PAPERBACK PAGE
Books reviewed on this page are current paperback releases that were reviewed in
when they were released in hard cover.
YEAR OF THE DOG
HENRY CHANG
Soho Crime Trade pb 11/09
The best immigration stories have to deal with the successful acculturation of a minority group into its new community. The worst are those that have the newcomers joining in to the fringe groups, participating in the pillaging of a society rather than contributing to it in a positive way. Unfortunately, the latter is the situation for many of the residents of the Chinatown community in New York City. The criminal element is becoming larger and more diverse; in addition to the Hong Kong-based triads, there is a group of Fukienese coming into power, resulting in turf wars with the established gangs.
Detective Jack Yu has just been transferred from a precinct where he was the only Asian member. In spite of the fact that he is no longer assigned to Chinatown cases, he can't escape what is going on in the area. One of his old friends, Tat Louie, also known as "Lucky," is a mob head and gang leader of one of the older groups. He's up against the Chinese triads and Fukienese. One of his competitors, Gee Sin, is a triad member who is masterminding a huge credit card fraud ring. Life on the streets is very mean, indeed. In addition to the specter of rival gangs threatening, virulent racism is the order of the day. Non-Chinese thugs continually engage in violent racist acts against their Asian neighbors.
The narrative details the actions of Lucky, Gee Sin, a bookie named Sai Go, and several others. Frankly, I was confused by all of the various gang characters, perhaps because their names were so foreign to me and I had difficulty relating to most of them. Similarly, I found the book to be very hard to follow. Chang used a lot of Chinese words throughout. Although he defined the words, each time a new word or phrase was introduced, it pulled me out of the story. When phrases were used more than once, I almost never could remember what they meant, which led to a frustrating feeling of non-comprehension.
CHINATOWN BEAT, the first book in this series, was a top read for me. I really empathized with the protagonist and anguished over the discrimination that he faced as a result of his heritage. THE YEAR OF THE DOG was much less personal, other than in one vignette involving the horrific violence done to a hard-working teenager who didn't deserve what happened to him. It was much harder to become emotionally engaged when faced with the broad brush of racist treatment against a whole group rather than specific individuals, particularly when almost all of the victims were criminals in their own right. There was an angry undertone to the book that somewhat diluted its message, in my opinion.
On the other hand, Chang does a marvelous job of detailing the setting, whether that be a specific part of a neighborhood or an individual's apartment.
Although I was somewhat disappointed in YEAR OF THE DOG, I will definitely be looking for the next book in the series, as I think that Chang has some real talent as an author.
- Maddy Van Hertbruggen
WHITE SHADOW
ACE ATKINS
Berkley Trade pb 12/09
Originally published 2006
For years Charlie 'White Shadow' Wall ran the Tampa, Florida, mob. Now Charlie is retired. He knows that being the kingpin is a young man's game. He was finding it increasingly difficult to stay alive with the assorted rivals and employees who wanted to dethrone him. Even so, someone has stabbed the elderly Charlie to death.
Detective Ed Dodge and Tampa Tribune reporter Leland Hawes investigate the homicide that each assumes ties back to the White Shadow's mob days. Could someone have feared that Charlie knew too much and, with Senator Kefauver making noise in DC, was about to reveal secrets? Dodge and Hawes travel around Florida and then to Havana as they follow clues that look promising but seem to go nowhere; with the mob watching every step they take, just in case.
WHITE SHADOW, based on a true story, and with its mix of whodunit and history, contains a who's who of 1950s personalities in Florida and Cuba. The investigation is terrific, but it is the tidbits from the era and the persona, like Castro, who bring what seems now like ancient history (the Dodgers are still in Brooklyn winning their only world series!) to life. True crime fans, the historical mystery reader, and readers who enjoy a look back at the "Happy Days" of the Eisenhower era, will appreciate Ace Atkins' fine thriller.
- Harriet Klausner
WARNING AT ONE
ANN PURSER
Berkley Prime Crime pb 11/09
Mrs. Lois Meade and her husband Derek own a small terrace house (the British term for rowhouse or townhouse) in the central English town of Tresham. They bought the house with lottery winnings and looked forward to a nice little supplemental income from the rental fees. But they are having trouble keeping tenants because an elderly neighbor's pet rooster starts crowing at five every morning and is driving them away. The Meade's son Douglas relocates to Tresham for a job and temporarily solves their rental problems by moving in himself. But he has barely unpacked when both the rooster and his elderly owner are found murdered. Douglas himself is suspected of the crime.
