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Byrne and Balzano #8

Mr. Marseille and Annabelle are young, good-looking, beautifully dressed, and exceedingly polite murderers. We meet them when they kill a teenage girl, pose her in macabre fashion on a freshly painted bench, and leave her with an invitation to a tea dance.

Philadelphia homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano are assigned the case. On the day of the tea dance, two more bodies are found, this time with another invitation to a tea dance, along with a doll that is an exact replica of the first victim; things get progressively darker from there.

More bodies and more dolls keep Byrne and Balzano following a path that takes them tantalizingly close, yet the twists and turns keep coming as they are thwarted by this young couple time and again.

The relationships here are interesting; Marseille and Annabelle are an enigma, which is nicely juxtaposed by the relationship between the detectives, who have worked together so long that they can practically read each other’s thoughts.

Longtime fans of the series will not be disappointed; The Doll Maker is just plain good, creepy fun.

Copyright ©2015 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

4/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE DOLL MAKER by Richard Montanari.  Mulholland Books (April 28, 2015).  ISBN 978-0316244732. 496p.

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Hollywood, tinsel town, in the late 1930s is the setting for the novel by the versatile Ace Collins. It’s a time before computer enhanced special effects where giant studios created the images seen on the screen through human ingenuity. And big name stars made movies with an eye to creating diversions for people caught up in the horror of the great depression.

Shelby Beckett and her family have to leave their farm in Oklahoma due to drought and financial ruin. A situation made familiar by John Steinbeck in several of his books. Her father has been promised help in securing a job with a studio in Hollywood, and Shelby also manages to obtain a position in the wardrobe department as a seamstress.

Charmed by the stars, Flynn Sparks and his rival Dalton Andrews, two of the biggest luminaries working for the studio Shelby becomes exposed to the party atmosphere they exist in. She becomes familiar with stars like Clark Gable and Cary Grant. She is also attractive enough to possibly become an actress.

Collins utilizing the atmosphere of this era sets up a murder mystery involving a serial killer that selects starlets as his prey. Bill Barrester is the police detective assigned to catch the killer and at one crucial point asks Shelby to help him.

As in all Ace Collins’ novels the action is fast, the characters interesting and well fleshed out. The book is more a fast read than an engrossing one, but Collins very rarely disappoints and Hollywood Lost is no exception.

4/15 Paul Lane

HOLLYWOOD LOST by Ace Collins. Abingdon Press (April 21, 2015). ISBN978-1426771880. 320p.

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This is the second book in a planned trilogy set in a part of the South still rooted in deep racial division. It begins about the time of the Katrina hurricane and flooding of New Orleans. The first of the three novels, “Natchez Burning,” set the stage for the conflicts carried on in this book, with Penn Cage, the mayor of Natchez.

Penn, an attorney, is forced to defend his father Tom Cage on a murder charge in the slaying of Tom’s one time mistress and nurse in his father’s medical office. The nurse had moved out the area years ago after being raped by members of the Double Eagles, a terror group allied with the Ku Klux Klan. She lived in Chicago for many years and only came back when she was diagnosed with cancer so she could die where she grew up. The Double Eagle members and corrupt police accuse Tom of a mercy killing in order to ease her suffering.

Iles, although writing fiction, describes in detail the corruption existing in the area of the south under discussion. He indicates that Katrina forced many African Americans out of New Orleans when their homes were destroyed and powerful white groups plotted to rebuild the city in a different way. The plan only included more expensive homes and apartments in order to prevent the poorer Negros from returning. In addition white gangsters took the opportunity to assassinate their black rivals and take over their territory.

Touched on in the first book and brought out with more detail in this novel is the idea that the killings of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther king originated with the New Orleans mafia. Iles brings to bear a good deal of research into the John F. Kennedy murder. His knowledge of the ballistics, placement of individuals involved and planning describe a different scenario other than Lee Harvey Oswald as the sole assassin and sets up more of a conspiracy than originally thought.
Penn’s fiancee, Caitlin Masters, editor of a newspaper in Natchez owned by a group controlled by her father has her own part to play in bringing out facts and situations involved in the action. She meets and befriends the wife of an FBI agent investigating the John F. Kennedy killing’s New Orleans roots. Her friend is a world class news photographer and helps Caitlin with the development of the investigation.

The ending obviously sets up the third book coming in the trilogy. Iles writing is nothing short of mesmerizing and the over 800 pages flies by keeping the reader glued to the pages.

