REVIEWS FROM MARION E. CASON
LIARS ALL
A Brodie Farrell Mystery
JO BANNISTER
Minotaur Books March, 2010
Brodie Farrell has her own business - she finds things that other people cannot. Her friend, Daniel Hood, a sometimes math teacher, helps her, mainly with the records, and pitches in with investigations when Brodie is unavailable. Brodie is preoccupied with finding a treatment for her young son, Jonathan's, cancerous brain tumor. At sixteen months, Jonathan's health is declining. He is weak and listless. Has Brodie exhausted all avenues?
Daniel accepts a commission to find a valuable black star sapphire necklace stolen during a hit and run accident. Daniel realizes he may have taken on a job he cannot solve. His word of honor is at stake so he really cannot give up the hunt. When Brodie returns from her latest trip, exhausted and unsuccessful, she tells Daniel to buy another necklace similar to the one stolen. Daniel cannot do it - it would be lying, something he cannot do. Daniel stands firm and Brodie insults Daniel, the first time she has stepped over that line of friendship. There are tense words and Brodie fires Daniel after insulting him some more. Daniel leaves and says he will directly bill the client for his time and services. Daniel is hurt, but determined to stand fast with his ethics in place.
Deacon, who is Jonathan's father, has his own dilemma. He knows who has the stolen necklace. Confronted by Deacon with proof that Terry Walsh's wife Caroline wore that necklace, Terry has to tell the truth, or is it the truth? Is he protecting someone in his family? Deacon finally uncovers what really happened. However, Walsh is not so lucky. For years, the two men have known one of them would fall. Walsh admits his part in the cover-up and Deacon has Terry arrested.
Another dilemma is leaving Deacon with an ethical problem. Can he and Brodie accept help from the Walsh family for a new drug study in Sweden that just may be the last chance of help for their son? Terry and Caroline understand the dilemma facing Deacon and Brodie, but they have been friends for a long time and want to help them with no strings attached. All funds they donated to the clinic came from their legitimate business.
All the lies in LIARS ALL have solutions and get resolved. However, at what price? Is the price too high for the loss of a dear friend, the career of Jonathan's father, and the goodness of neighbors who truly care for Jonathan? LIARS ALL is an excellent read that I found intriguing, with so many people torn with problems of ethics. The underlying story of Jonathan's illness made the path easier to navigate.
I plan to read more of Jo Bannister's mysteries.
- Marion E. Cason
CAPITOL BETRAYAL
WILLIAM BERNHARDT
Ballantine Books March, 2010
Ben Kincaid is at his best when presenting a case before a court. In CAPITOL BETRAYAL, Kincaid defends the President in an impromptu court deep within the bomb shelter under the White House.
A threat of an incoming ballistic missile (one of ours) sends Zimmer, head of the Secret Service detail assigned to President Kyler, into action to protect Kyler. Kyler, his top cabinet members and Kincaid were in heated conversation when Zimmer rushed into the meeting and propelled him out another door heading to the bomb shelter. Kyler stops Zimmer and demands an explanation. He tells the others, who are also being led to the shelter. President Zuko, military dictator of Kuraq, got control of our defense missiles and aimed one at the White House. Zuko had spoken with President Kyler to demand the immediate withdrawal of American troops from Kuraq borders or there would be consequences. President Kyler refused, so Zuko sent a ballistic missile aimed at the White House, but it landed in the Potomac River.
Many questions arise from this incident, like "How did Zuko get control of all our missiles?"
Kincaid watches the reaction of the President and observes his different behavior. He wonders if something is wrong with the President. The Vice President, also in the same bunker, notices Kyler too. He and the Secretary of Defense demand President Kyler step down. They claim Amendment 25 of the Constitution permits declaring the President insane, with the Vice President taking over as President. Kincaid claims there has to be a trial.
Kincaid tells everyone there is a mole within President Kyler's inner circle. During the trial Kincaid learns who that person is and how a simple weakness can undermine a public figure's career.
William Bernhardt cleverly plays Kincaid's intelligence to defuse a volatile situation. CAPITOL BETRAYAL is the 18th in the Ben Kincaid series and is just as exciting as the first one. The series has not become familiar nor have the story lines lost interest. I hope Bernhardt has many more to come.