Mrs. Meade knows her son is innocent and means to prove it. Fortunately for all, she is an accomplished snoop. Actually, everyone in the book seems pretty nosy. But Mrs. Meade is encouraged at her snooping by local police inspector Hunter Cowgill, who makes it a point to keep tabs on everyone in the county and for whom Lois Meade serves as unofficial eyes and ears. As proprietor of the New Brooms cleaning service, Lois has an excuse to send workers into people's homes with instructions to poke around. She and her cleaners soon uncover strange goings-on in another of the terrace houses and also in a recently-occupied house across the street.
WARNING AT ONE proves very enjoyable reading, preferably with a cup of tea at hand. It presents an amusing version of contemporary working-class life in an English village and a nice family relationship among the Meades and their three children. On the fringe is DCI Cowgill, secretly in love with Lois Meade and alternately resented and depended upon by her.
The continuing-saga aspect of the Mrs. Meade mysteries, with their plot complications, numerous happenings, and colorful casts of minor characters, remind me of certain British TV serials. The first books constitute a string of days-of-the-week titles, from MURDER ON MONDAY through SORROW ON SUNDAY. If WARNING AT ONE is the beginning of a string of hour titles, we can happily look forward to at least eleven more. RECOMMENDED.
- Verna Suit
THE UNPOSSESSED CITY
JON FASMAN
Penguin Trade pb 11/09
Jim Vilatzer, the protagonist in Jon Fasman's second novel THE UNPOSSESSED CITY, is on his way to becoming a real schlepper. Thirty-something and devastated by a romantic breakup, Jim is wallowing in self-pity. He runs from Boston and a position as a researcher for a publisher to his hometown, Rockville, Maryland, and takes back his old job in the family restaurant, the one he had when he was fourteen. Jim, living in a studio apartment and driving a family hand-me-down Dodge Omni, spends most of his evenings taking the edge off his unhappiness with alcohol.
It's not that he is without intelligence or ability; it's just that he can't seem to focus on what to do next with his life. The one thing that he does seem to be fairly skilled at is playing poker, but he has strayed from his success at the poker table to other forms of betting and is in hock to some gamblers to the tune of $24,000. When the gamblers give him a two-week timeline, with threats of what will happen if he doesn't pay up, Jim starts to desperately search for a way out.
A high school friend provides him with a contact that will quickly get him out of the country. The Memory Foundation, an NGO based in Moscow, is looking for a Russian speaking American to conduct interviews with former political prisoners in Eastern Europe. Within days Jim is on his way to Russia.
Fasman is an enormously skilled writer, and he vividly captures the grit and gray of the Russian capital. This sense of place provides an important background as the story unfolds.
While conducting interviews and developing oral history shouldn't be too difficult a task, the workers at the Memory Foundation, Jim included, have difficulty finding any former political prisoners who are particularly interested in talking to them.
One night Jim joins his colleagues for an after work drink. At the bar he meets a beautiful young actress, Katya, who eventually accompanies him home. The next morning she tells him that her grandfather, a former political prisoner, would be happy to talk to him. And after her grandfather gives him an interview, he refers Jim to another former prisoner, who then refers him to another former prisoner. He seems to be on a roll. His friends at the office are impressed by his good luck at finding interviewees.
However, he quickly learns that the way is being paved for him. He has fallen into the proverbial rabbit hole and nothing is what it seems. At this point the CIA, KGB, U.S. Embassy, Russian army, privateers, and other thugs of assorted nationalities and ethnicities enter the plot. In the final 110 pages, Jim and the suddenly reappearing Katya -- the actress from the one night stand -- are pursued across Russia and the Ukraine. The plot has an Oz-like resolution. Jim is suddenly back in Rockville, but it's unclear whether he's acquired a heart, brain, or courage in the process.
Jon Fasman's debut book, THE GEOGRAPHER'S LIBRARY, was a stunning first novel. And in this work Fasman again displays his many literary gifts. That said, parts of the book need the practiced hand of a skilled editor. There are big blocks of text, although beautifully crafted, that don't advance the plot, build character, or add to the setting. They just bog down the narrative flow. And the ending suggests that the author needed to be rescued from the plot as much as his main character.
Fasman is a young, gifted writer. I look forward to future books that will better display his virtuoso talents.
