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Madge’s husband Frank has her kidnapped in hopes of collecting on an insurance policy, but she finds out, shoots him in the knees, and takes off with the $200,000. She plans on taking a Greek cruise with her best friend Karen, but Karen’s crazy one-eyed wolf-dog bites the ear off a man, so she takes the dog on the lam. Several characters, including Madge’s ex-husband, the kidnapper, a cop on suspension, a narcoleptic driver and more are following the money from Ireland to Greece.

This is screwball comedy at its most complicated, with super short chapters told from the viewpoints of myriad characters. These characters would be right at home in a comic book, but none are very sympathetic or believable, so it’s hard to find one to root for. The book is dialogue heavy, which helps move it along at a frantic pace. It’s not dark enough to be considered noir, but should appeal to Tim Dorsey fans and readers who like comic capers.

This is the sequel to The Big O and picks up right where that book left off, so it’s probably better to start there.

Copyright ©2014 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

7/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

CRIME ALWAYS PAYS by Declan Burke. Severn House Publishers; Sew edition (July 1, 2014). ISBN 978-0727883759. 256p.

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Buckell was raised in the Caribbean before he returned to the U.S. His novel provides an insight into the politics and problems of the islands that are currently mainly tourist areas. It is set a little into the future and brings the islands into a setting that has made them economically much different than they are today.

They have improved their infrastructures due to the finding and selling of large oil deposits in their offshore waters. Most important, an agency termed the Caribbean Intelligence Agency was formed by a consortium of the islands’ governments, trained by the CIA and British MI6. It consists of highly trained and capable agents fighting the enemies of the Caribbean.

Prudence (Roo) Jones was an agent of the Caribbean group until he built himself a personal fortune,retired and decided to dedicate his life to beach combing and traveling on his boat. Events that occurred prior to this novel’s opening made him the caretaker for his orphaned teenaged nephew. He is immersed in making sure that the boy goes to school and takes an interest in making sure that his nephew grows up to be a good citizen and adult.

A message is received from a former colleague marked, “You will get this if I am dead.” Roo had worked with that man while both were agents of the Caribbean Intelligence Agency and were firm friends. Roo goes after the package indicated in the message in the interest of following through on their friendship.

Shortly after the message arrives, a beautiful young lady knocks on his door announcing that she is his now deceased friend’s sister. While Roo knew that there was no sister he goes along with her to try and determine what she is after.

Buckell creates an atmosphere of constant action both with bad guys coming out, and several hurricanes starting up in a Caribbean whose weather patterns have greatly changed. The book retains the reader’s undivided attention and is definitely an all nighter as the various blanks are filled in including the young lady’s intentions and definitely setting up the next book in this series. Excellent read.

6/14 Paul Lane

HURRICANE FEVER by Tobias S. Buckell. Tor Books; First Edition edition (July 1, 2014). ISBN 978-0765319227. 272p.

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The Accident is a somewhat more conventional thriller than Pavone’s fine debut (The Expats, 2012), but he excels at developing characters back stories.

New York literary agent Isabel Reed plows through an anonymous manuscript in one night and immediately knows two things: the manuscript, a biography of a media mogul, will be a blockbuster, and people will die if word of its existence leaks. She’s also fairly sure she knows who the author is, but he’s dead – or is he?

Word does leak, in New York and Hollywood, and ambitious young women in publishing quickly die violently. Isabel and her chosen editor, Jeffrey Fielder, are on the run from resourceful, relentless killers.

Pavone’s plot twists nicely, shifting focus among a large cast of well-drawn characters and using flashbacks and changes of locale (Copenhagen, Zurich, Manhattan, Hollywood, the Hamptons) to build suspense. Isabel and Jeffrey, for example, are successful but frightened that changes in their business and the onset of middle age might make them has-beens, and they’re both recalling the mutual attraction they once had but didn’t act on.

Like Isabel, many readers will read this one through the night. Highly recommended.