- Marion E. Cason
THE FALLEN
MARK TERRY
Oceanview Publishing April, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-933515-75-5
THE FALLEN, by Mark Terry, is a fast-moving novel detailing the takeover of the Summit 20 conference at the Cheyenne Resort in Colorado Springs. The chapters are very short, fast-paced and action driven. The vast complexity of the needs of agencies from the countries represented took a massive amount of time to get every piece into place. The coordination is brilliantly orchestrated between the various world-wide agencies. The CIA kept tabs on all espionage agents and issued orders to key men if they felt an agent had flipped sides.
As the statesmen took their places on the hall floor and stage, the conference began as scheduled. When the first speaker finished and the US President stood to welcome everyone, a man stood up and commanded the floor. He called himself the Fallen Angel, leader of a rogue group of radicals that made themselves known to the group. The Communications center, with a live feed to Washington, became active as the Fallen Angel told those in Washington they had taken over the conference and were now demanding the release of all the Fallen Angels in Guantanamo Bay. They had five minutes to agree or one of the statesmen on the platform would be killed. On the platform, the US President said no. Fallen Angel looked at the world leaders to decide who to kill first. The Saudi Arabia Prince made a remark that cost him his life. The President gave permission to those in Washington to agree to the demands.
Somehow, guards inside the hall were dropping dead. Fallen Angel demanded to know if David Stillwater was really dead or was he there in Colorado. Washington told Fallen Angel he was dead. While all the negotiations were taking place, Michael Gabriel, aka David Stillwater, was systematically trying to locate all the bombs and to locate radio
control devices to set off these bombs. He took out the enemy, one by
one as they closed in on him.
Every detail of THE FALLEN is thoroughly thought out and delivered. This mystery keeps the reader guessing and wondering if a particular agent has flipped sides. How did Mark Terry keep all the players straight?
This is a well-written novel on a timely problem with terrorists in today's world.
- Marion E. Cason
JUSTICE IN JUNE
BARBARA LEVENSON
Oceanview Publishing June, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-933515-71-7
JUSTICE IN JUNE takes place in the Miami-Dade County of Florida, during the month of June - the rainiest time of the year. Mary Magruder Katz, criminal defense lawyer, has her own practice with Caroline as her assistant. Her good friend Judge Liz Maxwell calls and asks Mary if she can have a private meeting with her after court. Mary says of course and to come by at 5:30. Liz wants it kept secret. When Liz gets to Mary's office, they catch up on their news, and then Liz talks about her problem. Mary is shocked but realizes how this could seriously affect Liz's career. What Mary uncovers reveals a corrupt court system.
Mary is reviewing Liz's court cases when Mary's friend Carlos Martin interrupts her to ask if she can locate his family's close friend, Luis Corona. He just flew from Argentina to Miami, but the family has not heard from him in two days. There is a report in the news that Homeland Security arrested a would-be terrorist at Miami Airport and took that person away for interrogation. None of the courts show any charges filed against Luis. None of the jails or detention centers shows Luis as an inmate.
Mary has two high profile cases with serious consequences. Can this get worse? There is a class-action lawsuit against Carlos for not honoring his sales agreement with buyers of the condos he is building. They say he has gone beyond the due dates. Some of the buyers want their deposits back and agreements dissolved. Can Mary get him out of this lawsuit before he loses everything? Mary handles this case easily.
Finally, Mary gets some answers to Luis' case - Homeland Security never charged him with anything and is keeping him in isolation. Since Homeland Security will not allow anyone access to Luis, Mary calls attention to this shameful situation on the steps of the Federal Court House. The media has a field day with her information.
Mary persuades a Judge to hold court immediately before Homeland Security can whisk Luis out of the country. The Judge puts a temporary restraining order on Homeland Security keeping Luis in the United States. The Judge continues the case for a week when the prosecutor is to have evidence and witnesses indicating that Luis is a terrorist. Instead, Homeland Security has Luis on a plane ready to fly to another location and it would take them four hours to bring him back to court.
The Judge stomps out of court and arranges for a military helicopter to fly Luis to the court in fifteen minutes. The Judge tells the prosecutor if he learns nothing else, it is that Homeland Security is not above the law in any Federal District Court.
JUSTICE IN JUNE is a fun legal thriller, one you will find hard to put down until the end. The chapters are short, fast-moving between the rain drops and to the point. EXCELLENT.