- Aaron Stander
DEAN KOONTZ
YOUR HEART BELONGS TO ME
DEAN KOONTZ
Bantam Books pb 11/09
Thirty-five-year-old Ryan Perry is having chest pains. It's not the first time and now he realizes something is really wrong. When he's told that he must have a heart transplant, Ryan is relieved when a heart is found within the time that he has left. Yet on the day he's scheduled to go under the knife, he is given a message from a nurse named Ismay Clemm. Only it's not long before Ryan discovers that Ismay had been dead when she said, "You hear him, don't you, child?" Ryan embarks on a quest to find out what Ismay, a doctor who takes pictures of suicide's taped eyes (Think Kevorkian) and a progression of unmarked gifts all relating to hearts -- Valentine candy hearts, a heart pendant and a video of a graphic heart surgery -- have in common. But more important, who is stalking Ryan and what does she want with him? Ryan will use all of his power, his intelligence and his wealth to find the answer, only to discover none of it will help him uncover what he already knows.
As a fan of Koontz, I am familiar with the unique style of his writing, so I am not one to disparage this great author. However, in MY HEART BELONGS TO YOU, a third of the book feels like it's a recap of someone's brush with a heart attack, a third gets into the "look there's a secret message hidden in here" and a third ends up leaving you hanging with a big "Huh?".
It definitely has a thought-provoking message at its core, yet it left me wanting Koontz's Odd Thomas or golden retriever writings. RECOMMENDED.
- Vikki Walton
THE VICTORIA VANISHES
CHRISTOPHER FOWLER
Bantam Books Trade pb 11/09
The quirky Peculiar Crimes Unit led by London's oldest detectives, Arthur Bryant and John May, has investigated some pretty perplexing and bizarre cases, but perhaps none is as strange as this situation which involves a disappearing pub and a serial killer who apparently desires to be apprehended.
A stealthy and clever killer is targeting middle-aged women whom he dispatches in very public places, like London's pubs. He strikes so quickly that the victims are dead in a matter of seconds and those around them have no inkling of what has actually transpired.
At the story's outset Bryant actually sees one of the women just seconds before her death at a pub she visited on the way home from work. When he tries to revisit the apparent scene of the crime, the detective can't find the drinking establishment. Further research indicates that the pub was demolished eighty years earlier, making Arthur think he is losing his mind.
Rest assured he's not, and this opens the door to an inquiry that is very "peculiar" indeed and involves departmental intrigue, the Knights Templar, and a clever conspiracy to mask a past research project gone terribly wrong.
Also, be forewarned that just when it looks like the case is solved, there are a few more twists awaiting the Bryant-May duo and the reader. After the killer has been unmasked and with still nearly 100 pages left, one of the characters remarks, "This case isn't over. It looks like the real work is only just beginning." He is absolutely correct!
Those who have enjoyed this immensely entertaining series with its eccentric cast of characters may find the final pages of THE VICTORIA VANISHES unsettling. Given some of the physical ailments of the key detectives and the disbanding of the unit, it appears this may have been their last case.
Although Christopher Fowler doesn't come right out and declare the series is finished, there are indications that this is indeed the swan song of the Peculiar Crimes team. On the other hand, the author is smart enough to leave the door slightly ajar so perhaps there will be further adventures for the aging detectives. Let's hope so!
- Bob Walch
*PHOTO CREDIT: MARTIN BUTTERWORTH
THE PRICE OF BUTCHER'S MEAT
REGINALD HILL
Harper pb 11/09
Talk about an ultra-special treat!! A new Dalziel and Pascoe mystery with parallels to a book by my all-time favorite author, Jane Austen. I happily splurged the full-price in pounds sterling in London's mystery bookshop, and carried the weighty hardback back home on the plane to ensure a splendid read in my favorite chair. And I was not disappointed. Superintendent Dalziel is recuperating from his massive injuries sustained in a terrorist bomb blast. Comfortably housed in a luxurious facility in the beachside resort of Sandytown, he's not sure how to keep himself amused while he is rehabbed. He is given a small recorder on which to chronicle his thoughts, as part of his psychological recuperation, and these recordings provide the reader with his viewpoint on the interesting events in Sandytown. Another visitor to town is Charlotte Heywood, a young college grad who's planning to pen a psychology graduate thesis about alternative therapies. She too wants to keep herself amused, and Charlotte's perspective of events is presented in lengthy e-mails to her sister. Their views of the pleasant up-scale surroundings and unique inhabitants of Sandytown are suspended by the surprising and gruesome murder of Lady Daphne Denham, the resident stinking rich and appallingly snooty aristocrat. Enter Detective Chief Inspector Pascoe and his sidekick Sergeant Wield, in charge of the investigation even though the Fat Man, Dalziel, their boss, lurks around every corner though technically hors de combat. An additional familiar face is that of Franny Roote, a visitor from the coppers' pasts, part villain and part hero, and a therapist of sorts who is now in a wheelchair and affiliated with the town's healing center. The plot is splendidly convoluted, the characters are wonderfully interesting, and the familiar faces from this series are in top-notch form. Austen herself would be pleased at this updated version of her unfinished novel.
