Rambling reader

I had heard so many good things about this novel that I purchased it a few months ago but it didn't make it to the top of my TBR pile until this past weekend. Brian Freeman's debut novel has been shortlisted for five of the major awards, the Anthony, the Edgar, the Macavity, the Barry, and the Dagger.

There is little I can say about this book without giving away too much of the plot. It is written in three parts. The first part is the investigation into the disappearance of a young girl. Jonathan Stride and his partner Maggie Bei are the lead investigators on the case. Jonathan is still haunted by a similar case from a year ago that was never solved. Feeling as if he had failed that girl, he is determined to solve this case. Suspects abound as the girl was not well liked by anyone. Even her relationship with her mother and step-father was strained.

The second part is the trial where even more of the facts in the case come out. We hear the later investigative results and a few surprises are revealed during testimony. Trials are not my favorite things to read about but this is different. We learn everything that happened in the investigation after the suspect was arrested. We also get to be like the jury and decide for ourselves the guilt or innocence of the accused based on the available evidence.

The third part actually happens three years later. Everyone has moved on and further evidence is revealed that sheds new light on the case. Jonathan has to know the truth and follows this new lead to satisfy himself that the case is really closed.

I absolutely loved this book. Jonathan became real to me. After the upheaval at the end of this book, the next will be quite different. The setting and the secondary characters will all have to change but I know Freeman can pull it off. I'll be standing in line the day it comes out.

John Sandford has taken a break from his very popular Lucas Davenport series and brought us a standalone this year.

I am a big Sandford fan but this book is a little lukewarm. The plot is interesting and moves quickly but I never felt strongly about any of the characters. There isn't a singular bad guy to fear and hate and the good guy is no Lucas.

An ex-senator is missing and his wife believes the White House is involved since her husband had just made a speech that was very inflamatory to the current administration. The Chief of Staff gets their go-to guy, Jake Winter, to investigate and to find out what he can about the missing man. Jake agrees that the disappearance appears to be a kidnapping but then the man's body is found and Jake uncovers a conspiracy to take down the Vice President and his political party. He also uncovers information about this man's personal life that could be used to confuse the investigation and deflect it from the White House. But should he? Is damage control the only issue at hand?

Throughout this book, we aren't certain who is involved. Who are the bad guys? Who can we trust? There is also a certain futuristic element that I can't quite put my finger on. There are references to an organization called the Watchmen that reminds me of science fiction stories where the government polices the people with surveillance and intimidation while promising only protection. Very Big Brother.

If you are a Sandford fan, this will be required reading just as it was for me. Sandford is definitely one of the best but this book isn't his best effort. If you are new to this author, you would be better off to start with Lucas.

Monday, August 7, PJ Tracy will be signing Snow Blind

Thursday, August 10, Bruce Cook will be signing Philippine Fever along with Troy Cook who will be signing 47 Rules of Highly Effective Bank Robbers.

Both events will be at Once Upon a Crime in Minneapolis and start at 7:00pm.

PJ Tracy is actually a pseudonym for a mother/daughter team. PJ (mom) lives in Minnesota and Traci (daughter) lives in Los Angeles. If you have an opportunity to see them in person, go. They are extremely funny and gracious.

I believe Bruce Cook and Troy Cook are also father and son though they write separately. Bruce's new book has a blurb of my review on the cover so I think I have to pick up a hardcover despite the fact that I already have an ARC on my shelf. We have corresponded a few times so it will be nice to meet him in person.

I have also heard good things about Troy's book and planned to get it even before I heard he was coming to Minnesota or that he is Bruce's son. Nice coincidence.

I can't believe I almost stopped reading this book at page 22. I would have missed so many good laughs.

Helena Handbasket is a private detective. Well, sort of. She didn't actually have any training and she isn't any good at it, but she bought an official looking certificate on the internet.

When Owen Banks asks Helena to help him find out who killed his brother, Robin Banks, and sent his severed hands to Owen, Helena and her secretary/psycho sidekick Fifi Fofum are on the case, aided by their computer savvy friend Heidi Salami. (say all these names out loud if you aren't getting it)

More bodies are found with their hands removed, a fish sewn to their chests, and a Bible verse on a piece of paper in their mouths. It all seems to tie back to some missing jewels the Banks brothers are suspected of stealing.

The whole book is one big send up of crime novels. It is a parody of every subgenre of mysteries you can think of including the ones with cats. It is like watching a Mel Brooks spoof movie. Remember Spaceballs?

This book is short at only 153 pages but with a laugh out loud moment on almost every one. Save this book for when you are in the mood to poke fun at everything we believe a mystery should have. If you aren't in the right mood, this book could come off as too silly but give it a chance. It is wonderful light hearted fun.