INJUSTICE FOR ALL
SCOTT PRATT
Obsidian PBO 5/10
When Joe Dillard starts practicing law in Tennessee, he handles mostly murder cases. He and his best friend Ray Miller, another lawyer, compare notes. Both men agree Judge Green is corrupt. There is neither rhyme nor reason for his dismissing cases when all the evidence is there and/or the defendant admits he committed the crime. Judge Green tells both lawyers which cases to dismiss, which cases have no solid evidence and which cases he will throw out of court.
INJUSTICE FOR ALL appears to affect everyone in this third Joe Dillard thriller. Dillard has switched from defense lawyer to the district attorney's office. As the Assistant District Attorney, he has better control of which cases he would prosecute. He would prosecute the ones that have solid evidence, and dismiss those where the evidence is weak. On the other hand, does he really have control? Sometimes the District Attorney would override Joe and tell him what cases to pursue. Judge Green -- short-tempered, rude, and downright nasty -- decides which case to dismiss, or he will tell the defense lawyer his case is weak and dismiss it.
Miller is still defending clients. Judge Green finally steps over the line Miller has drawn for himself by dismissing a strong case with plenty of hard evidence. Miller is so mad and angered at how outrageous Green is acting that he loses his temper, shoots Judge Green and misses. Before Joe Dillard can reach Miller, Miller pulls the trigger on himself and shoots. Judge Green is killed later that night at his home.
Dillard feels guilty that he did not do more for Miller. Dillard visits Miller's wife and asks where her son is because he needs to talk to him. Mrs. Miller is so mad at Dillard for not telling her himself about her husband's death, she kicks him out of the house. Green is a judge in the Federal Court system, therefore his case becomes a Federal case. The FBI moves in working hard to solve the case quickly. They jump to conclusions and stretch facts to match evidence, and step on everyone's toes. The FBI focus on only one suspect. The county sheriff seems the only cool-headed one that solves the thriller with help from Dillard.
INJUSTICE FOR ALL is a well-written thriller. The characters are fully developed, and the story line moves fast with bits of evidence thrown in here and there and passed over for other ideas. I plan to pick up the first two in the series to see if Pratt left any clues about a fourth Joe Dillard book.
A MUST READ.
RULES OF VENGEANCE
CHRISTOPHER REICH
Anchor Books Trade pb 5/10
The opening pages take us to the busy Borough of Westminster in London. A powerful car bomb causes casualties, many wounded, car fires, and blown-out windows in buildings at the intersection. The Russian Interior Minister was in one of the cars in a motorcade at the intersection when the bomb went off. From this powerful opening, the thriller just gets more intense and short chapters carry the pace.
Jonathan Ransom had accepted the fact that his wife, Emma, had been lost in an avalanche (in RULES OF DECEPTION). But then Emma calls him; very much alive. She plans a reunion for a weekend while he is in London to present a paper at a doctor's convention. He found out she is a spy with a special elite group and has many aliases. Jonathan is hoping he can persuade her to stop being a spy and make a home with him somewhere.
The blast from the bomb forces Jonathan, a doctor with Doctors Without Borders, through a car windshield leaving some cuts to his face. Did he see his wife Emma running off? Jonathan looks at the crater where she had parked her car. He glances around to see if he can catch sight of her. A man on fire calls for help. He flies out of a car and lands in the street. Jonathan runs over to him and puts out the fire in his hair and shirt. A female police officer sees Ransom and hears him calling out a name, but to no avail. She comes running towards him, gun drawn. Another police officer comes up behind Ransom and cuffs him. He resists and runs off.
The police are after Emma and believe Jonathan can lead them to her. He traces her steps and just misses her. He ends up at the hotel where they honeymooned in France, but she has not returned there yet. Jonathan lays low while the police who are following him just miss him at each stop. Jonathan believes he has to become a spy himself in order to find Emma.
RULES OF VENGEANCE is full of action. The police in Britain and France are after Emma. When Jonathan learns what her last job is, he wants to stop her. Jonathan believes he can persuade Emma to leave the spy business. Although he knows she is successful at whatever job she has, this job is the most deadly of all. Since she is most successful, you hope that this time, Emma will be unsuccessful. Jonathan realizes he is no longer in love with Emma or whoever she is.
If you enjoy Reich's thrillers, you will not be disappointed with RULES OF VENGEANCE. I hope Reich has another thriller in store for his readers.