- Carol Howell
AMONG THE MAD
JACQUELINE WINSPEAR
Picador Trade pb 12/09
The summer of 1914 has long been regarded in England as the last happy time: perfect weather, a calm and prosperous society and unlimited prospects for the future. That summer of perfection was closed out by the autumn birth of the Great War and the death of hope. Winter 1932 is as far from that golden summer as possible. England is in the depths of the Great Depression and able-bodied men walk for miles looking for the chance at a day's work. For the disabled war veterans, times are even worse and many have been forced to resort to begging on the streets. When one of these veterans commits suicide on a crowded street with a hand grenade, the public is appalled. When the Government receives a list of demands the next day along with the threat of massive loss of life, serious concerns arise and when the unknown writer mentions Maisie Dobbs by name, Jacqueline Winspear's psychologist-investigator is thrust into the middle of a race against time.
Maisie Dobbs is a special character in many ways. The daughter of a Cockney street trader, as a former maid and army nurse, she is solidly English working class. Given the opportunity to study psychology and investigations, she has become an anomaly, able to live in both the under and upper class worlds of post World War I Britain, but not really accepted in either. Throw in the fact that she was severely wounded both physically and mentally at the front, and the reader is offered a protagonist of profound depth and power.
AMONG THE MAD is literally that for much of the novel as the security services scour mental hospitals looking for a crazed veteran turned potential mass murderer. The mass murder of the War is never far from the surface and colors every aspect of the investigation. The sad hopelessness of these men matches the hopelessness of the Great Depression perfectly. Nothing that was good has lasted and all that remains is broken - possibly beyond repair.
Maisie Dobbs mysteries always surprise with their intriguing crimes and unexpected solutions. They also always take the reader and the indomitable Maisie on a healing journey, every novel coming closer to restoring mind and health to the summer days before the War. AMONG THE MAD is another step along the path of healing, but it reminds that healing is never achieved without great pain. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
- W. J. H. Reed
THE CHARLEMAGNE PURSUIT
STEVE BERRY
Ballantine pb 11/09
Steve Berry has done it again! THE CHARLEMAGNE PURSUIT is just another example of Mr. Berry's incredible drive to bring to us readers an historical mystery thriller based on a combination of facts and imagination, as he first accomplished with his debut book, THE AMBER ROOM.
This time around, Berry's protagonist, Cotton Malone, invites himself into trouble when he asks his former boss, Stephanie Nellie, for a favor. Malone wants to read the top secret file that explains the possible circumstances of his father's submarine disaster many years ago.
Classic Berry form: the action immediately starts when Malone is attacked by assailants just after the file is handed to him.
Soon the instigator of the first attack, a very wealthy family that is led by the matriarch whose husband and father of her two competing daughters was also lost on that fateful voyage with Malone's father at the helm, joins forces with Malone to discover what happened to their family members and what was discovered on the secret assignment.
Meanwhile, Nellie finds herself trying to prevent a power-driven U.S. military officer from climbing the political ladder.
Berry amazingly and cleverly ties the two storylines together with the reign of Charlemagne and the possibility of the existence of a one-time advanced civilization.
As always, Berry offers a bonus by providing to the reader a writer's note that discusses the factual basis of his story.
Oh, I forgot to warn you - but it should not come as any surprise - THE CHARLEMAGNE PURSUIT is a real page-turner, while still providing significant character background and historical facts. If there is any pursuit going on - it's the reader trying to keep up with Malone and his creator!