I looked for a website for Donna Moore, the author of this book but was unable to locate one. I did find out she lives in Scotland and this is her debut novel.

Books about lawyers are not typically my favorite but I have a short list of authors who write legal mysteries to whom I am faithful. David Rosenfelt and his series about defense lawyer Andy Carpenter are on that list.

Andy is a self-deprecating wiseass who typically angers judges with his courtroom antics but he is honorable and his goal is to find the truth. He only takes cases he believes in. He is rich, thanks to a hefty inheritance, so he can be choosy and turn down anyone he doesn't feel strongly about.

At the end of the last book, Andy's girlfriend and investigator Laurie Collins left New Jersey to take her dream job with the police department back in Wisconsin where she grew up. It is only a few months later and Andy is still trying to recover. When Laurie calls him to defend the boy she had to arrest for a double homicide, he isn't sure if he wants to reopen the wounds of their breakup. When circumstances make the case personal, Andy decides to take the case despite having to be around Laurie every day.

Most of the secondary characters we have come to love throughout this series manage to help out in Wisconsin, including hypochondriac lawyer Kevin, song-talking computer hacker Sam, and the ever scary Marcus.

The two murdered girls were members of a cult-like religious community in a nearby town. The group is closed and secretive making investigation difficult for both the police and the defense team.

Andy is very likable and the first person narrative lets us inside Andy's head to hear the snarky comments he would like to say even when he can't.

Even if you avoid legal mysteries like I typically do, give Andy Carpenter a chance. Rosenfelt has a winner here.

Noah Braddock is a private investigator in San Diego. He isn't a typical PI. He's a surfer dude. Noah worked for an insurance company doing investigative work and when he had the required time in, he got his license and went out on his own.

Noah is approached by the mother of an ex-girlfriend who is missing. She wants Noah to look for her daughter. Noah has no trouble finding Kate decomposing in the trunk of her car but now the parents want him to figure out what happened to her.

Noah is warned off by a major drug lord and the police but memories of Kate keep him looking for her killer. Even when he keeps hearing that she wasn't the woman he remembered, that she had gotten mixed up in some illegal activities, he has to keep going.

Assisting Noah is his good friend Carter Hamm. Carter is a little scary with even scarier friends. Both Noah and Carter are a little snarky which adds humor in all the right places.

The lead detective on the case is another old girlfriend of Noah's and now Kate's sister is interested in starting something with him.

This is a quick, fun read. I finished it in one sitting. Jeff Shelby's second Noah Braddock novel just came out this month. I'll be picking it up real soon.

Tess Monaghan is teaching a seminar at the local paper about investigative techniques. One of the cases she is using is the high profile, unsolved murder of a federal prosecutor. When her boyfriend brings home a street kid who seems to unknowingly hold a clue in the case, Tess tries to do a good deed and gets the newspaper to print the information anonymously setting off a chain of events that puts everyone she cares about in danger.

Laura Lippman's series has been strong throughout, as are her standalones. Tess started as a Baltimore reporter, then left the paper to become a licensed private investigator. She is extremely likable, intuitive, intelligent, and thinks quick on her feet. Occasionally she manages to put her foot in her mouth, though. The secondary characters are equally wonderful and add fullness to the community Lippman has created. Tess' lawyer, Tyner, gets her through the legal situations while her best friend, posh Whitney Talbot, gets her out of, or sometimes into, some of the more questionable ones.

I like the way Tess remains idealistic and tries to always do the right thing. She tries to uphold her beliefs despite what she's been through. So many other protagonists come off as cynical and hard. Tess is truly one of a kind and definitely a favorite of mine.

Oh yeah. Give me a nice serial killer book and some uninterrupted quiet time and I'm happy.

Unfortunately the uninterrupted quiet time isn't happening in my house any more and it almost killed me to have to keep putting this book down.

Blown Away by Shane Gericke is about a seriously sick guy who has it in for a rookie cop named Emily Thompson. He keeps setting up murder scenes to depict games Emily played in her childhood, like Clue, Operation, and Chutes and Ladders. When they realize all of this is leading up to a showdown on Emily's birthday, only a few days away, the tension ratchets up with each new crime scene and Emily has to scour her past to figure out who this guy is.

Emily is convincing as an older rookie cop who wants to do well at her job and please her employers. She is horrified that people are dying in order to deliver some sort of message from the killer.

Flashbacks show the killer and Emily with their families and attempt to explain the grudge the killer has with her. They are brief and integral to the story, explaining much of Emily's personality as well as his.

It was hard to believe this book is Gericke's debut. The plotting was tight and the characters are well-drawn and believable. I enjoyed it immensely.