4/15 Paul Lane

THE BONE TREE by Greg Iles. William Morrow (April 21, 2015). ISBN 978-0062311115. 816p.

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Jim Born has been with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for so long he’s about ready to retire. So when he writes a police procedural, you can be sure it will be accurate. I’ve enjoyed all of his books and this new one is really terrific, especially if you like dogs.

Tim Hallett was a detective who got a little overzealous in his determination to find a missing child. He saved the child, but got booted from the detective squad. In a stroke of luck, he was paired up with a Belgian Malinois named Rocky as part of a new K-9 unit. Born really did his homework here, and I loved all the inside info on how these magnificent dogs are trained and treated.

When a teenager goes missing, the dogs (and their human partners) are called into action. They get led on a chase that is both devious and disturbing, especially for Hallett.

This is a fast paced story set in the wilds of south Florida, and I loved the occasional perspective from the dog. Another excellent read from this talented author.

4/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

SCENT OF MURDER by James O. Born.  Forge Books (April 7, 2015).  ISBN 978-0765378477. 304p.

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A thrill a minute legal novel written by a practicing attorney. Events involved in a high profile trial are brought to life by Mitzner allowing the reader to understand that the outcome is not a cut and dried guilty or not guilty situation but a verdict brought about by manipulations on both sides.

Aaron Littman, a 51 year old highly successful lawyer, and the chairman of a large and very prestigious wall street law firm is approached to talk with Nikolai Garkov. Garkov is currently awaiting trial on charges of terrorism for manipulating the financial strings behind recent treasonous acts. He offers Aaron 100,000.00 dollars just to take the meeting. Nikolai is to be tried under the gavel of Judge Faith Nichols and knows that Aaron had an affair with her while acting as defense in a previous case. He tells Aaron that if he doesn’t take his case the affair will be made very public.

Events move swiftly, and the machinations of both the prosecuting attorney in the Garkov case and Aaron and his associates are presented very clearly. Clouding the events is the murder of Judge Nichols and the blame placed on Littman. The majority of the book is a masterpiece of insight into the legal world. The climax becomes somewhat contrived but does not spoil a great piece of legal fiction.

It is clear that Mitzner will continue writing, in all likelihood in a field headed by John Grisham. His characters are very well sketched out and become alive in his hands. An old axiom about methods that should be used by authors is to write about areas that they know about. This is a given in Mitzner’s novel and should continue as he goes forward in the literary aspect of his career.

4/15 Paul Lane

LOSING FAITH by Adam Mitzner. Gallery Books (April 14, 2015). ISBN 978-1476764245. 368p.

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Livy and Will have some problems in their marriage; Will had an affair and lucky Livy gets to meet the ex-mistress at Will’s holiday work party. She’s stressing about it and ignores her best friend Julia’s texts that night.

Livy and Julia have been friends for 18 years, since Livy’s sister Kara was murdered walking home from a college party. They have plans for lunch the next day but when Livy gets there, she finds Julia dead on the sofa. The police rule it a suicide but Livy isn’t buying it.

Then Livy meets Julia’s secret boyfriend, and they team up to try to figure out what really happened. They delve into Julia’s life, and Livy is shocked to learn that Julia was obsessed with Kara’s unresolved murder and had never given up trying to find her killer.

Interspersed throughout the book are memoir type chapters written by the murderer so we can see how he evolves into a serial killer. Almost every person in Julia’s life becomes a suspect at one point or another, but the ending is a bit of a stretch in this suburban UK nightmare.

Copyright ©2015 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

4/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

YOU CAN TRUST ME by Sophie McKenzie. St. Martin’s Press (April 14, 2015). ISBN 978-1250033994. 304p.

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Dr. Eric Parrish is Chief of the psychiatric unit at a top rated hospital outside Philadelphia. His wife has filed for divorce and he is trying to remain the caring and involved dad he’s always been to their seven year old daughter. He is called to consult on a patient, an elderly woman dying of cancer, but quickly realizes it’s her caretaker, her 17 year-old grandson Max, who really needs the consult.

Max is suffering from a severe case of OCD, complete with rituals every fifteen minutes, plus depression issues exacerbated by his alcoholic mother and terminally ill grandmother. Max agrees to treatment, and a few sessions in he loses his grandmother and admits to having fantasies of killing a young woman – who ends up dead. Then he disappears.

Eric is extremely empathetic, an excellent quality in a psychiatrist, but becomes way too involved in searching for his missing patient and putting himself in harm’s way. By invoking doctor-patient privilege, he incurs the wrath of the police department and becomes a person of interest himself, getting suspended from his job and giving his wife ammunition in the child custody battle.