6/14 Jack Quick

THE ACCIDENT by Chris Pavone. Crown; First Edition edition (March 11, 2014). ISBN 978-0385348454. 400p.

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Spenser series, Book 42

Say, haven’t I read this before on ESPN?

Kinjo Heywood was a college all-American at Auburn and is now a ferocious Pro Bowl middle linebacker for the New England Patriots. Unfortunately, he has a penchant for off-the field violence as well.

When he thinks he’s being followed, his agent hires Boston private investigator Spenser to find and discourage the followers. But Spenser’s simple bodyguard duty turns serious when Kinjo’s 10-year-old son is kidnapped.

Perhaps it was masterminded by the boy’s mother, Kinjo’s ex-wife. Nope. She has an alibi and is every bit as invested in the boy’s return as Kinjo. How about the current trophy wife? Nope again; Spenser eliminates her fairly quickly. Perhaps the kidnapping goes back to Kinjo’s possible involvement in a shooting death at a New York dance club.

The three superheroes – Spenser, longtime running buddy Hawk, and Spenser’s protégé Z – employ their usual investigative techniques of intimidation and smart-ass repartee to solve the case. Spenser is as tough and funny as ever, and Atkins has become a worthy successor to Parker.

6/14 Jack Quick

ROBERT B. PARKER’S CHEAP SHOT by Ace Atkins. Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (May 6, 2014).  ISBN 978-0399161582. 320p.

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The Brilliance Saga, Book Two

A continuation of Sakey’s novel “Brilliance,” in which we learned that beginning about 1980 approximately 1% of the population was born with gifts formerly only dreamed of. Some were very high level geniuses, some could sense the inner most thoughts of people they came in contact with, move around virtually unseen or make fortunes predicting the movements of the stock market. There arose a divide between the “Brilliants” as they were termed and the remainder of the population
deepening over the 30 years that followed.

Present day and the opening of this book finds a terrorist organization composed of Brilliants launching attacks against the normal population, crippling three cities by preventing communications, deliveries of goods to stores, no answers to 911 calls for help and fanatics among the group actually burning people alive.

Nick Cooper, introduced in “Brilliance” is a Brilliant, working for the U.S. government, opposed to the people launching war against the normals, volunteers to help the president combat the revolutionaries. He works against them as the country moves inexorably towards civil war with the revolutionaries determined to change the status quo even if it means destruction and devastation of the nation.

The ending abruptly sets up a third book in the series and like book one leaves the reader either awaiting the next book or uninterested in continuing. Sakey is a master writer and the middle part of A Better World is well executed, but leaving the reader trying to put pieces together. Well written, but spoiled by abrupt beginning and ending which brings the expectation that the whole would be better if written as one long novel.

Note: According to the publicist, Legendary Pictures is scheduled to start production on the film version of Brilliance later this year.

6/14 Paul Lane

A BETTER WORLD by Marcus Sakey. Thomas & Mercer (June 17, 2014).  ISBN 978-1477823941. 390p.

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In this latest outing for quadriplegic Lincoln Rhyme, someone is murdering people, killing them by injecting poison as he creates exquisitely detailed tattoos on their bodies. Not only is the case eerily to a previous case – The Bone Collector, but it seems the unknown perpetrator appears to have learned how to keep his crime scenes clean and evidence-free, from Rhyme’s own writings.

How do you catch a killer who’s learned how not to get caught by the best criminalist in the business?

Meanwhile, the Watchmaker, the fiendishly clever killer introduced in 2006’s The Cold Moon (but referred to in intervening books), still haunts Rhyme, even after the man’s death in prison, making it hard for the investigator to devote his full concentration to the murder case at hand.

Before its over, those near and dear to Lincoln, as well as Lincoln himself, are put into jeopardy. Another suspenseful and twist-filled entry in this always-exciting series about a wheelchair bound Sherlock Holmes.

6/14 Jack Quick

THE SKIN COLLECTOR by Jeffery Deaver . Grand Central Publishing; First Edition edition (May 13, 2014).  ISBN 978-1455517138. 448p.