ISBN 978-1250036179. 368p.

Click book cover to purchase

A novel originally written in Hebrew and than becoming the first of Zur’s books to be translated into English. The background for the story is one of the most exotic settings possible. The action takes place in India, several cities and a wild frontier near Pakistan. Descriptions are tendered by an author that through his own travels and adventures has seen these areas and witnessed the events described that play out as background.

Dotan Naor, an ex-Israeli Operator turned private investigator, takes up a bet he has made with an acquaintance of his who is privately a ruthless individual selling Israeli made weaponry to any buyer that can pay for them. Willy Mizrachi bets that in one year from the date he meets with Dotan he will have his son returning to work for him with a wife and child in tow. Like many ex-Israeli soldiers, his son decides to travel to the Himalayas in India in order to “find himself”. Dotan takes the bet but than finds himself forced to go after Willy who has taken the initiative to go after his son himself.

The makings of a great story and the descriptions of cities in India, their overcrowding, poverty, filth and total corruption coupled with the fascinating views of a part of the Indian subcontinent that includes Tibet and borders with Pakistan and China are unfortunately not enough to make up for a rambling style of writing. The characters not at all fleshed out move from scene to scene listlessly making for a novel that leaves the reader trying to keep up with what’s going on and who is where. The fact that Zur has published other books featuring Dotan Naor might mean that it is the fault of the translation of this novel that causes the problem, but with that “Death in Shangri-La” does not live up to the promise of the exotic setting and events that are not touched upon outside of Israel and India.

8/18 Paul Lane

DEATH IN SHANGRI-LA by Yigal Zur. Oceanview Publishing; Sew edition (August 7, 2018).  ISBN 978-1608092994. 272p.

Click to purchase

A Dewey Andreas Novel, Book 8

There is one thing absolutely sure about any book featuring Dewey Andreas – there will be action galore! Since Ben Coes first introduced Dewey as an employee of an ocean-going drill rig, his character has grown in stature and the violence that he interacts with along with his increasing importance to the U.S. government. Bloody Sunday finds Dewey reeling from previous adventures narrated in prior books. He is getting ready to retire from the CIA and just relax. Obviously this is not a possibility for Dewey – his country needs him and fast.

North Korea has successfully developed nuclear bombs but not the long range missiles necessary to deliver them to their arch enemy – the United States. But of course where there is a will there is always a way and so it is that a trade has been planned between the North Koreans and another mad regime in Iran.

The Iranians will exchange two missiles for nuclear triggers and fissionable material to help them develop their own anti west weaponry. But both of these evil doers have not reckoned on Dewey Andreas being called up by the president of the United States to break up the scheme.

Present with the CIA is a brilliant British agent on loan to aid in inter-agency relations. It is a young lady who is quite pretty and trying to get over the murder of her husband. It is thought that her husband was killed in error in place of her. Jenna Hartford, the exchange agent has come up with a scheme to inject a poison into the person of the high level North Korean officer that will be handling the trade between Iran and his country. An antidote would be hidden somewhere in the city of Pyongyang the capital of North Korea to deliver to the officer injected once he delivers the secret plans for the firing of the missiles to the U.S. Obviously Dewey is the ideal man to handle the tasks of both breaking up the trade,and injecting the poison.

Action involves the first set of problems complicated by Dewey injecting himself with a tiny quantity of the poison and than having only 24 hours to go after the antidote. The events are machine gun fast and calculated to keep the reader drawn to the book with no inclination to put it down. Of course the novel leaves us with the ingredients for the next book featuring Dewey Andreas and the possibility of a romance while involved with the events he faces.

6/18 Paul Lane

BLOODY SUNDAY by Ben Coes. St. Martin’s Press (July 31, 2018).  ISBN 978-1250140760. 400p.

Click book cover to purchase

Serong has written two novels in one. First it is a story involving men against the sea. Than it is a strong political message about the harm being done by the Australian policy regarding refugees from their neighbor, Indonesia. The “Java Ridge” is a boat sailing out of Indonesia providing tourism to groups of well heeled individuals. Sailing at the same time is the “Takalar” a boat similar to the “Java Ridge” but bearing people looking to escape the horrors of life in Indonesia.

The Java Ridge puts in to a sheltered reef on the Indonesian island of Dana with a storm approaching. The Takalar is caught by the same storm and driven into the shelter, but not before it has been destroyed by the power of the gale. In the meanwhile a new maritime policy regarding aid to asylum seeking vessels in distress has been put into place by the Australian government. Cassius Calvert who is the minister for border integrity is being browbeaten by the Prime Minister as a new election takes place. The PM wants him to enforce the policy without thought about any people effected by it.

With the circumstances enveloping both boats brought together by fate on the island of Dana, Serong presents the individuals comprising those sailing on the boats. Isi Natoli is the skipper of the Java Ridge. She is part owner of the boat with her boyfriend who was not able to make this trip. Roya and her pregnant mother are on the Takalar looking forward to freedom away from a repressive government. All are brought together by the circumstances presented to them by fate.

Serong has written a totally engrossing novel about people caught up in a set of uncaring government regulations and paying a great price through no fault of their own. The book moves inexorably towards an ending that is both frightening as well as indicative of the uncaring nature of government regulation. Certainly a mesmerizing description of government out of control.

5/18 Paul Lane

ON THE JAVA RIDGE by Jock Serong. Text Publishing Company (June 12, 2018).  ISBN 978-1925498394. 320p.