I am really excited about three author signings next week. I mentioned earlier that Kim Harrison will be in the Twin Cities on Monday at Dreamhaven Books. I'm also looking forward to Barry Eisler on Wednesday at Once Upon a Crime and Laura Lippman on Thursday at the Hennepin County Library-Ridgedale Branch.

I have already read Barry's The Last Assassin and reviewed it briefly here. Kim's book will be purchased that night since she will be signing at a bookstore that I have never been to before. I can't wait to see what Rachel Morgan is up to this time around. Laura's new book, No Good Deeds, is already in my posession and I have no qualms about taking it to the library to get her to sign it. I also want to read it before I go hear her talk about it so it needs to get to the top of my TBR pile.

I'm also reading a couple of books for review on Armchair Interviews. I'm just starting the first one and it is looking really good. We'll see if it can keep up this pace. Full notes will appear here when I have finished it.

Kim Harrison is the author of a great series about The Hollows, a part of Cincinnati that is home to vampires, witches, pixies and various other races. The main character is a witch and a runner, similar to a bounty hunter, named Rachel Morgan. Her partner is Ivy Tamwood, a living vampire. Ivy won't become a full undead vampire until she dies.

Undead in the garden of good and evil is a novella, sort of a prequel to the series, about how Ivy became Rachel's partner. It is in an anthology called Dates from Hell that also includes stories by Lynsay Sands, Kelley Armstrong, and Lori Handeland.

Harrison has created a world so complete you will believe it exists and she is revealing more and more in each book.

She is going to be signing her new book, A Fistful of Charms, near me on July 17th. This is another author who's books never sit around my house for any length of time once they are published. I've been saving two of the stories in this anthology, Harrison's and Armstrong's, for when I needed a guaranteed read. A road trip over the past weekend was just what I had been waiting for. Also, I wanted to get Harrison's read before I got her new book. I'll have much more to say after I have read that one.

Robert Fate recently sent me a copy of his debut novel, Baby Shark, due out in September 2006.

Kristin van Dijk travels with her father, a pool hustler, from bar to bar. When a gang of bikers come looking for him one night in a bar, they kill him and the bartender, wound the bartenders father, Henry Chin, and beat and rape Kristin and leave her for dead.

The beginning of the book is a little slow as Henry helps Kristin escape the fire set by the gang to cover their crimes and takes her to his home to recuperate. However, the story starts to pick up speed as Henry finds Kristin tutors to school her in the use of firearms and military style close work. She also starts training with her father's friend to hone her pool skills.

The pace continues to build as Kristin earns the nickname Baby Shark in the pool halls her father used to frequent and as the private investigator hired by Henry to find the members of the gang who attacked them has some success. Kristin, now trained by her military tutors to be deadly, wants revenge.

Part of what makes Kristin unique is the fact that the story takes place in the early 1950's. Women at that time were not expected to be strong or skilled in the art of killing which makes it easy for her quarry to underestimate her abilities.

Fate has an interesting background. According to his bio, he spent time in the Marines, studied at the Sorbonne in France, worked as an oilfield roughneck, a fashion model, and a chef. Baby Shark is the first in a new series for him. I'm very curious about what will happen to Kristin after the exciting climax of this book and will be looking for the next one in the spring of 2007.

Jack Reacher is a former Army military police investigator who retired when he felt he was no longer needed and now travels the country, a bit under the wire, going wherever he chooses. He has no drivers license, no credit cards, no address, and carries only the clothes on his back and the toothbrush in his pocket.

In each book of this series by Lee Child, Reacher is caught up in someone's mess due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time and his code of honor compels him to do what he can for the side he believes to be right. There is typically an opportunity (or several) for him to use his military training to outsmart the bad guys, and a woman to warm his very temporary bed.

The dialog is clipped in a military sort of way. It feels exactly right for someone like Reacher who grew up in a military family. The way Reacher notices and remembers everything around him and his ability to always know precisely what time it is make him seem superhuman yet he is flawed and that only makes him more human. He is analytical with the clues yet can dismiss the facts and go with his guy feeling when it disagrees. He makes mistakes but always makes up for it in the end.

In The Hard Way, Reacher witnessed the pickup of ransom money. The man whose wife and step-daughter were kidnapped wants Reacher to help recover them. Reacher will do whatever he can to bring the woman and her daughter home despite the fact that he doesn't like or trust the man who hired him. When Reacher starts to have doubts about the truth, he has to figure out who he can trust.

Lee Child's novels are consistently high octane. I try to save them for when I have an uninterrupted weekend to read it cover to cover. They never wait long once they make it into my hands and I haven't been disappointed yet.

Most of the books in this series stand alone nicely. Reacher is a loner who travels so he meets new people in each book. There were some at the beginning of the series where people reappeared though, and one which went back in time to when he was still in the Army.