Occasional chapters from the killer’s viewpoint seem to lead the reader towards an obvious conclusion, but Scottoline has plenty of tricks up her sleeve, making this story twist and turn with one surprise after another. Every Fifteen Minutes is a standalone departure from her usual, should please her readers but also earn her some new fans.

Copyright ©2015 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

4/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

EVERY FIFTEEN MINUTES by Lisa Scottoline.  St. Martin’s Press (April 14, 2015).  ISBN 978-1250010117. 448p.

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Jack Dana is a star student of history at Yale University with a probable future in the academic world when he changes course right after the events of 9/11. He joins the Marines as an infantry officer and receives training in the world of damaging and killing other human beings; a far cry from the staid world of academia. He serves in both Iraq and Afghanistan and is seriously wounded in the field.

While recuperating from the wound he begins writing a book about his military experiences. Jack is invited to move in with his uncle Harry, his surrogate father, in New York’s Manhattan borough. He completes the novel while there, and with help from Harry finds a publisher who buys the book. He writes another novel and succeeds in selling that also.

Jack decides that with the success of two books he is entitled to a vacation and goes to Brazil staying at a ranch there for three months. Ultimately bored with the quiet life he flies home but an e-mail arrives indicating that uncle Harry has committed suicide by hanging himself in a home that he owns in Sag Harbor on Long Island.

Jack starts to delve into the apparent suicide and begins unearthing indications that Harry had begun gathering data about an Abner Brown who is the most important client for the law firm Harry worked for. In the course of Jack’s investigation he meets Kerry Black, a young woman employed by Harry’s law firm, with whom he strikes up a serious romance. He also gets help in his investigations from a college friend of his who now works for the CIA and realizes that uncle Harry was murdered in order to silence him from revealing what he has learned about Abner Brown’s real activities.

Begley keeps you reading, and although this is not an all nighter since there is little suspense in the story, it still is a good novel. The ending is expected but definitely sets the scene for more Jack Dana books incorporating the background intelligence he has with the ability to do physical damage to his enemies.

4/15 Paul Lane

KILLER COME HITHER by Louis Begley. Nan A. Talese (April 7, 2015). ISBN 978-0385539142. 256p.

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Andrew Gross returns to his detective Ty Hauck to bring us a novel replete with twists and turns and set in what has become oil country, Aspen, Colorado, thanks to the new technique of fracking. The area is rich in resources, but in a drought situation during the time of Gross’ story.

Dani Haller, college educated, has become a guide for a Whitewater rafting business enjoying the life as opposed to working at a desk for some large company. Leading a tour down the rapids near Aspen she comes upon the dead body of a close friend.

Trey Watkins’s death is ruled an accident by the authorities called to the scene, but Dani in returning to the area finds evidence that that is not the case. She takes her suspicions to Wade Dunn, the local chief of police, who is coincidentally her step father having married her mother when her real father died. Wade insists that the case is closed and is an accident. But Dani talks to a balloon operator who insists that that is not the case and witnessed something while flying over the area where Trey was killed.

Before “Rooster”, the balloon operator, can talk to Dani, he is killed along with four passengers by a seemingly freak accident to his balloon. Bringing her further suspicions of foul play to Wade Dunn causes the chief of police to jail her, seemingly for her own protection.

Dani’s father, currently working on a project in South America, calls on Ty Hauck to help his daughter. Hauck is coincidentally related to her and leaves a long term vacation he is on to go and help Dani. The descriptions of Ty are perhaps the best part of Gross’ handling of the events. The detective is portrayed as a human being, not the hard nosed sleuth of other books. He has been wounded in a previous novel and still recuperating from it, is not omnipotent by any means, does not possess super human strength and works in a logical and plodding manner to get to the crux of the matter. He is a person that can be seen as normal, possessing average intelligence, but instilled with the desire to see things to their conclusion.

In the course of the novel, Andrew Gross provides the reader with a description of what fracking for oil entails. He also indicates that rumors that this process poisons the land are not true, and that properly handled can bring the United States independence of supplies from the OPEC countries and lower costs to consumers and industry as well. The ending leaves Hauck in a position to take on more work, and the probable lead in future books by Gross. Well done and certainly one to lead the reader awaiting further Ty Hauck books.

4/15 Paul Lane

ONE MILE UNDER by Andrew Gross. William Morrow (April 7, 2015). ISBN 978-0061655999. 400p.