- Paul Anik
DANCING WITH DEMONS
PETER TREMAYNE
Minotaur Books Trade pb 11/09
The High King of Ireland has been killed in his own bed, and his assassin's body is found in the same room, dead by his own hand. Although it is obvious who committed the crime, whether he acted alone and the reasons for his vile action are in doubt. Therefore, Fidelma of Cashel is asked to travel to Tara and conduct the investigation, in the hope that her findings will reveal the truth and prevent the tenuous peace in 7th Century Ireland from being shattered. With the assistance of her husband Eadulf, Fidelma's methodical questioning of those in residence in the royal compound rapidly reveals dubious relationships and undercurrents galore. There are plenty of potential suspects: the King's estranged wife Gormflaith was having an affair with the killer; his eldest daughter Muirgel had arranged for the assassin to enter the compound at night; Cuan and Lugna, members of the Royal Guard, both abandoned their posts and gave access to the killer; and his heir, Cenn Faelad, might have coveted the power of royal office. But what Fidelma ultimately uncovers is an intrigue that endangers her own life as well as Eadulf's, and could lead to a kingdom-wide upheaval that might undo decades of stability and civilization as she knows it. Interwoven as always with the main plot are life details of the era, including a description of public houses run by the government, international trade rules and customs, and Ancient Ireland's limited tolerance of slavery. This series continues to maintain its top-notch standard in the genre of historical mysteries. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
- Carol Howell
A FACE AT THE WINDOW
SARAH GRAVES
Bantam Books pb 11/09
If Jake Tiptree could bury the past, she would. But just like the uncovering of one piece of concrete can reveal an even greater project, so too does the past uncover new wounds that must be addressed in the present. And the past has just come to call when her mother's murderer, Ozzie Campbell, phones Jake out of the blue. Even though Jake was a young child, something that she could remember or has could send this murderer to jail once and for all. But right now Jake had another young child to think about. Jake had promised to take care of young Lee while her parents, George and Ellie White, headed off to Italy. At the hardware store, Jake hears that two guys were asking about her. Who are these men and what do they want? Probably nothing. But when Jake calls the babysitter, and gets the answering machine, she instantly starts to think the worst. Of course, thinks Jake, Helen would be busy with the kids. But when Jake gets the machine a second time, Jake knows something is wrong. When she finds the babysitter's home empty, panic sets in. When the phone rings, Jake hears the worst words, "I want something back. Now you do too..." Can Jake save Lee and Helen and bring conclusion to her horrible memory? Home tips included. RECOMMENDED.
- Vikki Walton
DUST AND SHADOW: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson
LYNDSAY FAYE
Simon & Schuster Trade pb 12/09
In 1888, London is shocked by the brutal murders of two prostitutes in the East End. Inspector Lestrade knows this is no run of the mill killer and he will need help. He asks renowned private sleuth Sherlock Holmes to investigate the homicides. Already fascinated by the accounts, Holmes welcomes the case.
As Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson investigate, more vicious murders occur, committed by the same killer whom the media have dubbed The Ripper for his brutality. In an ironic twist, one reporter claims Holmes is the Ripper, which is why, he insists, the famous detective has failed to end the reign of terror.
Holmes fans will welcome Lyndsay Faye to Baker Street. Her Watson comes across as a winner, telling readers the tale of Holmes and the Ripper. Readers will enjoy the great detective's efforts even as the press badgers him to solve the case; which ironically readers do earlier than the sleuth. Although Homes and the Ripper co-starring has been used before, notably by Carole Nelson Douglas in her Irene Adler series and Michael Dibdin in THE LAST SHERLOCK HOLMES STORY, Ms. Faye provides a fresh entry.
- Harriet Klausner
FATAL REMEDIES
DONNA LEON
Penguin Trade pb 12/09
- Carol Howell
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES
DONNA LEON
Penguin Trade pb 12/09
This wonderful entry in the Brunetti series starts so simply: Franco Rossi, a young bureaucrat, visits the Commissario in his Venice apartment and tells him that their office has no record of the existence of his home. That it has physical reality is not an issue; but if there are no official records to bless it, the worst-case scenario is that the apartment will have to be torn down. Brunetti subsequently receives a phone call from Rossi about another matter of a suggestively criminal nature, and suggests that he call back from a safer telephone connection. Rossi never calls, and his subsequent untimely accidental death deeply upsets Brunetti who, not believing in coincidences, begins an investigation. The extraordinarily convoluted web of intrigue and corruption that he uncovers is appalling, and even surprises Brunetti, who is cynical to the extreme about the failings of Italian government and society. Drug deals, real estate and tax fraud, loan sharking, murder - crime and criminals in all walks of society but all providing the foundation for those in power who hold great wealth to maintain their hegemony. Through it all, Brunetti holds onto his sanity with his love of family and his adored city of Venice, even when he finally becomes enraged enough to risk it all to expose a part of the corruption. Crafted exquisitely with an intricate plot and featuring all of Brunetti's carefully crafted cast of colleagues, the author has hit this one WAY out of the park.
- Carol Howell