TSI: THE INFLUENZA BOMB
PAUL McCUSKER and WALT LARIMORE, MD
Howard Books / Simon & Schuster Trade PBO 6/10
TSI: THE INFLUENZA BOMB is a modern day thriller about an epidemic like the 1918 Spanish Flu, but this flu bug is more powerful and deadly. A normally healthy person wakes up in the morning feeling achy, and running a temperature, and by nightfall that person is dead. TSI stands for Time Scene Investigators, a group who investigate past medical disasters in order to predict and prevent possible future pandemics.
Dr. Susan Hutchinson from WHO (World Health Organization), a specialist in viral epidemics, arrives in Novosibirsk, Siberia, where she finds things are much worse than reported by the Russian Government. She calls on her good friend Col. James MacLayton for help. They will look for the source of this outbreak and will try to find a cure with help from scientists Mark Carlson and Nora Richards.
The eco-terrorist group Return To Earth is trying to destroy all of humanity by unleashing influenza bombs on major cities across the globe as a way to return the earth to nature, without humans. The Nazis developed a way to weaponize the deadly flu bug. The group has uncovered what the Nazis were working on in their vast system of underground labs and tunnels large enough that trucks could drive underground and then surface in another country and leave heavy containers near water supplies from Russia to Austria to Germany. The Nazis had a cure for the flu known as Liebfraumilch, but it is unknown to anyone. Dr. Hutchinson and scientists Carlson and Richards have to find the antivirus cure to save Earth from this new breed of terrorists. Can they beat the terrorists in finding the antivirus? Does the antivirus work?
Dr. Hutchinson has traced the source of this outbreak to a scientist speaking at a conference in France. He then flew to Russia and disappeared. When leads continue to focus on the system of tunnels, Dr. Hutchinson joins in the search to uncover any information she can.
TSI: THE INFLUENZA BOMB is fast-paced and exciting, with a lot of food-for-thought. Although this is fiction, with very little stretch of the imagination this could happen today. Let us hope WHO and TSI organizations are up to date on the latest activities of any fanatic group. TSI: THE INFLUENZA BOMB is well worth reading, although you may stay up to make sure Dr. Hutchinson is not left stuck in the collapsing tunnels. I think I'll go back read their first books.
- Marion E. Cason
WHIPLASH
CATHERINE COULTER
G. P. Putnam's Sons June, 2010
WHIPLASH is the fourteenth FBI thriller in Catherine Coulter's bestseller series with Savich and Sherlock pitted against a ruthless multinational drug company, Schiffer Hartwin.
Yale Professor Dr. Kender's father is undergoing chemotherapy for colon cancer. One of his drugs, Culovort, just came off patent but the supply of the drug has become scarce. This drug is well-tolerated and very successful when combined with another cancer drug. A new drug is now available but it costs over $40,000 for that one drug. So far, there are problems with its side effects. Once a patient switches to that drug, they cannot go back to Culovort.
Why would a German pharmaceutical company cut back on its Culovort production in its United States and Spanish facilities? A French pharmaceutical company is reaping the profit on a similar but more costly drug not covered by insurance. Have the companies made a deal?
Dr. Kender seeks out Erin Pulaski, a private investigator. Kender tells Erin the drug company is having problems with their production line and supplies. There is a severe shortage of the drug and it will run out soon. They are rushing to correct the problems but it will take many months to get the lines up and working. Dr. Kender does not believe that all their facilities are down. He wants Erin to find out what is really going on because he suspects the shortage is profit-driven.
Runners found a mutilated body in a park near the drug company. Since the park is on Federal land, they call in the FBI. The FBI finds a connection to the break-in at Senator Hoffman's mansion and the dead man. Erin stays close to Agent Bowie Richards because she is hoping to learn what the FBI has found. Erin wisely decides to confide in Bowie because she thinks she has uncovered the reasons the French company has high supplies of the expensive drug. Caskie Royal, the CEO of Schiffer Hartwin, Senator Hoffman and other officers in Germany have all received large amounts of funds that they have transferred to their individual accounts overseas.
Senator Hoffman sees an apparition and two FBI specialists, the husband and wife team Savich and Sherlock, arrive with Erin and Bowie to combine efforts. Does Senator Hoffman sense his deceased wife is trying to warn him? Of what?
WHIPLASH is a fascinating pharmaceutical thriller. Although this is fiction, you wonder how often similar situations occur when a successful drug comes off the market and a new drug is substituted that is not as effective and is very costly. Could the manufacturers of the new drug reap the profits in a similar scheme? Moreover, is this flirting with the fringes of the antitrust laws?
A MUST READ THRILLER THAT IS VERY TIMELY.